While some experts are saying shows won't be back until 2022, some promoters are hoping to get back in the game as quickly as possible, including Philadelphia's This Is Hardcore Fest.
While the city has seen a recent uptick in cases, with 781 new cases reported yesterday (down from 994 new cases the day before), the promoter of This Is Hardcore Fest announced on the fest's official Instagram page that the fest will take place next month, between August 7th and 9th. No venue or bands have yet to be announced for a show that's about three weeks away.
The fest made this announcement on social pages as well “Any updates regarding the fest will be posted on the IG and Facebook pages. It’s clearly a wild time with many fast changes. Wear a god damn mask so we can all hangout [sic] with friends and hear live music again.”
This Is Hardcore Fest typically features a who's who of hardcore bands, both from the Northeast region and all over the country.
Currently, the city of Philadelphia does not allow more outdoor events with more than 50 people, or indoor events with more than 25, so it's unclear how the fest plans to skirt those rules.
MetalSucks points out that the fest's booker, Joe “Hardcore” McKay, already played a show with his band Shattered Realm in June in Pittsburg, at a show called “The First Hardcore Show in the World.” Footage of the event shows no social distancing, and barely any masks:
We feel any attempts at doing shows like this before it's deemed safe on a national scale, or without just instant testing, will just result in further delaying shows for everybody else. Or as one commenter put it:
“you realize a hardcore fest like TIHC is a covid wet dream, right? Indoor? ✔️ Close contact? ✔️ Extended exposure time? ✔️ Loud talking people singing? ✔️ The death rate is low because the vast majority of people haven’t gotten it. Case fatality, i.e. how many people who have tested positive that died, is above 5%. That means that if 20 people catch covid there, which at the three day hc fest is all but guaranteed, statistically someone is probably going to die directly because of TIHC. But go on showing everyone what a bad ass anti authoritarian you are”
