Holland Reporter

Concert venues and bars in West Michigan have been hit hard due to COVID-19, according to the Holland Sentinel.

The Sentinel reports that the live music industry nationally will lose nearly $9 billion in revenue in 2020 if the rest of the year remains the same as it has been since mid-March. However, if touring was able to return in August, the industry would only lose about $5 billion.

Locally, that means venues are struggling. Only four employees remain at The Intersection in Grand Rapids, which previously had 81 monthly employees, the Sentinel reported.

“The sad thing is that we were having a record year, and were really on pace for an amazing full season,” Scott Hammontree, partner and talent buyer for The Intersection, told the Holland Sentinel. “We have so many hourly employees that are now left with no income. That’s what frustrates me the most. They are the ones working behind the scenes making the shows happen.”

At Holland's Park Theatre, 12 of its 13 employees have been put on hold, and shows are attempting to be rescheduled, Brandon Blank, the general manager, told Holland Sentinel. He said he is hoping to be back in full swing by August.

Tami VandenBerg, the co-owner of The Pyramid Scheme in Grand Rapids, told the Sentinel that the pandemic has devastated small business owners.

“A complete shutdown is terrifying and very sad," VandenBerg told the Holland Sentinel. "Canceling so many shows, some of which were years in the making, was brutal. Tears were shed. We have laid off our entire staff of 24 people."

Local venue owners hope to reopen this summer, but many don't believe they will be back to their usual work until sometime this fall. Some venues have even created GoFundMe pages to help their employees, as well as their own operations, survive.

“It seems highly unlikely at this point that we would be able to open and operate as we did before for quite some time,” Calin Skidmore, a partner of SpeakEZ Lounge in Grand Rapids, told the Sentinel.

Skidmore believes the business's capacity limit will be cut in half. He said the entire dining and entertainment industry will likely see drastic changes when things begin to return to normal.