How Boise Area Music Venues Are Surviving Year Three Of The Pandemic
“Cautiously optimistic” seems to be the most popular fraise orbiting around the return of live music. After a year without shows, artists, promoters, venue owners, and fans were more than happy to see stages reopen in 2021. With the long tail of the pandemic still causing cancellations and depleted audience numbers, the future can feel uncertain. Yet, with local venues reopening, area promoters booking shows, and Treefort Music Festival returning to a full week of festivities this March, there are reasons to be hopeful about the future of live music in the Boise area.
Matthew Wordell -courtesy of magneticmag.com
“One of the biggest changes is the amount of change that happens,” commented Marissa Lovell with Treefort Music Festival. “COVID is still disrupting tour routes and causing artists to have to cancel and postpone shows. We do not foresee this being a permanent thing but think this could continue for a while.” Music festivals have been put in a precarious spot throughout the pandemic. Festivals are by nature crowded and organizers have had to navigate newly implemented safety measures to varying degrees of success and differing opinions while attempting to reopen. “The mix of opinions of showgoers has been a new challenge to manage. We are inclusive by nature with the various styles of music we like to champion, so it's been interesting trying to also meet the COVID challenge with the same amount of inclusivity for all Boiseans,” says Lovell. More recent incidents, like last year’s tragedy at Travis Scott’s Astroworld festival, have caused new pressures for festival organizers, many of whom are scrambling to reassure audiences of their safety. Even with these setbacks, many festivals, including Treefort, offered a cautiously pared-down experience in 2021, followed by a full lineup this year.
Being able to return to, at least somewhat, business as usual has Lovell, and many others, feeling positive about the future. “We heard from so many people and artists about how happy and grateful they were to be playing or hearing live music again. Treefort brings so much good energy and community building to Boise, and after such a long time spent apart and without live music, it was extra special to be able to gather again and do something that brings us all so much joy.”
Courtesy of foursquare.com
The push to reopen for small, independent venues has been particularly agonizing. Even though roughly 4,800 venues and promotors nationwide received funding through the Save Our Stages Act, over the past two years, an untold number of venues across the country still had their doors permanently shuttered. The Olympic, one of Boise’s newest venues, was counted among the lucky that were able to reopen this past year, despite an extended closure. When asked about safety measures the venue has taken to reopen, Eric Gilbert, who handles music programming for the venue, commented, “upon reopening last summer, we have worked diligently to follow best practices to put on safe shows for artists, our staff, and attendees in order to help live music come back at our venue. We have been able to successfully navigate the last eight months or so and appreciate our audiences' understanding and being willing to mask up when needed.” Unlike festivals, smaller venues are still struggling to build consistent audience numbers. While tour stops from more prominent artists might garner enough buzz for decent turnouts, independent venues are dealing with the absence of hesitant concert-goers that, in the past, would come out to smaller shows for the sake of a fun Friday night. With the majority of ticket sales going to the artists, venues often rely on food and beverage sales to bolster their profits. The new trend of audiences buying tickets but not coming to shows and buying those drinks at the bar, has put even more strain on venues. Even with these frustrations, some changes for the good are still being seen. “The thing we've recognized the most from both audiences and performers,” says Gilbert, “ is the gratitude to be able to take part in live music once again, something that we all care deeply for and recognize its value to our overall vitality be that economic, emotional, etc. I hope that gratitude will be permanent, and knowing the live music community, I assume it will stay strong for a long time.”
Even though these new issues, and some older ones, still persist, “Boise has historically been challenging for lesser-known artists,” comments Eric Gilbert, “but that continues to shift for the better. With audiences being generally more cautious during the long tail of the pandemic, I think that has been a setback again, but as the pandemic continues to recede, I think we'll continue to see audience growth for artists at all levels here in Boise.” for local, Boise venues, just being able to reopen, and welcome back artists and audiences feels like a hard-earned win for both venues large and small.
