Jason Aldean performing live.
Country star Jason Aldean announced today that he’ll perform a pair of socially distanced outdoor shows in May, while Live Nation unveiled a comprehensive U.S. tour from comedian Bill Burr.
Needless to say, the quick-approaching shows appear to play well for the prospect of a broader live-entertainment comeback in 2021, particularly as millions of additional fans are continuing to receive COVID-19 vaccines. Jason Aldean detailed his two upcoming gigs (set to take place on May 14th and 15th, from Manchester, Tennessee’s Bonnaroo Farm) via a release, noting that “you could’ve asked me to play a gas station at this point and I would say yes.”
As it stands, the 44-year-old Macon, Georgia, native will make passes available to purchase this Wednesday, April 7th, for members of the “Aldean Army” fan club and on Friday, April 9th, for the general public. Fans can only buy tickets in collections of four, the release emphasizes, and six feet will separate each group of attendees.
For additional reference, it costs a minimum of $19.99 per year to join the Aldean Army, depending upon the package that one selects, and even the concerts’ prices look to be unavailable to non-members.
Bill Burr, who received his first Grammy nomination this year and presented multiple awards during the pre-telecast portion of the happening, is preparing to embark on a 21-stop stateside tour during the remainder of 2021, a formal release from Live Nation (and emailed to Digital Music News) revealed.
Tickets to the tour – scheduled to kick off in Las Vegas on Friday, July 2nd – will go on sale at 10 AM local time this Friday, April 9th, according to the release. That said, it appeared that fans could already purchase passes to the Las Vegas dates at the time of this piece’s publishing, and the “Bill Burr Presale” will initiate at 10 AM tomorrow morning.
Also worth noting is that neither the latter gigs’ announcement message nor their descriptions seem to mention six-foot distancing requirements, mandatory masks, or vaccine passports. While venues could implement their own rules (particularly as the events draw closer), the point is indicative of entertainment professionals’ varying approaches to resuming performances in front of audiences.
Diplo last month performed before a large crowd in Texas, for instance, whereas Lupe Fiasco said in December that he’ll require fans to show that they’ve received a COVID-19 vaccine in order to attend his concerts.
Nevertheless, it goes without saying that fans and particularly artists stand to benefit from live entertainment’s return, given the unprecedented financial disruption ushered in by the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated lockdown measures. And in terms of the market demand that will meet this resurgence, it bears reiterating that Insomniac promptly sold out both EDC Las Vegas (set for May 21st-23rd) and the Day Trip (set for July 3rd) last year.
The Beverly Hills-headquartered promoter – about half of which belongs to Live Nation – also sold all the tickets to its inaugural Abduction, which is scheduled to occur in Orlando this Saturday, April 10th.
Hope he does not book any outdoor events in Las Vegas.