NY Arenas Can Open, But Wait For Concerts Will Go on

Governor Cuomo announced that bigger venues can start holding events at a limited capacity. Realistically, what doe that mean for concerts in this Capital Region?

Live music fans all over the Capital Region, including myself, rejoiced on Wednesday after news broke that Governor Cuomo announced that larger venues that can hold 10,000 or more people could start holding events at reduced capacity. The main requirement among the COVID protocols for these events is that these venues can operate at 10% capacity. This means the wait for concerts, and sporting events here in the Capital Region, will most likely continue for a while.

Bob Belber, the General Manager of the Times Union Center, told CBS 6 the new opening guidelines are "bittersweet" as it will be great to have the option to open, but doing so at such a low capacity will not make events feasible from a financial standpoint. So when may it be feasible? Belber told CBS 6 once the fan threshold reaches 25% (3,000-3,500 fans for the TU) it would then start making sense for events to happen again at the downtown Albany arena.

As far as concerts go, the other side of the coin here is there is no guidance yet on smaller venues. Think about all the shows we have at places like Proctor's, the Palace Theatre, Upstate Concert Hall and so many more. Because they are smaller spaces where fans cannot spread out as much could they be the last to be given the go-ahead to reopen?

A lot of these questions will be answered over the coming months, and the good news is at least we are starting to reopen places where concerts can happen. The bad news is for fans of live music, the wait will most likely continue until a much higher threshold of fans can start attending these events.