Chris Stapleton, Lauren Daigle, Elton John: Are Kentucky’s big name concerts still on?
“Now what?”
Expect that to be the most frequently posed question as we head into a new year for a live music reset.
While we have long looked forward to the conclusion of 2020 and the promise of 2021, a reality check is now in order. Where, indeed, are we headed now that the new year has arrived? When can we plan on the return to the level of availability of concert performances before the COVID-19 outbreak silenced everything?
Well, first the bad news – or, at least, the less than euphoric news. The pandemic didn’t simply vanish when the ball dropped on New Year’s Eve. Clubs, theatres and arenas are, by and large, still quiet and are likely to remain so for some time.
When details about the lasting impact of the pandemic became known last spring, many organizations – in particular, the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) predicted no large scale return to pre-pandemic operations until this fall. Nothing since then has seemed to alter that estimation.
That doesn’t mean there won’t be any concert activity until late this year. What it does, suggest, though, is that planning for shows in the next few months will be dicey. Some tours and specific concert dates are already on the books with the high-profile risk that COVID-19 might knock them off calendars again as the dates approach.
Here is what we know so far:
Concerts at Rupp Arena
Rupp Arena has two concerts scheduled next weekend – the multi-act, country-leaning Acoustic Concert featuring Brantley Gilbert on Jan. 15 and the veteran rap ensemble Three 6 Mafia on Jan. 16. Both will operate with the same attendance restrictions and distancing requirements already employed for University of Kentucky basketball games.
This doesn’t signal a lasting return of concert traffic to Rupp. Neither performance is part of an extended tour. Until such treks become common practice again, Rupp’s concert offerings will be very limited.
So far, no tours are scheduled until Nickelodeon’s Jojo Siwa performs on July 14. Others on the books include comedian Jim Gaffigan (Aug. 18), Backstreet Boys (Sept. 8) and singer Lauren Daigle (Nov. 18). All are rescheduled dates from 2019.
Elton John will be coming, too, in April – of 2022 (specifically, April 9). Tickets for the originally scheduled date last summer went on sale in Oct. 2019. That translates into a gap of 2 ½ years from when tickets sales began and show date.
For the latest Rupp concert updates, go to rupparena.com
Chris Stapleton at Kroger Field
Speaking of April, that’s when Kentucky country juggernaut Chris Stapleton is set to headline “A Concert for Kentucky” at Kroger Field. Now set for April 24, the concert will be the first event of its kind at the stadium. The program, which also includes Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow and Yola, has already been postponed once from April 2020.
As this is the soonest and biggest concert event in COVID Year Two, it stands the greatest chance of having to be postponed again. No decision will likely be made as to a go-ahead for the show until probably March. Personally, I don’t see how it will be possible, even with a steady rate of vaccination, to proceed with a concert of this size by the spring. If wrong, I will happily eat my words.
The performance is only the third concert date of 2021 listed on Stapleton’s web site. It follows, by a matter of days, two arena shows in Ohio with Margo Price.
Festival season
Just behind Stapleton’s stadium show on the endangered species lists of 2021 concert events are summer festivals. There, again, it’s too soon to make a call as to how the season will unfold.
Two of the region’s three major summer summits – Cincinnati’s Bunbury Music Festival (usually held the first weekend of June) and Louisville’s Forecastle (a mid-July event) have not, so far, announced any schedules or confirmed dates for 2021. The other festival, Lexington’s Railbird, confirmed its return for Aug. 20-21 at Keeneland as soon as its 2020 outing was scrapped due to COVID-19.
No artist lineups have been announced for this year’s Railbird. Jason Isbell, who was to have been one of the headliners last summer, is scheduled (according to his website) to play the Blue Ox Music Festival in Eau Claire, Wis. the same weekend as this year’s Railbird.
The Clubbing
Several local clubs have explored variations on their usual business approaches, much in the way many restaurants have. The Burl, in particular, was staging concerts in their parking lots as late as mid-November. Winter has precluded any further activity. The Burl’s website has tickets available for three shows starting in the spring – by AJJ (March 25), All Them Witches (March 28) and Lost Dog String Band (April 25). Ticket prices suggest these will be indoor performances. Needless to say, check with the club closer to the concert date at theburlky.com for info on how these shows will be presented.
While clubs may be able to present shows by local and regional acts, broader scheduling will, as is the case for arenas, be subject to the number of touring artists available to book. Club acts, of course, involve considerably less financial overhead to get on the road than arena artists. But the obstacle remains the same for venues large and small – you can’t book if the bands aren’t touring.
Elsewhere
The Lexington Opera House has two shows on tap. Both are re-scheduled performances from 2019 for the Troubadour Concert Series. Blues great Buddy Guy is set to play March 7 with Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers returning on June 17.
The Guy show is the first scheduled date of the year for the guitarist. Given that it is less than two months away, a second postponement is a possibility.
Check lexingtonoperahouse.com for updates.
The Grand Theatre in Frankfort has another stellar concert series that begins April 9 with The Drifters and continues with Ranky Tanky (April 16), 10,000 Maniacs (May 13), Robert Earl Keen (June 6), Tommy Emmanuel (July 8), The Robert Cray Band (Aug. 21), Jonny Lang (Oct. 6), Tommy Castro and Marcia Ball (October 16) and Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn (Oct. 30).
The venue has become familiar with adjusting to COVID concerns. The Cray and Fleck/Washburn shows are already on their second rescheduled dates.
For current show information, go to grandtheatrefrankfort.org.
This story was originally published January 5, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
