Live
Why NYC’s Entertainment Commissioner Sees Reopening Music Venues as a Chance to Rethink a ‘Flawed’ System
“It strengthens the argument that we really need to support our local venues, and for us to represent their needs at the table,” says Anne del Castillo. This week, New York City enters phase three of reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic, meaning the return of hair and nail salons, basketball courts and more spaces in addition to outdoor dining. But for local music venues from (Le) Poisson Rouge to Brooklyn’s Elsewhere — many of which faced rising rents, gentrification and other challenges even before the pandemic began — the road to reopening remains ongoing and uncertain. Anne del Castillo knows this struggle well. The New York City native took over as commissioner of Mayor Bill de Blasio‘s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) in April 2019, with a foc...
Music Venues Across the Country Can Reopen, But Is It Worth It?
Concerts are slowly starting again, but they’re looking considerably different in the pandemic and many clubs are unsure whether they’re worth the risks. On May 18, TempleLive in Fort Smith, Arkansas, hosted one of the nation’s first socially-distanced concerts with country rock artist Travis McCready of the band Bishop Gunn. In order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus promoters implemented extensive safety protocols: temperature checks at the door, masks on attendees and staff, limited bathroom occupancies and disinfecting fog sprayers, among them. The venue also had to keep each “fan pod” group of fans who arrived together at least six feet apart with one-way walkways and vigilant staff. It was an unusual sight for Getty Images photographer Kevin Mazur, who flew in from...
Live’s Ed Kowalczyk Talks Band Reunion and Planning a New Album in Quarantine
Since reuniting in 2016, Live hasn’t stopped touring. They had to be stopped. And from a logistical standpoint, quarantine couldn’t have happened at a better time for the group. While Live never quite had the iconic power of tourmates like Counting Crows and Bush, the passion of their performances (and inescapable hits like “I Alone”) has helped them steal the show on numerous occasions. Those loyal to classic alternative radio are widely familiar with 1994’s Throwing Copper, the record that landed a number of singles and topped the charts in 1995, but the band’s catalog runs deeper with more mature songs — particularly on 1997’s abrasive Secret Samadhi and 1999’s more melodic The Distance to Here. In 2018, they didn’t overthink things and surprised everyone with the Local 717 EP...
Little Richard Was a Quiet Civil Rights Pioneer Whose Concerts Helped Push Culture Past Segregation
“With Richard, although they still had the audiences segregated in the building, they were there together. And most times, before the end of the night, they would all be mixed together,” — producer H.B. Barnum in biography ‘The Life and Times of Little Richard.’ The early history of rock ‘n’ roll is a story of segregation — and Little Richard, who died of bone cancer at 87 on May 9, was a key player in the fight to destroy it. Because of Jim Crow laws, and racism in general, African-American musicians from Louis Armstrong to Charlie Parker to Motown revues traveling through the South spent much of the 20th century relegated to black hotels and black restaurants, denied entrance even to hotels where they were headlining. Ballrooms and auditoriums dr...
