A concert at the Hollywood Bowl was cancelled following a heat-related power outage at the famed US venue.

The 17,500-cap amphitheatre’s entire Sunday (8 September) programme, which was slated to be headlined by Australian singer-songwriter Vance Joy, was wiped out as Los Angeles, California, battled extreme heat of up to 104°F (40°C).

“Due to a power outage at the Hollywood Bowl, tonight’s concert is cancelled,” reads a statement posted on the venue’s social media channels. “If a new date for this performance can be confirmed, details will follow and tickets for the original date will be valid for the new performance date.”

Grouplove and Tiny Habits had also been due to perform at the show, which was part of the KCRW Festival, curated in collaboration with the LA radio station. Temperatures were reportedly still in the high 90s at the scheduled 7pm start time.

The DWP said there had been a “circuit outage” in the Hollywood area

Representatives for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) said there had been a “circuit outage” affecting 1,400 households in the Hollywood area, with repairs expected to be completed by today (10 September).

The remainder of the Hollywood Bowl’s September calendar includes gigs by the likes of Boyz II Men, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Anderson .Paak and the Free Nationals with Color of Noize Orchestra, Camilo, Jungle and Mitski.

Other upcoming acts include Justice, Omar Apollo, The National and The War on Drugs, Eric Clapton, Kygo, Imagine Dragons, David Gilmour and Joni Mitchell & The Joni Jam.

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Snoop Dogg has postponed his upcoming Hollywood Bowl concerts with Dr Dre in solidarity with the Writers Guild of America (WGA) over their ongoing strike.

The duo were set to perform together at the 17,500-cap amphitheatre in Los Angeles on 27-28 June, but have now pushed the dates back to October 20-21.

“Due to the ongoing WGA strike and the DGA and SAG/AFTRA negotiations, we have decided to postpone the shows scheduled for June 27 and June 28 at the Hollywood Bowl,” says Snoop on social media. “We stand in solidarity with the unions and are hopeful that the AMPTP will negotiate fair deals as soon as possible and everybody can get back to work.”

The Dre and Snoop shows will mark 30 years of the latter’s debut studio album Doggystyle

More than 11,000 television and film writers have been on strike since 2 May – the largest strike of its kind since 2007 – in a dispute focused on fair pay from streaming media.

The Dre and Snoop shows will mark 30 years of the latter’s debut studio album Doggystyle, which was produced by Dre, and will be the first time the pair’s first co-headline performance since Coachella in 2012.

Other artists slated to perform at the Hollywood Bowl this year include Louis Tomlinson, Diana Krall, Tears for Fears, Maggie Rogers, The Lumineers, Pixies, John Legend, Sting and Kiss.

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Nearly six months after Maggie Keenan, a 90-year-old Briton, became the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine outside a clinical trial, opinion remains divided among international live music professionals about how, if at all, fans’ vaccination status should be taken into account as live activity resumes.

Nowhere is this more the case than in the United States, where the latest guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) say that those who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 (i.e. had both jabs of one of the three vaccines, BioNTech/Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson or Moderna, approved for use in the US) may once again attend indoor events, including concerts, with no need for social distancing or mask wearing.

“Anyone who is fully vaccinated can participate in indoor and outdoor activities, large or small, without wearing a mask or physical distancing,” CDC director Rochelle Walensky told press at the White House earlier this month. “If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic.”

Following the CDC’s announcement, some of the country’s most famous concert venues, including the 20,000-capacity Madison Square Garden arena in New York and Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl (17,500-cap.), have signalled they will differentiate between vaccinated and non-vaccinated patrons when they reopen, with the latter planning designated vaccinated seating sections where no social distancing will be required.

MSG, along with other venues in New York, will be allowed to reopen at 100% capacity if patrons show proof of vaccination, under plans drawn up by New York state governor Andrew Cuomo. It hosted 15,000 people for a New York Knicks basketball game earlier this week, with vaccinated fans not required to wear a face covering.

New York venues will be allowed to reopen at 100% capacity if they require patrons to show proof of vaccination

In Florida, meanwhile, a concert promoter made headlines yesterday (26 May) after announcing plans for a ‘no-vax tax’ that would see concertgoers charged 50 times as much for tickets should they choose not to get the vaccine.

Leadfoot Promotions, which is promoting a show by pop-punk legends Teenage Bottlerocket in Saint Petersburg on 26 June, explains: “DISCOUNTED tickets are available for $18 in advance, $20 day of show. To be eligible for the DISCOUNT, you will need to bring a government issued photo ID and your PHYSICAL COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card. […] If you do not care about the discount, tickets are available for a flat rate of $999.99.

“Note that all staff, volunteers, and band members will be vaccinated. Also know if you buy one of these advance tickets and show up without your vaccination card or government issued photo id [sic], you won’t be let in at this price, you will need to pay the remaining $981.99 to enter or go back and get your card. There will be NO REFUNDS. We are NOT telling you what to do here, we are making a business decision and letting the market decide. If someone wants to come in unvaccinated, they will scare off a large number of patrons and will need to pay the difference.”

Speaking to Tampa Bay’s ABC Action News, Leadfoot’s Paul Williams explains: “We’re just trying to do a show safely. And they [fans] should go out and get vaccinated to protect themselves and their families and their community.”

Back in New York, baseball team the Brooklyn Nets is also incentivising immunisation by charging more for tickets sold to fans who have yet to receive both vaccines, as well as introducing a Hollywood Bowl-style vaccinated-only section at its home venue, the 19,000-capacity Barclays Center.

“We are not telling you what to do – we are making a business decision and letting the market decide”

Williams says he came up with idea of a ‘tax’ after realising in Florida he probably couldn’t legally restrict entry to those who can prove their vaccination status.

In contrast to the position taken by Cuomo in New York – where a planned ‘Excelsior pass’ will verify New Yorkers’ vaccination status – Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, has taken a hard line on vaccine certification, having signed into law a ban on so-called vaccine passports earlier this month.

“Under no circumstances will the state be asking you to show proof of vaccination,” said DeSantis, “and I don’t think private companies should be doing that either. If you want to go to an event, go to an event. If you don’t, don’t. But to be requiring people to provide all this proof, that’s not how you get society back to normal.”

The launch of the Excelsior pass follows the successful roll-out of the similar green pass in Israel, where promoters were once again putting on (non-socially distanced) shows before the recent flare-up in violence. In fact, so successful is the combination of vaccination + certification that Israel will axe all restrictions – including the green pass – from the beginning of June, though health minister Yuli Edelstein says it could be re-introduced should the situation change. For now, he said, “The economy and the citizens of Israel will get extra room to breathe.”

Despite allowing for concerts of thousands of people in pandemic conditions, the green pass programme is not without its critics: writing in the UK’s Daily Telegraph today (27 May), five Israeli doctors say the scheme has ‘backfired’ by creating “two classes of citizens: the upper vaccinated and the lower unvaccinated”. This situation, they say, has resulted in a situation incompatible with the “basic principles of the medical profession”.

Talk of vaccine ‘passports’ is equally controversial in the UK, where critics warn of government overreach and an ‘us and them’ society divided along vaccination lines. As such, the UK live business is pushing for a system of certification that would also include people who have natural immunity to the virus, or who can produce a negative Covid-19 test.

“The intention of Covid-status certification is to find a non-discriminatory solution”

Writing to the government last month, a cross-section of the UK live entertainment, events and sports sector suggested that so-called Covid-status certification is the key to reopening venues safely following the planned abolition of all restrictions on 21 June.

“Not to be confused with the term ‘vaccination passports’, the simple premise is to reduce the likelihood of people who may be infected from attending events and ensure the safety of other attendees and event staff,” say the signatories, who include AEG Europe, the Concert Promoters’ Association, Ticketmaster, ASM Global and umbrella body LIVE. “This would be managed by ensuring that all attendees are either vaccinated OR have natural immunity OR have a negative Covid test within a set period of time prior to arrival.”

Unlike restricting entry only to those who have had the vaccine, certification would not discriminate against those who cannot have the vaccine for medical reasons, or otherwise don’t feel comfortable having being immunised against the virus, they say.

“The intention of Covid-status certification is to find a non-discriminatory solution that is safe, simple, protects privacy and doesn’t cause unnecessary delays or a poor experience for visitors,” the letter reads.

Outside of live events, vaccine passports are also being trialled for international travel, with the European Union, China and Japan among those developing digital vaccination certificates to enable the resumption of overseas holidays from this summer.

This article forms part of IQ’s Covid-19 resource centre – a knowledge hub of essential guidance and updating resources for uncertain times.

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The Hollywood Bowl will reopen for live performances in July with a number of safety precautions that favour vaccinated concertgoers over non-vaccinated.

The LA amphitheatre will reopen at 65% of its 17,500 capacity and the ‘majority of all concert seats will be designated to fully vaccinated patrons’, according to the venue’s website.

Fully vaccinated attendees will be required to show proof of vaccination and photo ID upon entry. Inside the venue, these attendees will be permitted to sit in the ‘vaccinated seating sections’ which will not be socially distanced.

US citizens are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their second dose of (Pfizer or Moderna) or two weeks after their first dose of (Johnson & Johnson).

Since the Covid-19 vaccine distribution began in the US on 14 December, more than 124 million people or 37.5% of the total population have been fully vaccinated, according to NPR’s Covid-19 vaccine tracker.

The Hollywood Bowl has stipulated that concertgoers who are not fully vaccinated will be required to show a negative Covid-19 test result (which cannot be more than 72 hours old) and a photo ID upon entry.

Attendees who are not fully vaccinated will be required to sit in a socially distanced seating area away from the other sections

These patrons will be required to sit in one of two seating sections, which are socially distanced and separate from vaccination-required sections.

US officials have dismissed the idea of a “vaccine passport” to prove a person’s jab history – saying it represents a violation of privacy – but some venues, concerts and other large gatherings have asked attendees for proof.

Vaccine passports have already taken off in Israel, where anyone who wants to attend a concert must be doubly vaccinated.

Concerts, gyms, swimming pools, theatres and hotels are only available to residents who hold a Green Pass – a certificate issued by the ministry of health showing they had received both doses of the vaccine more than a week prior to the event or that they had recovered from Covid-19 and were presumed immune.

The ethical implications of implementing vaccine passports have been hotly debated around the world. Last week, in IQ‘s first-ever Recovery Sessions, a number of experts hailing from Tel Aviv to London debated the topics of test certificates and vaccine passports.

IQ subscribers can watch the Recovery Sessions on-demand here.

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The Who will play a third date at California’s Hollywood Bowl as part of their Moving On! Tour this autumn, promoter Live Nation has announced.

The English rock band has never before performed at the iconic 17,500-capacity venue more than two times in one tour cycle. The Bowl dates mark the Who’s first appearance at the venue since a two-show run in April and May of 2006.

Liam Gallagher will open the third Hollywood Bowl show on October 24. The extra date comes as the band cancelled their performance at Rogers Place (20,734-cap.) in Edmonton, scheduled for 23 October.

Guests for the first two Bowl shows on October 11 and 13 are yet to be announced.

In 2017, Live Nation veteran promoters Andrew Hewitt and Bill Silva beat a rival AEG Presents bid to sign a ten-year deal with LA Philharmonic to exclusively promote non-classical concerts at the Bowl.

The Bowl dates mark the Who’s first appearance at the venue since a two-show run in April and May of 2006.

The Who kicked off their stadium tour on 9 May in Grand Rapids, Michigan, ending the first week of touring playing to a sold-out crowd at New York’s Madison Square Garden (20,789-cap.) on Monday (13 May).

The Who are accompanied by acclaimed local orchestras as they visit 29 cities across the United States and Canada for their symphonic concert tour. Guitarist and backup singer Simon Townshend, keyboardist Loren Gold, bassist Jon Button and drummer Zak Starkey also join the band.

A UK tour date, at London’s Wembley Stadium, is scheduled for July.

The Moving On! Tour is Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend’s first tour since Endless Wire in 2006. Speaking in a keynote interview at this year’s International Live Music Conference, Daltrey suggested that, despite the tour, his and Townshend’s relationship remains strained. The pair are recording the Who’s new album separately.

The album – the Who’s first record of new songs in 13 years – will be out later this year.

Tickets for the Hollywood Bowl go on sale on Friday 17 May at 12 p.m. local time. More information can be found here.

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Live Nation-Hewitt Silva has agreed a new ten-year deal to exclusively promote non-classical concerts at California’s 17,500-cap. Hollywood Bowl, beating a rival bid by AEG Presents.

The company, formed in 2011, is a joint venture between Live Nation and veteran concert promoters Andrew Hewitt and Bill Silva, who have produced concerts at the Bowl for four decades, most recently as Andrew Hewitt & Bill Silva Presents. The new arrangement – which gives LN-Hewitt Silva exclusive rights to promote all non-Los Angeles Philharmonic Association (LA Phil) shows at the venue – comes into force on 1 January 2018.

“We’ve had a wonderful experience with Andy and Bill for over 25 years at the Hollywood Bowl,” comments Gail Samuel, acting LA Phil president and CEO. “We look forward to continuing to develop this relationship with Live Nation-Hewitt Silva, bringing great artists to perform for our audiences at the Hollywood Bowl and enhancing the musical history of this iconic venue.”

Past Hewitt Silva-promoted shows at the Hollywood Bowl include the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Morrissey, Genesis, Roger Waters, The Who, Crosby, Stills Nash and Young, Coldplay and Radiohead, while the 2017 concert season has so far seen performances by Queen and Adam Lambert, Jason Mraz, New Kids on the Block and La La Land in Concert.

The Bowl has been Pollstar’s best outdoor venue for the past 13 years.

“The Hollywood Bowl is a historic and iconic Los Angeles venue,” says Michael Rapino, president and CEO of Live Nation. “In partnership with Andy and Bill, we are proud to continue to deliver the world’s greatest live performers and tours to the venue for the next 10 years.”

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