Summerfest Blues
Everything is cancelled. Is it 2021 yet?
It’s the Fourth of July. I know where I should be. Standing shoulder to shoulder with my bro and hubby in a summer-steamy outdoor amphitheater. Clutching unusually tall cans of beer (whatever hard cider for me). Underneath a Milwaukee overpass, watching one of the greatest rock bands.
I should be at the Summerfest music festival with Guns ‘n’ Roses.
Instead, everything is cancelled or postponed—or in GNR’s case, tickets in limbo. Theaters, arenas, clubs and festival grounds are ghost towns of empty seats and silence. Live music fans, like me, are mourning for our lost summer of music.
Since the pandemic locked us in our homes, Angie and I have watched our early ticket buying go in vain, as, day after day, dreaded COVID-19 emails announce another opening on our schedules. Nixed are Blake Shelton, Kane Brown, Luke Bryan, Primus, New Kids on the Block (a cruise and a Fenway show), Tool and GNR, plus however many bands on festival stages.
Theaters, arenas, clubs and festival grounds are ghost towns of empty seats and silence. Live music fans, like me, are mourning for our lost summer of music.
Rather than trying to resist festival fare of greasy cheesesteak and pizza in a cone, I’m ordering groceries for curbside pickup. Instead of planning our two songs/stage march from one end of the grounds to the other, I’m checking my weather app for the best temp for dog walking.
I know, first-world problems. Cry, cry, whine, whine: life isn’t that bad. It’s just not as pleasant to listen to, not as cool as it should’ve been, and we find ourselves wishing the year away.
2021 better be the greatest year of music the world has ever seen. Imagine refreshed musicians embracing their tour bus bunks like old friends. Think about the songs emerging from the quiet homes of artists with just their pianos and guitars to pass the time. Suffering and strife do seem to inspire the best music.
Don’t get me wrong, the streaming stuff has been cool, intimate and raw. Lukas Nelson in his bedroom, Garth and Trisha alone on the Opry stage and even the NKOTB creating an online cruise for Angie (oh, and for the rest of their fans).
Still, the stream doesn’t compare to the tinny sound checks, onstage guitar swaps, the sweat, the pit, the picks—and the feel. Live music isn’t just something you hear. It’s something you feel. And we’re starving for it.
