Gigs and festivals won’t return until 2022, says Lollapalooza founder

‘The next six months may be more painful than the last six months, and maybe the six months after that are even more so,' said Marc Geiger

The co-founder of the Lollapalooza music festival has said he does not think live music will return to normal until 2022.

Festivals and concerts have been cancelled worldwide as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking on the Bob Lefsetz Podcast, Marc Geiger said “super-spreader” events will continue to be affected by the virus until the pandemic is better under control.

“In my humble opinion,” he said, “it’s going to be 2022 [when live music would return].”

“It’s going to take that long before what I call the ‘germaphobic economy’ is slowly killed off and replaced by the ‘claustrophobia economy’ – that’s when people want to get out and go out to dinner and have their lives, go to festivals and shows."

He added: “It’s my instinct, that’s going to take a while because super-spreader events – sports, shows, festivals – aren’t going to do too well when the virus is this present.”

The music industry is already in financial peril as a result of the virus. Yesterday, it was announced that two of Manchester’s most popular music venues, The Deaf Institute and Gorilla would be closing their doors for good.

A series of UK drive-in concerts organised by Live Nation was recently cancelled amid concerns over local lockdown restrictions. The acts scheduled to perform included The Streets, Kaiser Chiefs and Dizzee Rascal.

On the podcast, Geiger warned: “The next six months may be more painful than the last six months, and maybe the next six months after that are even more so.”