Memphis' music industry hopeful for concert comeback this spring

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Spring weather and widespread vaccinations could be the ticket the entertainment industry needs to bounce back, and Mid-South industry leaders say live events are set to come back this month.

There’s now a renewed sense of hope after a long, grueling wait since COVID collapsed the entertainment industry.

Memphis musician Graham Winchester played a gig last March, not knowing that just days later, the safer at home order would go into effect.

“Let’s give this two weeks, or two months,” he said, at first. “Then March turned into April and April turned into May.”

Winchester said he had to cancel 48 shows he had booked that included a Europe tour and several shows around town.

The livelihood for musicians, entertainers and the thousands who worked alongside them — like sound engineers, lighting technicians, booking agents and security guards — were put on pause.

Winchester says he was forced to find new ways to support his family. He painted and sold furniture, put his music on vinyl and sold that too. He applied for any and all help.

“I was able to find some help online from not only Music Export Memphis, but some others things to fill a little bit of gap,” he said.

Natalie Wilson, the executive director of the Levitt Shell, said last year was the most difficult year in the nonprofit’s decade-long history.

She says their free concerts couldn’t happen, so they got creative by streaming past concerts while also working to figure out how to care for their infrastructure and keep staff employed.

“We have to ensure that when we bring music back, we can do it and keep our non-profit afloat,” Wilson said.

“I actually feel better than I felt in a year,” said Orpheum Memphis President Brett Batterson.

He says his team is working to be back in the action after so many nights of empty seats. Later this month, it’s hosting an outdoor concert series surrounded by candle light, distanced seating and food trucks.

“Sometime late summer, we may see some bigger concert names coming through,” Batterson said. “We are getting some holds on our calendar for big concert names. Then I think it will be fall for Broadway to come back.”

As COVID cases appear to subside and vaccination rates rise, the health department has eased up on restrictions. They require a certain amount of feet between performers and the audience and also social distancing within the audience.

The Memphis Botanic Garden announced two concerts, one in April and the other May. The Grove at Germantown Performing Arts Center is also hosting live concerts starting in April.

Wilson said the Shell will have its first show with Ballet Memphis on April 9 and 10, and music will be right around the corner, with social distance pods for the audience.

“We will be doing a series of fundraising concerts that will support powering free concerts to come back,” she said. “Then in ‘22, we hope that we are in a much better place and we can see big scale concerts and events like we do here at the Levitt Shell.”

In the meantime, Wilson said she worked to create a local alliance called Memphis Venue Alliance, where various venues can get together and share strategies and plans to push past the pandemic and its impact.

Relief is also on the way.In December, Congress passed a grant program that will help rescue the entertainment industry. Although, the Small Business Administration says it’s still working on the applications.

Winchester said he’s starting to book live shows again, but fears COVID’s impact will be long lasting, especially since so many venues and bars across the country closed permanently.

“There’s going to be huge competition to play at these venues, especially in really big markets,” he said.

But he believes fear will eventually fade.

“Some people will come back stronger.”