Kentucky Derby weekend concerts are back (remember U2)? Here’s who’s playing in 2021.

There was a time, long before anyone heard of COVID-19, that Kentucky Derby Week translated into one of the year’s most diverse and bountiful offerings of live music.

The Derby may have forever branded itself “the most exciting two minutes in sports,” but the run of concert activity ran all week long, often culminating with one major blowout celebration (or two) the night before all eyes, ears and hooves went to Churchill Downs.

Take, for instance, Derby Eve of 2001 – an even two decades before a pandemic broke out that crippled the world and caused the first Kentucky Derby postponement since 1945.

That night in Lexington, Irish rock mainstay U2 played its first Lexington concert in 13 years at Rupp Arena. At the same time band frontman Bono was thanking the crowd for being invited to play Kentucky prior to the impending “harse” race, additional Derby Eve jubilation was underway two blocks away at the Lexington Opera House with a sold-out concert by John Prine.

That, of course, was another time. The music offerings will be comparatively modest this Derby weekend. Then again, it’s a giant leap from May of last year when there was no Derby, no music – no anything, really, other than a swell of uncertainty surrounding the COVID-triggered lockdown.

One year on, we have hardly returned to the usual concert congestion that comes with Derby revelry. But with the gradual ease of pandemic restrictions and the increasing number of live music bookings, there are definite signs of a reawakening: Churchill Downs is hosting the Derby before roughly half its usual attendance capacity and local venues are presenting a series of socially distanced outdoor performances that should add some measured sense of merriment to Derby celebrations.

As usual, The Burl is leading the way in terms of local concert offerings designed for the times. The Distillery District venue began offering outdoor shows before limited capacity audiences of masked and distanced patrons as far back as last fall. It continues to lead the way this spring with many shows having already sold out.

Here is what The Burl has on tap for Derby weekend.

▪ April 30: The Wooks/Abby Hamilton (8 p.m., sold out) – The Derby Eve return of the Wooks falls in the middle of a spring tour that finds the immensely popular Central Kentucky progressive string band performing 10 shows in six weeks through seven states. The run culminates with a May 21 performance at Nashville’s storied bluegrass/roots music hangout, the Station Inn. The Wooks, along with show-opener Abby Hamilton, will be back in the region this summer with July 16 performances for the Master Musicians Festival in Somerset.

▪ May 1: Joslyn and the Sweet Compression (8 p.m., sold out) – Like The Wooks, Joslyn and the Sweet Compression saw the career momentum gathered over a five-to-six year growth period put on ice when the pandemic hit. A sold-out Derby Night show, however, continues an emergence from a COVID-induced hiatus for the popular soul, funk and R&B ensemble fronted by vocalist Joslyn Hampton. The band has outdoor performances booked this summer in West Virginia, Virginia and Ohio.

▪ May 2: Wolfpen Branch (4 p.m.; $68 for a table for four; $100 for a table seating six) – An outgrowth of duo shows featuring former Wooks guitarist/banjoist Arthur Hancock and ex-23 String Band mandolinist Chris Shouse, Wolfpen Branch has enlisted a team of practiced players – fiddler Katie Penn (NewTown), bassist Roddy Puckett (also of The Wooks) and banjoist Aaron Bibelhauser (another Wooks alum) to become one of Central Kentucky’s most noteworthy new bluegrass troupes. (etix.com)

We should also note The Burl recently booked one of its biggest national touring artists since the pandemic, triple Grammy nominated songstress Grace Potter for a May 5 concert. It quickly sold out. Potter was one of several high-profile artists to remain visible online during the pandemic with a series of solo streaming performances dubbed “Monday Night Twilight Hour.”

Also getting in on the Derby weekend fun will be Manchester Music Hall, 899 Manchester St. While its concert calendar will remain mostly quiet through the summer, the club will open its doors on April 30 to host one of Louisville’s prime rock ‘n’ roll exports. Performing will be Thunderstruck, a tribute band that proudly bills itself as “America’s AC/DC.”

There is no telling when or even if the actual AC/DC will tour again, so this may be a rare chance to behold the live drive of the veteran Aussie troupe’s high-volume music. As with the Burl shows, capacity will be limited with masking and distancing regulations in effect. Doors open at 7 p.m. General admission tickets are $20. (etix.com).

In contrast, Louisville will be rather subdued in terms of pre-Derby concert activity, a far cry from the late ’70s and early ’80s heyday of the Derby Eve Jam – the annual performance rite that brought in the likes of the Allman Brothers Band, Bob Seger and Journey to Freedom Hall.

The city will make more noise as the summer progresses, however. While its biggest summer bash, Forecastle, has been called off for the second consecutive year, popular venues like Headliners Music Hall will be reigniting with outdoors shows later this month.

Also headed Louisville’s way will be a new outdoor concert series of up to 15 performances called Live on the Lawn at Waterfront Park. The series is the work of Danny Wilmer Presents, the promotion/production company behind three prominent Louisville festivals - Bourbon & Beyond, Louder Than Life and Hometown Rising. The Waterfront Park series is set to start later in May.