Will You Need A Vaccine To See A Quad-Cities Concert? Venues In Q-C, Across U.S., Eyeing New Requirements
In order ensure the safety and well-being of all guests and artists, the new Mockingbird On Main theater at 320 Main St., Davenport, will require all guests, artists, volunteers, staff, sponsors, and media to show valid proof of full Covid vaccination in order to enter the downtown arts space, effective Sept. 1.
Singer-songwriter and guitarist Jason Isbell is requiring Covid vaccination proof at his concerts to keep his fans safe because “if you’re dead, you don’t have any freedoms at all,” he says.
Proof of vaccination may be digital or a physical card for the 40-seat venue. Children under 12 and unvaccinated patrons must provide proof of a negative Covid-19 test no more than 72 hours prior to attending an indoor performance, according to Mockingbird owner Tristan Tapscott. Additionally, all guests will be required to wear masks when inside The Mockingbird, which opened July 29, with its first production, Katori Hall’s “The Mountaintop.”
“Our space is small and intimate, and we want to play it safe as Covid and its variants start to make their way through our community,” Tapscott said this week. “This a public health crisis, and the way out is truly a team effort and we will do our best to play our part.”
As of Thursday, about 196.5 million people nationally have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, including 69 percent of all those age 12 and up, and 72 percent of people 18 and up. In Scott County, 60 percent of residents (18+) have been fully vaccinated against Covid, and in Rock Island County, 53 percent of adults are fully vaccinated.
Sean Moeller, concert booker for Davenport’s Raccoon Motel, expects to see more acts require vaccination of fans.
Worried that the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus could derail San Francisco’s economic rebound, Mayor London Breed announced Thursday that the city will require proof of full vaccination at indoor restaurants, bars, gyms and entertainment venues to help keep businesses open – effective Aug. 20.
The mandate will be more stringent than the one announced by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio last week. San Francisco will require proof of full Covid vaccination for all customers and staff, while New York mandated proof of at least one dose for indoor activities.
New York City announced it would require proof of vaccination for leisure indoor activities at restaurants, gyms and performances — becoming the first major city in the U.S. to do so. Mayor Bill de Blasio said the program, known as the “Key to NYC Pass,” will begin in mid-August during a transition period before it will be fully enforced beginning the week of Sept. 13.
Broadway’s theater owners and operators, citing the ongoing dangers of the coronavirus pandemic, decided to require that theatergoers be vaccinated against Covid-19 and wear masks in order to attend performances.
The policy, announced days before the first Broadway play in more than 16 months began performances, allows children ineligible for vaccination to attend shows if tested for the virus. Some performing arts venues in New York say they will go even further: the Metropolitan Opera, which hopes to reopen in late September, and Carnegie Hall, which is planning to reopen in October, are not only planning to require vaccinations, but also to bar children under 12 who are not yet eligible to be vaccinated, according to The New York Times.
Orville Peck played three sold-out shows at the Raccoon Motel, 315 E. 2nd St., Davenport, in its first week.
The new vaccination requirements for visitors to New York’s most prominent performing arts venues were imposed as the highly contagious Delta variant has caused Covid-19 cases to rise, leading the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to recommend that vaccinated Americans in virus hot spots resume wearing masks indoors. Several major businesses, local governments and the federal government have recently decided to require their employees to get vaccinated or submit to frequent testing, the Times said.
For now, artists and venues in most of the country are on their own to ensure the safety of performers, fans, and staff at indoor shows — an added burden after more than a year out of work, said a Rolling Stone piece Aug. 5. Touring acts including Lucy Dacus, Jason Isbell, the Feelies, Orville Peck, and many others have announced vaccine and/or mask mandates for upcoming shows. Among the stricter policies is the one that Michelle Zauner, a.k.a. Japanese Breakfast, announced Aug. 2, requiring concert attendees to provide proof of vaccination or a recent negative test and also requiring masks “at all times except when eating or drinking.”
Tristan Tapscott is owner of The Mockingbird On Main theater.
Jason Isbell says he’s requiring Covid-19 vaccination proof at his concerts to keep his fans safe because “if you’re dead, you don’t have any freedoms at all.”
In a statement to Rolling Stone, a rep for Live Nation said, “We are fully supportive of Jason Isbell’s decision to require fans to provide proof a negative Covid-19 test or full vaccination for entry to his shows. We also encourage everyone who can to get vaccinated as that is the best way for us all to take care of each other and get back to doing what we love.”
AEG Presents, the world’s second-largest live music company, announced Thursday it will start implementing a new vaccine policy across all the 48 clubs and theaters it owns or operates in the country. That includes New York City’s Webster Hall, Los Angeles’ El Rey Theatre, Denver’s Bluebird Theater and others.
The policy will also cover the festivals run by AEG Presents — including Coachella, Firefly, and Day N Vegas. The new rules will take full effect by Oct. 1. The announcement did not specify a
The 40-seat Mockingbird, 320 Main St., Davenport, will require full Covid vaccination or negative tests for entry starting Sept. 1.
policy about masking.
In a statement announcing the policy, AEG Presents CEO Jay Marciano said “just a few weeks ago, we were optimistic about where our business, and country, were heading. The Delta variant, combined with vaccine hesitancy, is pushing us in the wrong direction again.”
Covid cases totaled 125,894 nationwide on Thursday, a 76-percent rise from two weeks prior, while there were 616 Covid-related deaths, a 92-percent increase compared to two weeks ago. In early June, there were just about 11,000 new cases a day in the U.S.
Country artist Orville Peck played three sold-out shows at Davenport’s Raccoon Motel (315 E. 2nd St.) – July 31, Aug. 1 and 3, while requiring proof of Covid vaccination. Peck himself is known for wearing a fringed mask, and not showing his face publicly.
Sean Moeller, concert booker for Raccoon Motel, said Friday that will be the trend for acts going forward.
“I hope people are smart. Who you’re actually hurting if you don’t get vaccinated, you’re hurting business owners trying to keep their doors open, people who haven’t been able to make a living the last year and a half,” he said. “I look at it as very insensitive to a lot of people. Our policy is to go based on what the artist desire is, and I don’t think too far down the road, I don’t see any of these bands can stay on the road across the country without that (vaccine mandate or proof of negative test).”
“There’s no avoiding it; I’d rather keep people safe,” Moeller said, noting there were very few complaints about the Orville Peck policy, and
The Raccoon Motel in downtown Davenport has a capacity of 175.
showing a vaccine card is similar to bars forever requiring an ID for proof of age to enter. “”We’ve had so many great comments, so many people said they were happy, they didn’t want to be in a room where I didn’t feel safe. I would say 90 percent of everyone that wanted to come to those (Peck) shows was excited that was in place. It made them have a better night – at the end of the day, that’s what matters to us and artists.”
Expanding public vaccination should be obvious and is for the greater good, Moeller said. If people don’t want to comply, they can stay home, he said.
“That’s all there is to it,” Moeller said, adding the Raccoon gave a few refunds to unvaccinated Orville Peck patrons, which were quickly snatched up by others who wanted to fill the 175-capacity venue. Of the eight artists to play the Raccoon during the upcoming Alternating Currents festival, Moeller hasn’t heard any request the vaccine mandate, but he won’t be surprised if he does.
“That’s kind of what has to happen,” he said. Of area private companies, the only one the Quad Cities Chamber says is requiring all employees to be vaccinated is Tyson, according to chamber spokeswoman Jennifer Walker.
