Live Nation to resume concerts at "full scale" in 2021

Concert promoter Live Nation has said they are planning to resume concerts at “full scale” from 2021, after the spread of coronavirus stopped live shows across the globe.

Major concerts and festivals have been halted due to the pandemic, including Glastonbury’s 50th-anniversary and My Chemical Romance’s first UK shows since getting back together.

In an investor earnings call last week, Live Nation President and CEO Michael Rapino said the promotion giant rand ticketing agency are now looking at ways to resume concerts in their fullest form next year.

“Whether it’s in Arkansas or [another] state that is safe, secure and politically fine to proceed in, we’re going to dabble in fan-less concerts with broadcasts and reduced-capacity shows, because we can make the math work,” Rapino explained.

“We think in the fall, if there are no second hotspots, you’ll see markets around the world [reopening]… And then our goal is really to be on sale in the third and fourth quarters for 2021 at full scale.”

But in the meantime, Live Nation is reportedly planning to test a series of crowdless gigs and drive-in concerts in an effort to create safe opportunities for live music to return.

Those plans include shows held without an audience broadcast to fans at home, drive-in concerts and festivals with reduced capacities.

“It’s important for us to keep doing drive-in concerts, which we’re going to test and roll out, which we’re having some success with, fanless concerts which have great broadcasting opportunities, reduced capacity festival concerts, which could be outdoors, could be in a theatre, could be in a large stadium floor where there’s enough room to be safe,” he said.

“We have all of these plans in place depending on the market and where that local city may sit in their reopening phases.”