BOISE, Idaho — Just a few years ago, the Treasure Valley was considered a secondary market for big nationally and internationally touring musical artists.
These days, just about all of the big names on tour have been putting Idaho on their schedules, and local venues and concert promoters have been putting in the resources and hired the staff to make the magic happen for live audiences.
That was before the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak raised concerns about large groups of people in one place, concerns now manifested in the form of social-distancing guidelines and stay-at-home orders.
In short, most anything live and in-person is not happening right now.
"We had the biggest touring year on record set for 2020, and it came to an instant standstill," said Creston Thornton, owner of the Revolution Concert House in Garden City and regional president of Live Nation, the largest concert promoter in the U.S.
"Think about it this way: The (live touring) business is expected to lose over $9 billion," Thornton continued. "How that relates locally is when you've got somebody, like a Cher show -- every time there's an arena show -- 200 to 300 people are getting a paycheck in the valley, between the ushers, the security, the staffing, the concessionaires, ticket takers, stage hands. That's gone. At the Revolution when you have a show, you have 40 to 50 people (working). That's gone."
Thousands of venue staff members, food vendors, technicians, security and maintenance personnel have been laid off for who knows how long.
The situation also affects restaurants and hotels that stand to turn profits in the weeks when big shows are in town.
Those paychecks are gone just as what Thornton called the "slow period" of January and February was about to give way to what was expected to be a very busy spring.
"We have nothing until probably July, if we're lucky," Thornton said.
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Thornton said venues have been able to reschedule many shows. If you have a ticket, he said, it will be good on the new show date.
Efforts are underway to help the people who make the concerts happen through this time, when they're not bringing home paychecks.
One effort on a global level: Crew Nation.
Live Nation has pledged $10 million - including matching donations - for that campaign, and is inviting everyone to donate online.
"All that money's going to go to supporting the people in the concert business that aren't getting paychecks for the next four months, and you can go apply there if you need help," Thornton said.
Knitting Factory, one of Thornton's Boise-area competitors, has a GoFundMe campaign set up for its employees.
"They have a lot more full-time shows than we do, and those people are out of work," Thornton said.
He couldn't speak for every venue in town, but Thornton said the Revolution is completely shut down at least until July.
"Then we'll probably rev back up and have a huge fall," he said.