2020 Year in Review
The world of live events came to a screeching halt in March, immediately impacting all corners of in-person entertainment.
Coachella was postponed on March 10; the NBA, a day later. On March 12, the NCAA men’s basketball tournament was outright canceled.
In the blink of an eye, events that had been annual rites of passage and key calendar milestones were suddenly gone, replaced with confusion and uncertainty. Instead of MLB Opening Day ushering in spring and the Kentucky Derby whisking us closer to summer, stadiums and stages sat vacant; Americans sat home.
But we adapted, performers and fans alike.
Less than a week later, Luke Combs was streaming a makeshift concert on Instagram from a barstool in his garage. Sitting in a robe with wife Chrissy Teigen by his side, John Legend delighted an audience of millions, from his piano at home, his sentimental crooning both comforting and assuring at a time when almost nothing seemed ordinary.
Artists continued to pivot, from traditional music stages to outdoor theaters. Drive-in concerts, both live and video-streamed, helped summer feel just a little bit like the ones prior to the pandemic. Professional baseball returned—first Korean, then American. The NBA and NHL resumed in a bubble.
All the while, artists continued streaming—and doing good. Livestreams helped us celebrate Pride Week. And Juneteenth. Musicians teamed up with independent music venues to save our stages.
Live events served a much different purpose. They didn’t fill concert halls and NBA arenas, but they filled needs. They raised awareness and support, to tackle challenges we’d never faced.
The NFL and college football returned in the fall, with new safety measures and procedures on game day. Days grew shorter and colder, but social distanced comedy shows by the likes of Dave Chappelle and Kevin Hart helped us laugh when we most needed it.
Now, as the first Americans are receiving vaccines for COVID-19, we look back on the 2020 year in live events, hoping there will never be another one like it.
However, we remain grateful for the determination and ingenuity of artists and athletes, for the moments where we sang along to an online concert, watched a stream of our favorite team in an empty stadium or cheered through a mask, six feet apart from our fellow fans—moments, however fleeting, that made 2020 feel just a little more like normal.