Tool fans scout during their bear witness at the Darling's Waterfront Pavilion in Bangor in May 2017. Maine has relaxed its limits on outdoor gatherings, but concert promoters still aren't hopeful there will exist a summer concert season this yr. Credit: Ashley L. Conti / BDN

The relaxed limits on large gatherings Gov. Janet Mills announced last week were welcome news for those longing for an end to pandemic-related restrictions. But concert promoters in Maine aren't getting their hopes up that they'll be able to return to a normal summertime concert season.

The limits on indoor gatherings volition increase to 50 percent of a venue'southward chapters and outdoor gathering limits volition rise to 75 percent chapters on March 26. On May 24, capacity limits will rise to 75 percent for indoor spaces and 100 percent for outdoor gatherings. Masking and 6-foot social distancing requirements volition remain in place.

As it stands now, notwithstanding, that won't be enough to allow the big concerts seen at places including the Darling'south Waterfront Pavilion in Bangor, Thompson'south Point in Portland or the Maine Savings Pavilion in Westbrook.

"A hundred percent capacity with social distancing still means nosotros're simply operating at about 28 to 32 per centum capacity. That'southward virtually 4,000 people in Bangor, and about ii,400 in Westbrook," said Alex Grayness, president of Waterfront Concerts, which books shows at the Bangor and Westbrook venues. "For u.s.a., that's like getting 32 cents on the dollar. In that location'due south only no way it'south worth it. The numbers just don't work."

Lauren Wayne, managing director and booker for both Thompson's Point and the State Theatre, both in Portland, cheered the development, simply said she'd exist keeping her venues closed until it's both prophylactic and financially feasible to reopen.

"It'due south a nifty stride in the right direction, but it's non where we need to be to reopen," Wayne said. "And, I can't put my staff at risk when almost of them won't be able to be vaccinated until June or July, when people in their 30s and 20s can get the shot."

Given that most of those big shows require at least a half-dozen-month lead time to volume and confirm them, sell tickets and and so put them on, even if another announcement is made that once again raises capacity limits for sometime in July or August, that however means that any outdoor concert season would exist extremely abbreviated.

"We would need to find out in the next three weeks whether or non something like that would happen for July or August, considering otherwise, in that location's but no time to put information technology together," Grey said.

Wayne said she might be able to squeeze in some shows at Thompson'south Point for August and September even if those new capacity levels aren't announced until May or June — though at that point, at that place all the same might not actually exist any tours to bring to Portland.

"Correct now, there really aren't any coast-to-coast national tours, because every state'due south requirements are so different," Wayne said. "Information technology's impossible to bout with this kind of patchwork of approaches."

And so there's the fact that the Canadian border remains closed, and there'south no sign it will reopen anytime presently. Greyness estimates that around thirty pct of the audience for Waterfront Concerts shows comes from the Maritimes and Quebec.

"Even with interstate travel opening up, we still can't return to pre-pandemic levels without our international audience," he said.

There are still some shows set for this summer that were rescheduled from 2020.

At the Darling'southward Waterfront Pavilion, Luke Bryan is set for Aug. 5, Kiss is set for Aug. xix and Thomas Rhett is set for Aug. 20, while the Maine Savings Pavilion has shows including Primus on July 1, the Spirit of the South Bout on July 23, and Lindsay Stirling on Aug. 19. There are notwithstanding a few shows set up for the Land Theatre, including moe on July 9, Melissa Etheridge on Aug. 31 and They Might Be Giants on Sept. 3. Thompson's Point has ii rescheduled shows — Wilco and Sleater-Kinney on Aug. 25, and the Ghostland festival on Sept. four.

Regardless of specific dates when capacity levels are further lifted, Wayne and Gray experience confident that, even if there's not much of a summer concert season in Maine, at that place will be a render to whatever normal is in the fall.

"Volition we run across shows at clubs, or theaters, or arenas this year? I think so," Gray said. "It'll probably exist in the fall. I think we are definitely on track for that, if vaccinations continue on runway and cases don't spike. But brusk of divine intervention, I'm not very hopeful about the 2021 summer concert season."

Emily Burnham is a Maine native and proud Bangorian, covering business, the arts, restaurants and the civilisation and history of the Bangor region. More past Emily Burnham