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With Omicron on the rise, many events are being canceled and the live event industry is, unfortunately, facing changes once again. On the flip side, Adele has finally announced her first live performance dates post-album release, and Avril Lavigne is returning on tour after over a decade. 

Credit: Diversify the StageDiversify the StageLive Nation, AEG, UTA, and more top music agencies are teaming up for Diversify the Stage, an inclusivity pledge founded a year and a half ago by Noelle Scaggs, singer for Fitz and the Tantrums. With the goal of clearing the path for women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and further demographics who have experienced difficulty in entering the touring industry, this initiative focuses more on guidelines and intentions than its quotas or rules. 

NIVANIVA, The National Independent Venue Association, has recently announced Niva Care, a health insurance plan for its members. With this plan, all NIVA members will benefit from access to affordable healthcare insurance - including benefits previously available only to large business employees. Chris Bauman, one of NIVA’s founding members and president of Chicago’s Zenith Music Group, explains, “NIVA Care is the opposite of a ‘one size fits all solution'. Instead, it’s fully customized for our industry and diverse membership.”

Tixserve Expansion Tixserve, an Ireland-based digital ticket delivery solution, has expanded its UK operations by signing a huge deal with the Gigantic ticket agency. Tixserve will help Gigantic provide their app through a full API technical integration and more. This deal will allow Gigantic to comply with strict ticket distribution security standards that are set on tours, including Ed Sheeran’s upcoming “Mathematics Tour.” 

Crowd Tension IndicatorGreg Horsford, COO at Halo Solutions Ltd, created the Crowd Tension Indicator, helping organizers understand how to assess the safety of their crowds through key concepts of Capacity, Density, and Tension. It has been used by Halo and is now being used at Soundstorm 2021. For free, you can use it too for your events.

New Restrictions in Germany Given Germany’s deadly fourth wave of Covid, new restrictions have been put in place restricting non-vaccinated people from entering a majority of public venues, such as restaurants, shops, and cinemas. Notably, this policy - called 2G - will be present in cultural venues and outdoor events, and clubs will shut down in areas where 350 cases have been reported per 100,000 people in the past seven days. 

Sour Tour Announcement Olivia Rodrigo has finally announced her tour for the album Sour. The tour is set to begin in April 2022. This is a big week for this artist as she was also nominated for seven Grammys including Best New Artist and Album of the Year. 

Megan Thee Stallion Cancels In Houston, TX, Megan Thee Stallion has canceled her hometown concert “out of respect” for the victims of Astroworld Fest, giving the city the necessary time to grieve. The concert was set for December 3rd at 713 Music Hall, celebrating both the venue’s opening and Megan Thee Stallion’s incoming degree in health administration, which she is still set to receive on December 11th of this year. 

Weekends With AdeleLaunching January 21, 2022, is “Weekends With Adele,” Adele’s Las Vegas residency at Caesars Palace. She will perform two shows every weekend through April 16, 2022, and these are in fact the first live dates announced since her recent release of 30. It is unclear as of now whether Adele will go on tour after the residency ends, but it seems she currently is uninterested in a worldwide tour given Covid concerns.

Walmart Live Stream Two Sundays ago, Walmart celebrated one year of live streams with none other than a shoppable Twitter live stream. Hosted by Jason Derulo, the event consisted of live cyber deals and was the first time a US brand had hosted an event like this on Twitter. 

New Country Fest AlertA three-day country music festival is set for next August in Atlantic City, with headliners Luke Bryan and Morgan Wallen. Live Nation is excited to make room in the northeast for top country artists to perform, with three-day passes going on sale on December 13th at 10 am EST. 

 Sony Music Nashville is looking for a Marketing Coordinator to provide administrative marketing support to the Marketing Director, help with artist rosters and maintain budget and marketing plans.     Event technology platform Lennd is seeking a Customer Success Specialist to act as a trusted advisor and become an expert on subject matter relating to customers and Lennd’s products.    FlyteVu is searching for two Account Directors who are ready to grow professionally and work in a fast-paced environment with impressive clients. 

Do you think live events should be canceled because of Omicron?

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Last Week's Results:

5% of BOH readers

have brought their grandparents to a festival.

• With the spread of Covid variant Omicron, the World Trade Organization (WTO) canceled their conference just days before it would have taken place in Geneva. The rising variant seems to be more transmissible than Delta, however, there are also reports of Omicron leading to less serious illness than previous strains. As for vaccines, it will take a while to find concrete evidence for how effective your shot is against the new variant. Event planners should continue to enforce their vaccine mandates, and at some point, it will be important to update policies based on booster shots. There is a lot to be discovered about Omicron, and it is too early to determine whether the worst will happen simply because we are used to expecting it. 

• Live Nation’s fell 8.05% last Friday, the same day the Dow fell 2.5%. LN managed to recover a quarter of their loss last Monday, but the general live music industry is struggling. Performers, who were starting to earn back the 60-80% loss in their revenue through live performances are going to be experiencing major challenges if more shows are postponed or canceled. Even reduced attendance will affect profits. Venues and promoters are similarly concerned, with more government grants seeming unlikely. Fans also may be staying home more with the recent rise in perceived risk.

• With the pressing necessity to limit Omicron’s spread, the Biden administration has been preparing new restrictions and regulations upon entering the country. New policies include booster shots for all adults, expanding free at-home testing, and better workplace protection strategies. There are also new protocols for safer international travel. Expanding on last month’s requirement for foreign travelers to be fully vaccinated, the administration immediately restricted travel from countries that have confirmed an Omicron spread. The administration hopes to strengthen pre-departure testing protocols and extend the requirement to wear masks on all types of public transportation.

• Around the world, major global events, sporting events, and even holiday parties throughout Europe and Africa are gradually getting called off. In the US, travelers are changing plans and pushing flights rather than canceling them outright. As there is no global consensus on the right way to go about the Omicron variant, countries are taking a variety of different paths - it could range anywhere from Ireland and Spain, which require visitors to do nothing but quarantine for up to 14 days, to Morocco, who is completely shutting their borders for the next two months, to even its returning citizens. Only time will tell where this variant takes us!

Some Rockin’ Tour Announcements

• Following their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last month, the Foo Fighters have recently announced a North American summer tour in 2022 for their latest album, Medicine at Midnight. Tickets began selling on Friday, December 3rd. Since announcing the tour, the band has added one concert in Columbia, MD, and canceled another at Minneapolis’ Huntington Bank Stadium when the venue refused to comply with the group’s COVID safety measures.

• After over a decade-long break, Avril Lavigne has announced her “Bite Me Canada 2022,” tour beginning next spring of 2022. Set to take place in her home country, Canada, the tour is scheduled to run from May 5-25. Lavigne’s tour is marking 20 years since her breakthrough album “Let Go” was released in 2002. She also released her latest single, “Bite Me,” featuring Travis Barker, in early November.

• Metal band Iron Maiden has announced their 2022 “Legacy of the Beast” tour for North America with a few European shows in the mix. Trivium and Within Temptation will be supporting acts in their US and Canada shows. After their tour was forced to halt last year, they will resume beginning May 22 in Croatia, adding 30 shows to their previously announced line-up. Tickets will go on sale on December 10 at 10 am via Ticketmaster with a presale that began December 7.

This week's spotlight is on... Bunbury Music Festival 🔦

Credit: Ryan Terhune / The Enquirer

For the third time, Cincinnati’s annual Bunbury Music Festival has been canceled. The 2022 event cancellation was due to the pandemic, along with issues regarding talent booking, the supply chain, and safe staffing. They had planned on featuring a lineup with Twenty One Pilots, the Avett Brothers, Marshmello, and more. Bunbury announced on their website, “We are hopeful that we’ll be able to get Bunbury up and dancing again, but at the time we are afraid we are unable to bring you the festival you deserve.”

 On December 12th for only $25, the Illinois mansion where the 1990 film Home Alone was filmed will be available through Airbnb to four lucky guests - booby traps included.    Looking for employee party ideas but hoping to stay remote or hybrid? Read up on some suggestions for your work teams near and far. 

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