<p>Diane Moca:<br />You know that feeling you have when you are really excited to see a band you love in person? Yeah. When was the last time you felt that? For some of us, it's been a while, right? Because of the pandemic. But we're hearing that live music is back, coming back in full, maybe, this summer. That's why we invited Ron Onesti to come here and fill us in. He is the owner of some restaurants and live music venues in the Fox Valley area. Ron, thanks for joining us.<br /><br />Ron Onesti:<br />I'm excited to be here. Anytime I can talk about live music these days, I'm all about it.<br /><br />Diane Moca:<br />Yeah. Well, these days, what is happening?<br /><br />Ron Onesti:<br />The experience that we're having now are just people are just going nuts. The people that are coming out, are coming out in droves. Once they get there, it's like they've never seen a concert before. The Arcada's rocking and rolling. A lot of sold out shows. Basically, for those people who are concerned, they're staying away. The people who are confident, they're coming out.<br /><br />Diane Moca:<br />Is there going to be a new normal? I mean, after 9/11, everything changed with traveling,<br /><br />Ron Onesti:<br />Right.<br /><br />Diane Moca:<br />Do you think with the concert industry, that it's never going to go back to the way it was, or do you see it just kind of floating right back into where we were?<br /><br />Ron Onesti:<br />You know what? I really think it will. It's getting there. It's getting there, I think, a little bit quicker than I really thought. I thought it's going to be a couple years. The first few shows we're going to have, double digit audiences, really. I was surprised. Here we are. People, they're responding. They really are. No, it's going to be like it was, and I got to think, it might even be better. I really do think that.<br /><br />Diane Moca:<br />I hope so.<br /><br />Ron Onesti:<br />Yeah.<br /><br />Diane Moca:<br />Now, I got to wonder. With all the venues you have and just everything dark for so long-<br /><br />Ron Onesti:<br />Yeah.<br /><br />Diane Moca:<br />How did you survive? How did any music venue survive?<br /><br />Ron Onesti:<br />Well, a lot of them didn't. We were locked down 15 months. We had about 300 employees on furlough. We had a lot of stuff going on. A lot of them hung on. We did everything we could to keep everybody going. We also did a lot of renovations. Millions of dollars were put in to make these places-<br /><br />Diane Moca:<br />Wow.<br /><br />Ron Onesti:<br />... amazing. Yeah.<br /><br />Diane Moca:<br />You had funds already lined up for that.<br /><br />Ron Onesti:<br />Yeah.<br /><br />Diane Moca:<br />You had some cushion that maybe some other-<br /><br />Ron Onesti:<br />For that.<br /><br />Diane Moca:<br />Well, but it must have helped you when you didn't have revenue coming in that you were expecting.<br /><br />Ron Onesti:<br />No, not really.<br /><br />Diane Moca:<br />No?<br /><br />Ron Onesti:<br />That's a different bucket of money-<br /><br />Diane Moca:<br />Okay.<br /><br />Ron Onesti:<br />... that you can't touch for that.<br /><br />Diane Moca:<br />You had to furlough employees-<br /><br />Ron Onesti:<br />Right.<br /><br />Diane Moca:<br />... in order to stay alive.<br /><br />Ron Onesti:<br />Yeah.<br /><br />Diane Moca:<br />You didn't have revenue coming in, but you didn't have those expenses going out.<br /><br />Ron Onesti:<br />Exactly.<br /><br />Diane Moca:<br />In terms of rent or mortgage, I guess you weathered that storm.<br /><br />Ron Onesti:<br />Weathered it. I hung on by my fingernails, like everybody else. Just praying. I'd never been more religious in my life, but I was praying to Buddha and anybody who would listen to me. I don't care. It was tough. I mean, it was tough for everybody. But for music venues, restaurants, it was brutal.<br /><br />Diane Moca:<br />This year, now that we're heading into spring, feels different than it did in 2021.<br /><br />Ron Onesti:<br />It does. Oh, yeah.<br /><br />Diane Moca:<br />It feels more like it's really back, coming back.<br /><br />Ron Onesti:<br />I think we, as a society, understand this whole deal. At first, we thought, oh my gosh, and acid was going to come from the sky and our faces were going to melt off, and we can't step out. There's like the anthrax thing that happened years ago, if you're old enough to remember that. I think now we understand it. We get it. For some reason, it feels like the appreciation of life is higher. Maybe I'm get a little too deep for this rock and roll show, but I mean, to answer your question, I just think people are going to... The food's going to taste better. The music's going to sound wonderful. The hugs are going to be nicer and warmer. I mean, I just think it's a different situation. The upside of this fricking, crazy tragedy thing we went through is going to be... That will be felt.<br /><br />Diane Moca:<br />Wow. Well, what a perspective on that. I thank you for joining us and it sounds like so many of us, after going through all of that isolation, are ready to come back and go do the things that we love. One of those things, live music. In the Fox Valley area, I hope you enjoy some of the spring and summer. We're Talking Cities. I'm Diane Moca.</p>
Live Music Roaring Back as Venues Turn up the Volume on Concert Season in Fox Valley
The house is rockin’ as concert venues book the first full season of live music since COVID. The Arcada in St. Charles features performers like a Bruce Springsteen tribute band & Tony Orlando. (He’s still knockin’ around? Yes, without Dawn!) Promoter Ron Onesti says post-pandemic fans have an even greater appreciation for the joy of a killer show.
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