The Jesus Lizard at Irving Plaza
The Jesus Lizard at Irving Plaza (more by P Squared)

No moshing & crowd-surfing allowed when venues reopen, says new safety guide

With one Arkansas venue currently attempting to push ahead with a socially-distanced concert later this week, and plans for drive-through and reduced capacity shows in the works elsewhere, it seems likely we’ll see the return of some live events before the fall 2021 estimate made by one expert. How to hold, and attend, gatherings safely before herd immunity is achieved or a vaccine is available is a major concern though, and to help with that, Steven Adelman and Jacob Worek of the Event Safety Alliance spoke with over 400 promoters, caterers, and Ticketmaster employees to put together a new reopening guide, Billboard reports. The 29-page guide goes over a lot of guidelines for venues and promoters to consider, including sanitizing practices and handling illness in staff, but it also includes some details of interest to concert attendees about what show-going might look like in the months ahead.

One big change: moshing and crowd-surfing are out, at least for now. (sorry, David Yow!) “A few obvious changes will be necessary whenever GA events do reopen,” the guide reads. “Patrons cannot all stand at the front of the stage like they are accustomed; moshing and crowd surfing are violations of social distancing per se and must be absolutely prohibited during this pandemic.”

It continues:

Even hallways and smoking areas where patrons congregate will have to be monitored to enforce health policies. Here are some simple ways to remind GA patrons of the importance of social distancing.
-High conspicuity gaff tape on the floor of an indoor space, or spray chalk, survey flags, and cones for outdoor spaces, to mark six foot (two meter) separation.
-Rope barriers and stanchions or bike rack to physically separate patrons.
-Open areas patrolled by workers performing the guest services functions of providing information, enforcing rules, and modeling healthy behavior.
-Messaging to patrons before and during the event through electronic messaging and physical signage.
-Messaging by the performer during the event.

Other measures recommended by the guide are staggered entry times into venues, contactless merch ordering, limiting the amount of people allowed in bathrooms at a time, and sanitizing stations. You can read the whole guide here.

Check out pictures of The Jesus Lizard’s very non-socially distanced 2017 show at Irving Plaza in the gallery below.