Warped Tour Founder: Having Shows Right Now Delays Safe Concerts’ Return
Warped Tour's founder has denounced the recent rash of risky concerts held during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. He suggested that having shows now sets back the timetable for when safe ones can return.
Health experts and cautious promoters have forecast that concerts won't be able to return in a way that doesn't bolster the disease's spread until late 2021 or 2022. Meanwhile, a handful of gigs around the United States have proceeded despite the CDC's warnings about large in-person gatherings.
Those included a concert last month where metal veterans Great White played to a crowd remiss of face mask guidance or social distancing. More recently, South Dakota's Sturgis Motorcycle Rally — an event that draws thousands each year — hosted performances from Smash Mouth and Trapt.
The latter gathering seemed to provoke Kevin Lyman, the longtime promoter and mastermind behind the now-dormant Vans Warped Tour. On Twitter this week (Aug. 10), he spoke out about the show. He also asserted that rushing events to return only stifles an eventual comeback for all concerts.
"This is one more reason we will not see shows in the near future, or any future if it keeps happening," Lyman said while sharing an article about the rally's Smash Mouth gig. "Sets the whole business back every time it does. Every time this happens it messes it up for those who want to do it right."
An assortment of newly proposed safety guidelines has outlined some ways in which concerts could return earlier without possibly exacerbating the pandemic. This spring, Arkansas held a "socially distanced" show from Travis McCready that followed many of those recommendations.
After two decades, Warped Tour held its final full run in 2018. A year later, three special concerts marked the event's 25th anniversary. In May, Lyman hinted that Warped could return under a different name in 2021.
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