Bishop Gunn host coronavirus pandemic's first-ever socially distant concert
The live music venue will limit seating capacity to 229
Photo by Sergione Infuso/Corbis via Getty Images
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The first-ever socially distant concert, featuring country rock band Bishop Gunn frontman Travis McCready, is aimed at overcoming coronavirus setbacks.
A limited 229 people will be able to attend the concert at Brown’s TempleLive in Fort Smith, Arkansas. A venue that has the ability to normally seat 1,100 guests will see about an 80 percent drop in capacity.
Strict guidelines will be enforced for concert-goers to prevent the spread of the virus, including mandatory face masks, temperature screening, fog sprayers for sanitation and limited restroom capacity.
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Even though large venues may be able to work around the crisis, over 1,000 small concert halls have formed the National Independent Venue Association to lobby funding from the government and stay alive. The organization told FOX Business that 90 percent of independent venues may go out of business for good as long as their doors stay shut.
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"We need to find a way to hang on long enough to be able to serve the public again," Audrey Fix Schaefer of the National Independent Venue Association said. "[It] is creating economic devastation for so many independent promoters that we need to keep alive in order for the ecosystem of music to stay alive."
Another trend gaining popularity is drive-in concerts. Denmark, Seattle, and Washington recently hosted events at drive-in movie theaters.
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*This article has been updated to reflect that Live Nation is not affiliated with this performance.