As the world begins to slowly reopen following 7 months of closure after the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus, we are waking up to something of a new normal. There are some areas of life which will get back to how they were, there are others which will never be the same again. Health expert David Serna was discussing this recently on a podcast, and in particular he mentioned large gatherings and how they would have to be managed. Something which sprung to my mind when he said this, was concerts, something I have always loved going to. Mosh pits seem like a big no-no, so what will concerts potentially look like in the coming years? Let’s take a look.
Bubble Fun
One viable option which has already been explored by the band The Flaming Lips, has been to get everyone inside their very own bubble, and enjoy the concert like that. This appeared to be more of a protest than anything else, but there is certainly something worth considering here. Perhaps with the bubble there would be further safety concerns regarding people falling over and getting injured, but that is a can which could be kicked further down the road. Perhaps the future of festivals is pack your wellies and your own bubbles.
Car Concerts
In the last month we have also seen the emergence of drive-in concerts, and many concert-goers in Germany have been enjoying these kind of raves in their cars. This could work of course and sitting on top of your car enjoying a great band or artist sounds like a cool idea. Sadly however even this idea just lacks the thing that most of us enjoy at concerts, and that is the clashing of bodies and the freedom to let our feelings take us where we want to go.
Digital
In possibly one of the sadder considerations, it could very well be that we are paying for tickets to a digital concert, being beamed to our TV and computer from some studio space somewhere. This could work of course and there would be many who tuned in to see their favorite artists give this kind of performance, ultimately however, the notion of attending a festival or concert from home is a very sad one indeed.
Cattle
The most likely option at the moment appears to be that we will be able to go to concerts, albeit at 50% of the stadium or venues capacity, and there we will be temp checked and ushered into our own sectors, much like cattle. Family and friends arriving together will be able to stay together at the concert, but apart from that there will be a huge lack of human interaction and the whole thing will probably feel a bit lacking in emotion.
The long and short of it, is that until there has been a vaccine invented, we won’t be attending concerts as we used to for a very long time to come.
