2020 Fall North American rumour thread

Ny allowing 10% capacity for fans to attend arenas such as msg, Barclays, citi field, yankee stadium, etc 

The Ed and Mike interview on the Faithful Forum was interesting.  It sounds like PJ will never do a virtual show (which is not a surprise) but they were discussing with interest the Super Bowl which had 22k fans with spacing.  They certainly seemed to be on the page of the first show back not being jam packed like before.  It wasn’t clear if they would do something like that or wait for who knows how long until it can be like before.

FiveBelow said:

Unless the pandemic takes a dramatic turn, I get the sense that Pearl Jam shows as we knew them will not be happening until 2023 at the earliest. Being one of the first to make the call to cancel, I think they will be one of the last returning to normal. At this point in their careers they are in a much better position to ride out a pandemic than most bands. I do not see them being a litmus test for show safety.

I disagree.  They want to be back out there more than some people want to believe.  With a new album and a tour that had the trucks packed ready to roll, if other large acts start to play later in 2021 and early 2022, I have a very hard time believing PJ would hold out for 2 more years from today, especially with 25k people at a Super Bowl last week and concerts clearly starting to happen in some capacity again.

I would also venture to say the pandemic has already taken a dramatic turn for the better.  The vaccine will be completely rolled out in the US by July/August.  Once it is available to the public and everyone who wants one can get it, there is nothing more we can do besides going back to normal.  I think I have said before but if we sit at home, locked down, worrying about every single case and every single variant, we will be locked away until 2030.  There are going to be new variants, this summer, this fall, next year, 2023, 2024.  That part of the virus has always been expected and will continue to be expected no matter what we do, as thats just the natural course of a virus, to mutate.

The day anyone can walking into their CVS or local drug store and get the vaccine with no appointment, they are going to have a difficult time keeping anything restricted after that. 

AmishGuy91 said:

FiveBelow said:

Unless the pandemic takes a dramatic turn, I get the sense that Pearl Jam shows as we knew them will not be happening until 2023 at the earliest. Being one of the first to make the call to cancel, I think they will be one of the last returning to normal. At this point in their careers they are in a much better position to ride out a pandemic than most bands. I do not see them being a litmus test for show safety.

Exactly.  I said this previously and many disagreed, but Pearl Jam is going to be very cautious about this.  In listening to their interview yesterday, it's clear it's going to be awhile before they play again, definitely not this year.  

Who disagreed with you that Pearl Jam is going to be cautious? They will not have shows until it is safe to do so. No one is going to argue with that. 

I think what a lot of people are getting mixed up with here is when people think it will be or should be safe to have shows again. Some think, myself included, when everyone that wants to be vaccinated has been is the moment we can do no better and things should be normal again. Others think this virus needs to be eliminated completely before we get to see a packed concert. At the end of the day what we think does not matter so all of the talk and speculation in this thread is just that. Pearl Jam will listen to the health experts and when they say shows can go on as they normally did pre-covid then they will do so. Will it be right away after they get the green light? I hope so. If not why would they hold on to our tickets as long as they have if their intent was not to reschedule as soon as they could? If they know today that they are still going to hold out even when it is safe then they should be refunding everyone and starting over.

I really think they have dates planned right now that are placeholders as do many other bands. If the shows can happen on those dates they start it back up and make the announcement. If they can not they push them again. This is all behind the scenes of course. 

Also to those that think we are years away from shows again you are essentially saying that we have failed for 2 plus more years with this pandemic. I am not sure where you are getting this information from that it is a possibility but everything I have seen with the trends in the last month and the efficacy of the vaccine tell me we are very much headed in the right direction here. 

AmishGuy91 said:

FiveBelow said:

Who disagreed with you that Pearl Jam is going to be cautious? They will not have shows until it is safe to do so. No one is going to argue with that. 

More so disagreement over Pearl Jam being one of the last acts to return to tour just as they were one of the first to cancel.  Many thought they would be touring this Spring...nope.  People still think they are gonna tour this summer....no chance.  A lot of people think they are touring this Fall.....again highly doubt it.  

If they are knowingly going to be the last acts back they should have cancelled all of the tours then and restarted. I would like to think that they will listen to the health experts as they did when they shut it down last March and they will have shows as soon as they can safely to honour those tours they already booked. 

Europe is not happening sadly. I have said in this thread I could see November being safe to have shows again but the planning and scheduling would put that to winter 2022. If everyone that wants to be vaccinated has been by the end of this year what makes people think we can't have shows then? This is the question I do not get or understand when people say 2023 and later. 

 People are desperate for normalcy right now and shows is a big part of that measurement. If we can have shows again that means we are normal again and the world is a better place. There is nothing wrong with hoping for that to be sooner rather than later. It has nothing to do with being a realist or a pessimist or an optimist just hope for a better world. 

That said saying shows will not happen until 2023 at the earliest means 2024 and on is a possibility too. Of course it is a possibility but how fucked up is our world going to be if we still can not have shows at that point. That means so much has failed in the next two years and I would like to think as I said above that the downward trends in the last month and the efficacy of the vaccine are the news we need to hear right now and we are going in the right direction not the wrong as those predictions are suggesting. 

@AmishGuy91 I would like to add that you guys may very well be right and I am not trying to prove you to be wrong. We are all on the same team here and all want the same thing. We have no clue truly what the band has planned here or their management has planned.  I just I do not see how we can not be normal in 2022 without a massive failure and collapse of epic proportions and I think I am so fed up with this shit that I can just not seeing that being a possibility. I also can not see them holding onto tours as they have without the intent of honouring them when they can safely can.

Weston1283 said:

AmishGuy91 said:

FiveBelow said:

Who disagreed with you that Pearl Jam is going to be cautious? They will not have shows until it is safe to do so. No one is going to argue with that. 

More so disagreement over Pearl Jam being one of the last acts to return to tour just as they were one of the first to cancel.  Many thought they would be touring this Spring...nope.  People still think they are gonna tour this summer....no chance.  A lot of people think they are touring this Fall.....again highly doubt it.  

Why is a tour still scheduled to start in 4 months if you think Pearl Jam won’t play until 2023?

I know Europe is 100% not going to happen and neither is this fall, but if they were planning to wait as long as you think, Europe would have been canceled months ago.  The band will only return when it is safe, I agree.  But as someone mentioned earlier, when people can walk into CVS and get a vaccine, that is as safe as it is ever going to get.

I never said 2023.  I've said the earliest will be Spring 2022.  PJ is going to take a wait and see approach (with the virus, with the vaccine, and with other acts going out before them likely this fall).  

HughFreakingDillon said:

drfox said:

So many pessimists on here as always. U.K., US and Canada will be fully vaccinated by late Summer. Then it’s a case of people getting an annual September/October booster jab for the latest variants. Surely these types of events will be back next year (agree this year isn’t happening), even if it’s just in a handful of Western countries. 

if the vaccine only gives immunity for 3 months, which is what some suspect, that changes everything. the US may also never reach true full herd immunity, with such a high percentage that say they won't get the vaccine. 

If someone doesn't get the vaccine voluntarily, that's on them.  The world can't continue to be shut down because people choose not to get vaccinated.  Agree fully with previous comments that the moment you can walk into your local CVS, Walgreen's, etc. to get a vaccine, we need to fully open again with zero restrictions.  As others have also said previously, this thing isn't going away.  It will remain a part of our lives indefinitely, just like the flu (no, I'm not comparing it to the flu).  Life will need to go on with this thing still in the picture, albeit on a much smaller level. 

Wednesday, February 10, 2021, 12:00 p.m. ET

In a move that seems to mark a shift toward the return of live music in New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday announced that qualifying arenas and stadiums across the state will be able to start welcoming in-person fans for ticketed events beginning on February 23rd. The decision comes as the state’s late-2020 COVID-19 spike continues to dip and other facets of everyday life begin to return (indoor dining in New York City, for example, will resume this coming weekend).




Qualifying indoor arenas across the state and stadiums with a 100,000-person total capacity will have to abide by a strictly-enforced limited capacity of just 10%, and fans who do choose to attend a sporting or music event must provide a negative PCR COVID-19 test within 72 hours of the event. Mask-wearing, temperature checks, and assigned seating will also be required as part of New York’s latest step in reopening its live events industry.

“The testing to me is key. I can go see the president of the United States, take a test and if I pass the test, walk into the Oval Office,” the New York Governor said with Wednesday’s announcement. “This hits the balance of safe reopening. A PCR test is as safe as you can get.”


For now, the decision appears to mainly apply to athletic events. In New York City, both Madison Square Garden and Barclays Center plan to reopen with extremely limited fan attendance for their respective NBA and NHL teams. Citi Field, which is currently being used as a city-run mass vaccination site, will also aim to prepare the stadium for in-person fans ahead of the MLB‘s opening day in April. For more information on the gradual reopening of stadiums and arenas in New York, head here.

https://liveforlivemusic.com/news/co...tion-tracking/