Los Angeles Music Scene: June 15th!!!

Sure, music venues in places like Texas and Florida have been allowed to open up for some time now, but it looks like California is just around the corner. 

The current target date is June 15th. Deadline (Apr 6): 

 Asked specifically about events with large crowds, [California Director of Health Services Dr. Mark Ghaly] said of concerts, “Yes, we feel comfortable at letting those limits go to full capacity.” But not so for conventions and festivals like Coachella. 

Full capacity at convention centers won’t be recognized without vaccination or testing “until October 1,” according to Ghaly. “Additionally, large multi-day events, for example, Coachella, we don’t yet have the path for those to occur.” Ghaly said restrictions on those events will be lifted “likely well after June 15…We’re still working with our partners.”

The question though for the LA music venues will be: will local bands / musicians even be allowed to play at these venues? This has been a question I've heard from various Instagram Live interviews with various people involved in the local music industry. Now, obviously, some local bands / musicians will be playing shows, but will it be at the same level as pre-COVID-19? The argument is that there are a lot of touring artists that need to make money and there won't be enough large venues out there for all of them. So small venues will fill in the gaps. Now these touring artists will need openers who could very well be LA bands, but at the same time these touring artists might bring along their own friends to help them earn some money. Of course, even if local bands open up for touring artists, will local music fans even be able to afford the ticket prices? 

So could it be possible that multiple nights a week at The Echo will be dedicated to touring acts that should really be playing at the El Rey or The Wiltern? We'll be finding out shortly. One could hardly blame music venues if they decide to book larger acts. They'll have been without revenue for well over a year and Save Our Stages just might not provide enough funding for venues to catch up with their debts.

As noted in the quote, Coachella might have to wait, but I suspect that they'd be targeting October anyways.

Mea Culpa: I've been saying that I thought music venues would open up between September and Q1'21. I guess I was off.