Pittsburgh-area musicians find new ways to stage live music amid covid-19 restrictions

When Pittsburgh’s nightlife scene shut down amid the covid-19 quarantine, hundreds of live performances were shelved.

In the quarantine’s early days, livestreaming was a primary mode of musical communication, with bands setting up “virtual tip jars” through services such as PayPal and Venmo.

And while there is still plenty of livestreaming happening, as Western Pennsylvania began transitioning to less-­restrictive health and safety guidelines, performers and concertgoers started brainstorming new ways to enjoy the live music experience in a responsible way.

One way is at least semi-­traditional: performing at any of the region’s bar and music venues, albeit at half-­capacity. Kyle Greene of the Kyle Greene Band performed at Mike’s Beer Bar on Pittsburgh’s North Side before the recent retightening of restrictions on restaurants and bars.

“I had an interesting experience,” Greene said. “The staff and patrons were taking all of the health precautions seriously. It was a fun night, but it was definitely punctuated by moments of ‘things are not normal.’ ”

That included the view, Greene said.

“You’re sitting across from PNC Park on a warm, summery Friday night and seeing basically nobody out on the street,” Greene said. “There are awkward moments when folks would come to say hello to us and you instinctively want to give someone a high-five or handshake, but you have to resort to those last-minute finger guns.”

Andy Gregg of Norvelt was slated to play a July 9 concert at the Greensburg Garden & Civic Center that was canceled a few hours before the show. And while he was disappointed, Gregg said staying safe is paramount.

“Almost everything we’ve done has been outside, which just makes it easier,” he said. “As much of an inconvenience as it can be, our focus is safety for the places we’re playing and safety of the folks who are attending.”

Gregg was hoping that a show slated for Saturday at J. Corks in Greensburg would go forward as planned.

“We just try to keep a positive attitude and keep up to date with what’s required,” he said.

Pat Lanips of Millvale plays with local jam band The Cool Fools and staged a show in the parking lot of a lumber business in Shaler over Memorial Day weekend.

“A friend of mine has this big, outdoor space at his warehouse, and we thought, let’s try and do something,” said Lanips, 44. “We figured we could do it safely, and on a Sunday, it wouldn’t bother anybody.”

Concertgoers were safely spaced out, the band had plenty of room for reasonable social distancing and people behaved responsibly, Lanips said.

“We kind of let everyone who came sort of dictate how it was laid out,” he said. “We were there to police it if started going a way we didn’t want. But everyone did a really great job.”

New, temporary restrictions — particularly in Allegheny County, which has seen a spike in covid-19 cases over the past week — have limited the number of people who could attend such an event. But farther up Route 8 in Butler County, Pittsburgh promoter Drusky Entertainment has partnered with the Starlight Drive-In Theater to host several “drive-in concerts” this summer.

“We were all in favor of it,” said theater owner John Manson. “My wife and I had talked about trying to put up a small stage and letting local bands use it to promote their music on Saturday afternoons, and we would sell concessions.”

On its own, that idea wasn’t financially feasible, Manson said. But through the partnership, “we rent the theater to Drusky, we handle concession sales, and they handle booking, security and all that.”

The theater has been open for movie showings, and Manson said he’ll follow the same basic health and safety procedure for concerts that he uses for screenings.

“No one’s allowed in the concession stand except for employees,” Manson said. “Everyone wears masks, the bathrooms are sanitized on a regular basis, the whole nine yards.”

Starlight officials have even developed an app that allows customers to order remotely from the concession stand.

Ryan Delaney of Plum attended a “drive-in concert” last month by the band Aqueous, which booked a multi-night stand at the Transit Drive-In Theatre near Buffalo, N.Y.

“It was limited to 143 cars, each car had a parking space large enough for two vehicles, people were able to get out the car and stay within their own space without a mask,” Delaney said.

A mask was required to leave individual parking spots, “but my favorite part was they had a person opening the doors at the restroom and concessions to remove that high-contact area,” he said.

Other than that, Delaney said the only drawback was being in the summer sun with no shade — a common complaint at almost any summer concert — “and it was certainly weird to not be able to hug anyone,” he added.

The Starlight Drive-In has already hosted its first show, a concert by Pittsburgh staple The Clarks.

“People behaved themselves,” Manson said.

Lanips said he didn’t receive any backlash about the parking lot show in Shaler.

“We like to have fun, but we’re not partying like we’re in our 20s or even 30s,” Lanips said. “It’s a lot of just being a grown-up. I think it gave a good impression of how those things could go.”