How Have Concerts Changed Since COVID-19?

Photo+courtesy+of+Anthony+Delanoix+at+Unsplash.com

Photo courtesy of Anthony Delanoix at Unsplash.com

Grace Harrigan, Staff Writer

As COVID-19 restrictions begin to ease up, more and more artists have been organizing their concerts all over the U.S.

While I personally have not been to a concert yet, I asked my friends and fellow classmates (Laney Spronck and Hayden Pepe) about their experiences and how it differs from before COVID-19 times. 

On October 3rd, junior Laney Spronck went to see a Harry Styles Love On Tour concert at Madison Square Garden. I think it’s safe to say that Love On Tour has been the most talked-about concert this year. This tour exceeded many fans’ expectations from the amazing performance along with fan interaction. The tour has been taking over social media platforms, so just seeing clips of it from home amazed me. Laney said that she had been to one concert before the COVID outbreak: Pentatonix at the Rockefeller Center. I asked her questions about her experience and the differences between before and after COVID concerts.

Due to Harry Styles’ extreme popularity, Laney told me that all 20,000 seats in Madison Square Garden were filled. While the mask enforcement for the show was expected, she said that it did not ruin her experience one bit! She mentioned that her favorite part of the show was the fan interaction. After this show was postponed more than once, it was amazing seeing how excited Harry was to interact with fans and perform after the long wait.

Next, I interviewed Hayden Pepe. On October 2nd, Hayden went to see the Jonas Brothers at Jones Beach. While the amphitheater is outdoors, Hayden said that very few people wore a mask as the attendees needed to be either vaccinated or have a negative COVID test before entering the concert. Hayden also attended the BLI Summer Jam at Jones Beach. Hayden said that these two concerts had a few differences. He said that there were no precautions set in place and it had the same feel as his concert before COVID. Hayden enjoyed spending time with his family at both concerts.

I found it interesting getting to know the differences in precautions between the two. I believe it’s good that more and more postponed events are getting the chance to perform with the right precautions.

While we still have a long way to go in reopening these events, it’s refreshing to see these performers back on stage after the rough couple of years we had. I hope to be able to see some of my favorite artists during the next few years as more and more begin releasing their upcoming tour dates.