A Glimpse into What Concerts Will Look Like in the Future

BY TJ MARTINEZ

So I went to a concert… like recently. But before you judge me let me explain a couple of things about who I am. I’m TJ, a music photographer. Since the summer of 2016, I’ve been going to concerts just about every. single. weekend. The first couple of months of quarantine were far harder for me than I expected just because of the fact that I couldn't go to concerts. I went from being this kick-ass girl in the music industry to kinda sorta nothing. In all the time that I spent booking clients, preparing for shows, and photographing, I was now just left with a painful amount of dead time. I've never been away from the music industry for so long. 

But finally at about seven months in, I was back in front of the stage again. Music photographers are those people you see at concerts between your favorite band and the stage. Usually I'm alone in that barricade so I was thinking that I'd be pretty safe. Also, I've been working in the industry so long now that maneuvering myself away from people has become an art in itself. When I'm running around with thousands of dollars worth of camera gear on me, I don't want anybody touching me. So between that and the barricade, I wasn't too anxious about going back to concerts again.

As soon as I saw that one of my favorite local clients was on the lineup, I messaged them to see if they wanted to work together. Luckily they did which gave me a grand excuse to go to the show. One of the very first noticeable differences in a concert in the world where Queen Rona still reigns was that I actually had to get to the show early and wait in line. By this point in my job, I've gotten quite spoiled with just showing up hours into the show and walking up to the person handling tickets at the door and saying “Hey I'm TJ and I'm on the guest list”… buuuuut there was no guest list. As a safety measure, shows in my area are being capped off at half capacity so guest lists and pre-show ticket sales were cut. It was truly first come, first serve to the show. It's a good thing I got there early because within minutes of doors opening, the venue was buzzing with folks.

There was a little hiccup with my accessibility of the stage. In my mind, the safest spot from me to work from would have been my usual barricade or side stage, feet from the closest band member on stage and much further from fans. For some odd reason, my barricade access was denied so I was weaving in and out of fans the whole time. I’ll admit, not the safest thing, but I had a job to do. I never got a clear answer from the show runners as to why I couldn’t be working from my typical spaces but as time goes on, hopefully venues take into account the professionals working the gig, not just the fans. But as just another fan, I can't complain too much about the new changes- the venue wasn't jam packed, each party had their own table, and the restroom was actually clean for once!