Live Nation to require COVID-19 vaccination or negative test for music festivals and concerts
Starting October 4, all attendees, artists, and staff will have to present proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test
Music News Music festivals
Live Nation, one of the largest live entertainment companies in North America, has updated its COVID-19 policy, now requiring that attendees, artists, and crew members at any of their hosted festivals or concerts must provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test after October 4. The company’s previous policy allowed artists to decide if vaccinations would be required to attend their shows. All Live Nation employees must also be vaccinated by October 4 to attend any of the company’s venues or events, or visit any of its offices.
“Vaccines are going to be your ticket back to shows,” Live Nation president and CEO Michael Rapino said in a statement to Rolling Stone. “As of October 4th we will be following the model we developed for Lollapalooza and requiring this for artists, fans and employees at Live Nation venues and festivals everywhere possible in the U.S.”
Live Nation presents music festivals including: Governors Ball, Austin City Limits Music Festival, Bonnaroo, and Rolling Loud California. The company has clarified that the policy will be only enforced in states where it is permitted by law (we’re glaring at you, Texas and Austin City Limits).
Chicago’s Lollapalooza struck fear into the hearts of many a few weeks ago when photos of the massive unmasked crowds began to pop up on social media over the course of the 3-day festival. However, last week, the Chicago Department of Public Health revealed that in the two weeks since the event, only 203 out of 385k attendees have tested positive for coronavirus, with zero hospitalizations or deaths. SHP Commissioner Dr. Allison Awdry said that over 90 percent of the festival’s attendees were vaccinated, with either proof of vaccine or a negative COVID-19 test required for entry.
Live Nation joins fellow concert promoter Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), which also requires vaccinations to attend events in states where it’s legal. AEG Presents hosts some of the biggest music events in the U.S., including Coachella, Firefly, Day N Vegas, and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Their policy kicks in starting October 1.
41 Comments
Fuckin’ good. Make it mandatory to get on public transportation. To cross state lines. To get social security, medicare, medicaid, VA benefits. To set foot on government property, including public schools and universities. To get your tax refund from the IRS. To get medical care of any sort. The fucking works. Enough of this coddling shit.
The best part, it’s a private company and there’s nothing anti-vaxxers can do while they scream about their rights. Act like a child, lose your privileges. It’s that simple.
If there was a third stimulus where you got say $1,000 for each adult and $600 for each eligible child in your house who completed their vaccine series, we’d have a 95% vaccination rate, because those who are fooled by anti-vaccine conspiracies are very likely in situations where $2,200 for a family of four would be helpful.
I’d like to believe that, but after seeing claims online that the vaccine lotteries are just bribes to get the vaccine, I’m not sure that would change anything.
Sorry, but that ain’t the case. They look at that kind of thing as a bribe.
You can’t pay stupid people to not be stupid. The incentive to get vaccinated is protection from COVID. The penalty for not getting vaccinated should be you don’t get to participate in society anymore.
I doubt that most anti-vaxers would be moved by $2200 at this point.
These people have been regularly duped into voting against their own self-interest for decades now, through both politics and religion, so a couple grand isn’t going to move the needle for most of them, I’d say.
And they will scream! I went to the recent Lady Gaga/Tony Bennett concert at Radio City where vaccinations were mandated and there was a huge contingent of anti-vaxx protesters screeching about how their rights were being violated, they were being segregated, that they were living under apartheid, and this was all akin to being forced into concentration camps. Incidentally none of them had tickets, but it didn’t stop them from harassing everyone as they waited to have their vaccine status confirmed.
Lol… wait… that’s actually pretty damn depressing.
Amazing how none of them died after all those terrible things happened to them as they claimed.
Not only that, it’s a giant entertainment conglomerate, so good luck finding anyone who likes music who this won’t affect. And if you’re an anti-vax entertainer, good luck finding venues that won’t require vaccinations…Wait… did I just say hooray for near-monopolies? Screw it!
Yeah, as much as I hate how Live Nation seems to be involved with almost all the shows I like and charges ridiculous ticket fees for them and I’ll never forgive them for keeping me from seeing Janelle Monae (by having tickets sell out in presale so there were only inflated resale tickets on the actual on sale date), this is one benefit of their stranglehold over the industry that I’ll begrudgingly give them credit for.
It’s sad that a corporation can do something to stem this madness, while the US government has largely been unable to do much. Biden mandating vaccines for federal employees is a step in the right direction, but outside of that, it’s a patchwork of local and state responses. For all the hue and cry about individual rights, this really does feel like one of those occasions where the health and safety of the commonwealth should and must trump individual freedoms.Medical exceptions to the vaccine are fine, but the religious exceptions have got to go. If your religion forbids you from getting a vaccine, your god is probably pretty stupid.
Word.
Number.(Am I doing this right?)
Good.
I’m going to a concert Thursday and then a fest Fri-Sun, I’m hoping they require proof of vaccination but I don’t think that’s happening.
some braindead assclown: “but this means they are hypocrites because they are making money off the concerts and also they breathe without people telling them not to breathe so they’re against Freedom does anyone have any Freedom anymore hahaha or is it just liberals who are free to tell us we’re not free my body my choice”
Had a new girl start at work yesterday; we literally just reopened after 2 weeks because of a Covid outbreak. She refuses to wear her mask, and when we stepped-out for a cigarette at the end of the night, I was telling her about how we were getting ready to have another mask mandate because of the sharp increase in new cases in our state.“I’M TIRED OF THIS! IF THIS KEEPS UP, I’MMA MOVE SOMEWHERE WHERE THEY BELIEVE IN FREEDOM!”…enjoy Florida, I guess?
Recommend she move to New Hampshire, if only because she’d probably like the license plates – “Live Free or Die”.
Funny, I’m getting things in order to LEAVE this shithole when my kid hits college age. We’re garbage, we ain’t getting any better, and my kid’ll likely need a bolt hole.
Not trying to say this is some huge conspiracy but those Lollapalooza numbers are ridiculous. How are they arriving at 203 cases, is that just the number of people who tested positive in the city of Chicago and reported to whatever authority afterwards that they attended? Isn’t it probably there are people lying about attending, people from outside Chicago who attended and so on? And obviously asymptomatic or mild cases aren’t being tested or tracked, nor the people they may have spread it to. I don’t believe it was some super spreader event and there’s ten thousand alt-rock kids who died and they covered it up or anything but FFS be straight with us, this shady math doesn’t do anyone any favors.
They arrived at that number because someone from the Chicago Department of Public Health is quoted in a press conference saying it. If you go to their website, there’s no evidence at all so it’s unclear where they are pulling their numbers.
I don’t believe it was some super spreader event and there’s ten
thousand alt-rock kids who died and they covered it up or anything but
FFS be straight with us, this shady math doesn’t do anyone any favors.
Even if the case number was off by a factor of 10 and it was actually 2030 people that test positive, that still only 0.5% of all attendees.
What’s your basis for disagreeing? They put up methods and figures.
I’ll retract the second part – I cannot determine, after looking at the links as well as looking into their website specifically, how IDPH got those figures.
Heartbreaking: Concert Entertainment conglomerate you hate does something radFuck Live Nation for all things… except this.
Good.
Can we stop requiring negative tests instead of being vaccinated? You can test negative today & then test positive tomorrow. Either you’re medically unable to receive the vaccine, or you’re vaccinated. There can be no middle ground.
This. The tests are meaningless, more or less, unless it is a rapid test conducted right at the concert site, and that’s not gonna happen. Vaccinations (or approved medical exemption w/ negative test) or nada. Keep your unvaccinated ass home so that the rest of us who behaved responsibly can have some sliver of normalcy returned to us. Want to join in? GET FUCKING VACCINATED.Part and parcel with a vaccine mandate is the development of a comprehensive vaccine verification system. The cardstock vaccine records aren’t enough. Students at colleges are buying forgeries for $50-$400. The patchwork system that some states are developing isn’t good enough. It needs to be one system that can be accepted by businesses, schools, employers, events, etc.
Exactly. All you have to do is get on an airplane and that negative test is pretty much meaningless, isn’t it? I got a test before I took a trip, got a test while on was in the trip, and now that I’m home, the test I took three days ago is essentially irrelevant. And just cynically and selfishly, at this point, I don’t care about testing negative for the sake of not spreading it to the unvaxxed. I still take all the precautions, and I get some people can’t get vaxxed, but if you’re not vaccinated at this point—for whatever reason—then YOU’RE the one who has to change their behavior. I’m getting pretttty tired of how much we have to accommodate all the people who won’t accommodate us.
On the one hand that’s great, on the other Live Nation, AEG, etc. are all horrible companies that have been ruining live entertainment across the country for decades.
Support independent venues and fuck these people.
The locals in my area are all butt hurt over this and are crying in a local Facebook group. I live near Jiffy Lube Live (outdoor venue) and people are saying they are selling their tickets for upcoming concerts….
Of course, them selling their tickets will have zero impact on the performers, the venue, or Live Nation.
Can’t reason with stupid.
Well, it certainly benefits anybody who followed the rules but couldn’t get tickets because the shows were sold-out.
I don’t know what you mean. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to buy a product from a brand I disagree with and then destroy it on social media to prove a point.
Good.
As it seems to work, it might as well be policy everywhere crowds gather. If half the country weren’t run by idiots, we’d have a federally backed digital vaccine passport businesses could use everywhere.
I got my vaccination. As long as they aren’t requiring me to stand in the heat for hours with a bacteria-soaked rag over my nose and mouth, I’m good.
Are those people wearing Green Day t-shirts at a Green Day show????Also, what’s up with Spider-Man?