Live Nation has confirmed it will allow touring artists to set their own protocols for admission with regards to concerns surrounding Covid-19, but will require all employees to be vaccinated.
The entertainment company shared an internal memo around its Covid practices, which includes US employees having to be vaccinated to enter shows, venues or offices effective from October 4.
Michael Rapino, Live Nation president and chief executive officer, signed the memo “CEO NOTE TO EMPLOYEES”, which mentioned that vaccination and Covid-19 test requirements for events were down to local laws, making touring during the pandemic more difficult. The local laws can differ from state to state, county to county and possibly even city to city.
According to the document, shared earlier this week by Variety, artists will be permitted to require proof of vaccination or a negative Covid-19 test to be able to perform a Live Nation show.
Rapino said in the note: “We believe this is a great model, and we have already implemented this successfully at many shows including Lollapalooza. We know people are eager to return to live events and we hope these measures encourage even more people to get vaccinated. That is the number one thing anyone can do to take care of those around them and we are encouraging as many shows as possible to adopt this model.”
Despite high levels of Covid-19 positive tests in the US, with a seven-day average of 124,470 new cases, events are still going ahead.
Lollapalooza, which was held in Chicago from July 29 to August 1, boasted headline acts such as Miley Cyrus, Tyler the Creator, Post Malone and Foo Fighters. Live Nation president and chief financial officer Joe Berchtold said that more than 90% of festival goers were fully vaccinated.
Some shows and tours are being affected by rising cases however, with Fall Out Boy missing three shows from their tour and Limp Bizkit’s post-Lollapalooza concerts being cancelled.
Image: Joshua Humpfer on Unsplash
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