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Pittsburgh concert promoter says industry is hoping for a June comeback

Rebecca Droke/Post-Gazette

Pittsburgh concert promoter says industry is hoping for a June comeback

Seventy-five concerts.

That’s what Pittsburgh promoter Brian Drusky has canceled, postponed or scheduled over the past dozen days, since venue closures began due to the threat of the coronavirus.

Drusky, one of the bigger independent promoters in Pittsburgh, books shows into Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall, Jergels, the Palace Theatre and the Crafthouse Stage & Grill, among other venues.

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The artists he’s had to postpone include Christopher Cross, Guster, Against Me!, Postmodern Jukebox, The English Beat, The Music of Cream and John Cusack’s “Say Anything” tour.

First, the middle of March shows were scrapped. Now, they’re in the process of shifting most of April and taking a hard look at May.

“June is what everyone is kind of hoping for,” Drusky says of the comeback. “June looks like the timeframe, just based on what we’re hearing in the news.”

That means taking two and a half months of postponed shows and squeezing them into the second half of 2020.

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“It’s like putting puzzle pieces together,” Drusky says. “Everyone is trying to maneuver their shows and this date depends on that date.”

Those are the daily, logistical concerns. Then, there are the bigger ones.

“Will it put some small promoters out of business?” he says. “Maybe. Because you’re not making money for a couple months. When you have staff and things like that, it’s hard.”

And then there is the consumer side — the people buying the tickets. Right now, many of them are worried about paying their bill and putting food on the table.

Just looking at the schedule, with all the stadium, arena and amphitheater tours, 2020 was shaping up to be one of the busiest concert years in the history of the industry. And, surely, more tours were going to be announced for late summer and fall.

“Does the average concert-goer have enough money to see all these shows?” Drusky says.

That, with the potential for restrictions on crowd sizes, is going to keep the puzzle pieces a little scattered for a while.

Scott Mervis: smervis@post-gazette.com.

First Published: March 20, 2020, 2:46 p.m.

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The Carnegie of Homestead of Music Hall.  (Rebecca Droke/Post-Gazette)
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