And the band played on…

In difficult times it’s easy to let optimism cloud your ability to perceive reality. There is a saying that nothing focuses a man’s attention like his imminent execution. But, in reality, you feel no pain even while your neck rests on the wooden base of the guillotine. By the time the blade cuts you’re already dead. It is imperative to act before the pain or you’ve lost the window to shape the end game.

This is not an empty metaphor. Early in this Covid-19 crisis I predicted Coachella would cancel and when it was rescheduled to October I was equally forceful that date would never stick. My predictions out of the gate have been sports won’t occur in 2020 except perhaps in empty rooms. I’ve consistently said nothing of consequence will happen live until at least April 2021.

Since then, Broadway continues to push back the return to performances which they are now projecting for January 2021. Concerts you can attend without watching from your car are unlikely this year. Who could have ever imagined applause would be replaced by the honking of horns?

Yesterday, June 24th, 2020 Outside Lands gave up the year and announced tickets will be on sale today for the Fall of 2021. This morning Bonnaro canceled their 2020 rescheduled festival. The last men standing in festivals for 2020 are BottleRock in Napa, CA on October 2nd-4th and Austin City Limits in Texas…