One of the highest-profile tandem tours of 2023 is the ZZ Top /Lynyrd Skynyrd Sharp Dressed Simple Man tour. And in an era when post-pandemic-related shortages and logistical snags make touring even more challenging, the practice is finding renewed interest. Teaming up for a tandem tour isn’t a new idea package tours have been part of the concert landscape from the days of Dick Clark’s Caravan of Stars in the mid 1960s. Tandem tours and residencies are just two of the phenomena that seem to be increasing in popularity with touring artists and their management teams. Since the pandemic, some artists have taken different approaches to touring. Madison Square Garden saw multiple sold-out performances by Janet Jackson, and will host a seven-night Phish residency. In 2023 alone, SoFi Stadium is hosting several megashows: Billy Joel & Stevie Nicks, Grupo Firme, Romeo Santos, a five-night Taylor Swift residency, Metallica, Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran and P!nk are all on the venue’s calendar, with additional shows awaiting announcement. "To satiate that demand, you have to have a bigger venue." With the return of live music has come a corresponding, pent-up surge in demand, notes Christy Castillo Butcher, Senior VP, Programming & Booking at the 70,000 seat SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. spoke with a cross section of industry professionals about some of the most profound changes, how they’re being addressed, and what it all might mean for the future. For those working in and around the live music business, the "new normal" means some things work as they did before COVID-19 while others have altered radically - either temporarily or for good. Yet the costs associated with putting on a concert have risen dramatically, due to both the pandemic's inflationary pressures and a surge in demand for the goods and services necessary to sustain tours. Three years after the beginning of the pandemic, life is in many ways returning to normal. But by the end of 2022, reported that the year’s top 100 tours sold approximately 59 million tickets - more than 2019's sales. Crews were sent home, and all of the businesses that served the sector - logistics, audio gear, food service and more - found a barren landscape.ĭuring the pandemic, major promoter Live Nation saw a drastic drop in the number of concerts and festivals under its banner: from over 40,000 events in 2019 to just over 8,000 in 2020. In a flash, every artist across the globe witnessed the live performance side of their careers vaporize. Within days of lockdown, multiple outlets published sobering articles detailing the tours, concerts and festivals that had been affected by the outbreak article identified at least 170 postponements or cancellations. Virtually overnight, workers lost their livelihoods, businesses closed their doors or drastically curtailed operations, and supply chains were hobbled. Beyond the human toll, the disruptions brought on by the spread of COVID-19 caused deep and lasting damage to nearly every business sector, including live entertainment. T.I.The pandemic wreaked global havoc on many levels.
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