NEW YORK (AP) - The events of
September 11 divided our lives into what was and what will forever be. Repercussions of the tragedy shape nearly every aspect of our new reality, and the music community, while mobilizing resources to raise money for relief efforts, must, like all other segments of society, adapt to the changing times ahead. The touring industry, in particular, is facing obstacles in areas of travel and security that it's working to overcome, which begs the question: How will these issues affect artists and fans?
"The short answer is that I know [the terrorist attacks are] going to affect touring; the long answer is, how, I don't know," said
David Zedeck, co-founder and partner of Evolution Talent Agency, which books tours for 'NSYNC,
Britney Spears and Limp Bizkit, among others. He presumed, though, that the changed circumstances could impact fans' willingness to attend concerts as well as artists' readiness to go on tour.
Public safety has become a top concern for most in the industry, with many wondering if people still feel safe going to concerts. Although Zedeck said he's seen attendance drop immediately following September 11, several factors play a role in the statistics.
"We've had a couple of shows during the first 10 days of this, where we've had five to 15 percent no-shows, but we don't know why they were no-shows," he said. "Was it because they had family involved? Were they stranded out of town? Or was it because they didn't want to gather? We just don't know."
To assure fans of their safety, venues have taken additional security precautions. "We have customized security plans for each of our shows which are developed in conjunction with artists, venues and local authorities, but we are not at liberty to discuss the details of such plans," Irv Zuckerman, co-CEO of the music division for concert promoters Clear Channel Entertainment, explained in an e-mail interview. The noticeable steps taken include an increase in security personnel and the use of metal detectors, and forbidding fans to carry backpacks inside (see).
The additional safety measures will likely result in a more expensive concert, but many in the industry agree that it's a price worth paying. "It's going to impact our bottom line, no doubt about it," said Geoff Pepe, security manager at the Compaq Center in San Jose, California. "The more requests that are made, the more beefing up of staffing, any additional security systems that are integrated into what we already have - it's going to affect our bottom line. Is it worth it? Absolutely." Traveling, particularly by air, is the other major concern of the touring industry. Though most artists get from town to town by bus, a few do travel by private or commercial jet. Even for those who primarily rely on wheels over wings, getting to the first stop on the tour and returning home from the last almost always involves a flight.
The stepped-up security in airports will make what once was a speedy trip through metal detectors and check-in counters much more time-consuming. And with airlines trimming flight schedules - not to mention staff - to combat the financial losses incurred when all planes were grounded in the days immediately following the attacks, it may not be as simple as arriving at the airport an hour or two earlier than usual.
Airport delays may also make one-off shows, which are often booked with less advance notice than a full-scale tour, less prevalent. "I do see fewer one-off dates, where the only way to make it to the next destination is by air travel," Zedeck said. It's common, especially in the summer, for a band touring the Northeast, for example, to easily fly to Los Angeles for a radio-sponsored festival and return to their scheduled routing the next day, but if that now proves more difficult on short notice, the lineups of these shows could suffer.
Airport hold-ups notwithstanding, some artists are just downright afraid of flying. "I'm almost more nervous about traveling within the country," Nickelback guitarist Ryan Peake said. "The safest way of traveling has turned into the most terrifying way of traveling. This whole horrible incident has stripped the security away from everybody, and that's one of the worst things that can happen." Peake's reservations are echoed by Godsmack's Sully Erna, whose manager said that in the week after the tragedy he simply couldn't bring himself to board a plane for fear of the terrible thoughts it might bring about; and rapper Mack 10, who outright refused to ever take to the skies again (see). R&B singer Carl Thomas canceled shows in South Africa that were scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, while vowing that he'd be traveling by bus a lot more in the future. Though these fears can be construed as a natural reaction in the short term, if they persist, they could alter the way these artists have traditionally gotten around. Added security and extended itineraries seem to be logical solutions to the most obvious problems, but will concerts themselves fundamentally change in light of the tragic events?
Some, like Clear Channel's Zuckerman, contend that in order to get back to normal, the show, as we knew it, must go on. "The events [of September 11] have obviously made us all more cognizant of our surroundings; however, we have no plans to alter the way that we conduct business," Zuckerman wrote in the e-mail correspondence. "Safety has always been our top priority and we will continue to take measures to insure a safe environment for both our artists and patrons. Tours will continue to be produced on the mass scale that they have been, including the visiting of multiple cities and the inclusion of high levels of production." Others, meanwhile, are sensitive to the fact that business as usual may not be the best policy. Zedeck believes markets heavily populated by military personnel and their families, such as Norfolk, Virginia, and Fayetteville, North Carolina, could wind up absent from routings. "In the immediate future, we have to be concerned about the cities that we pick," he said. "And if people [there] are on alert, they're not going to be allowed off the base to attend these things. And if they get deployed, the families of these servicemen and women aren't going to be looking to go to shows when their mother, father, brother or sister are in harm's way." If concert attendance appears to be declining, itineraries may be expanded to allow for more weekend dates on the tour, since attendance rates on the weekend are generally higher than for Tuesday or Wednesday shows, the two worst days of the week for a concert. So while one week of touring once meant up to five shows, it could be narrowed to two or three shows now. As touring proves more expensive for artists, which seems likely given longer itineraries with the same number of concerts, fans may also see a decline in elaborate stage shows. "I think that people will use less pyro," Zedeck said. "If artists go through their routing and expect less income, they'll have to cut back on their production." Concertgoers may, in the end, bear the brunt of the added costs of touring with higher ticket prices. But with prices taking part of the blame for the touring industry's poor summer showing, there is some resistance to shuttling the extra costs onto consumers. "Even prior to the recent tragedies, safety has always been a top priority for us," Zuckerman said. "Consequently, we do not envision a significant increase in ticket prices due to security concerns." "There's going to be some extra costs, but I expect that cost will not be a driver for ticket prices in the near future," said Chris Hansen, president of the St. Paul Arena Company, which manages three area venues, including the Xcel Energy Center. "One could see that metal detectors, television cameras and other security devices would raise costs to the building or the promoter that could get reflected in [ticket prices], but I don't see it like that. Other forces are at work to drive ticket prices much more than security issues. The cost to the fan might be [one of] inconvenience - longer waits as you get checked out a little more, and a trip back to the car because the backpack you were able to bring in two weeks ago isn't allowed anymore. Other than that, I don't think there's any out-of-pocket cost the consumers are going to get burdened with."
Even if the buck does get passed to fans, they may not actually mind. "The cost of security is probably less than a dollar per ticket," said Tim Ryan, general manager of Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California. "And I don't think I'd be hard-pressed to go to any fan, whether they're coming to a sporting event or a concert, and ask them if they minded putting in an additional dollar that would go to additional security."
