Life has certainly been turned upside down the last few months. All you hear about is Covid-19 and all the things that are affected by it. Just yesterday, Governor Bill Lee extended the Stay At Home to the end of the month. It feels like forever since we were able to go out to our favorite bar and have drinks with friends, or brunch or a sit down for a nice meal at a restaurant.

And if you’re like me, you really miss live music. When was the last time you went to a concert? And there were so many great shows on the horizon too. Tours with Volbeat & Clutch, Five Finger Death Punch & Papa Roach, Pearl Jam, In This Moment and a slew of others. Not to mention the month of May alone with all the Danny Wimmer Presents festivals like Epicenter, Welcome to Rockville and Sonic Temple just to name a few. According to the DWP Facebook page, they are optimistic that the fall festivals of Aftershock, Bourbon & Beyond and Louder than Life will still happen, even tho lineups have not been announced yet due to the pandemic and the uncertainty in front of us.

But now, experts are predicting it will be 2021 before going to concerts will be allowed. Zeke Emanuel is the Director of the Healthcare Transformation Institute at the University of Pennsylvania was part of a panel of experts put together by the New York Times to talk about life after Covid-19. Emanuel says

“You can’t just flip a switch and open the whole of society up. It’s just not going to work. It’s too much. The virus will definitely flare back to the worst levels…It does have to start with more physical distancing at a work site that allows people who are at lower risk to come back. Certain kinds of construction, or manufacturing or offices, in which you can maintain six-foot distances are more reasonable to start sooner. Larger gatherings — conferences, concerts, sporting events — when people say they’re going to reschedule this conference or graduation event for October 2020, I have no idea how they think that’s a plausible possibility. I think those things will be the last to return. Realistically we’re talking fall 2021 at the earliest.”

The efforts are underway for vaccines and antivirals but most experts, Dr. Anthony Fauci included, think it will take an minimum of 12 to 18 months before it’s ready, tested and available. And then what guarantee is there that it is effective right out of the gate?

We are all ready for life to get back to normal. But I think as itchy as we are, if we do jump back too soon, all the progress made will be undone and this ‘lock down’ will go on even longer.

To add insult to injury, concert ticket giant, Ticketmaster, is doing what Ticketmaster is known for: Screwing people over. For years, they have nickel and dime’d us to death with fees. In 2018, they and their parent company Live Nation Entertainment, were sued for “unlawful and unfair business practices”. Essentially, the agencies had bots that would snap up all the tickets and then resell them like scalpers. In the end, if you had purchased tickets to shows during a certain window of time, you were awarded vouchers for upcoming shows. The problem with that was, those vouchers were subject to blackouts, meaning that they were only good on certain shows. I have yet to use mine because anything I’ve been wanting to see has been blacked out.

Now, in a time where our world is upside down, when we all had shows we were looking forward too and perhaps already had purchased tickets too, are getting screwed by Ticketmaster again. A few days ago and article ran in USA Today telling how Ticketmaster quietly changed it’s policies without notifying users. The policy used to say that refunds “are available if your event is postponed, rescheduled or cancelled.” And now, it states that refunds will only be issued if the event is cancelled. So if you had a ticket to something that has been postponed you could be out of luck in getting your money back. The company claims in a statement made to USA Today that it’s policy has been consistent though they edited the wording online for clarity.

I smell a rat. I shouldn’t say that, rats are cute and hella smart. But to me, once again, Ticketmaster is screwing the fans who are clinging to hopes of getting back to a normal life and going to concerts and even sporting events again. While others are suffering thru this pandemic not only financially but mentally, Ticketmaster is going right along making bank. Maybe it’s time for another class-action law suit. Except this time, refunds and vouchers without blackouts.