Billy Bob’s Texas To Maintain COVID-Protocols For Statewide Reopening

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 – Billy Bob’s Texas
Billy Bob’s Texas in Forth Worth, Texas, will maintain reduced capacity and numerous COVID protocols in the months ahead, despite a March 2 announcement from Governor Greg Abbott that the state is lifting its mask and capacity-restriction mandates.
Billy Bob’s is beginning a month-long celebration of its 40-year anniversary on April 1 with a show from Larry, Steve & Rudy: The Gatlin Brothers. The month will also feature performances by Hank Williams Jr., Midland, Miranda Lambert, Dwight Yoakam, and The Bellamy Brothers.

The venue is already hosting reduced-capacity shows, the next being on March 5 by Shane Smith & The Saints.

Terran Flusche, Marketing Director at Billy Bob’s Texas, told Pollstar that even with Gov. Abbott’s announcement freeing them legally to host events at full capacity, they plan on keeping events under 50% capacity for the near future. They will still maintain other precautions like reduced capacity, sanitizing stations, and temperature checks. 

“Honestly, the only thing that’s changing on our end is guests have choice on whether or not to wear mask. We are still going to recommend it to guests or staff, but at the End Of They Day, it’s their choice,” Flusche told Pollstar. “We have been legally allowed to operate at 50 percent capacity [for a while] and 75 percent for the last few weeks. But this is where we feel comfortable, enforcing social distancing. At the end of the day the safety of staff, entertainers is our No. 1 priority.”

Flusche said with the removal of restrictions they may tinker with adding a few tickets to some shows, as the venue is currently putting on shows at approximately 40% of its 6,500 max capacity (around 2,500). That number does include approximately 240 staff, and while they may add 100 or 200 tickets to some shows, Flusche said they will take those actions on a show-by-show basis. 

Billy Bob’s is bringing some of country music’s biggest stars in front of live audiences once again, in many ways leading the national comeback of the live industry, and Flusche said one thing people can be happy about is the ability to see these stars at intimate venues like Billy Bob’s, a room some would normally consider too small for arena-sized acts.

“If you would have asked me a year ago if we would have five Miranda Lambert shows in April, I woulda said ‘No way,’” Flusche continued. “And we have some big things on the horizon. We want to keep up the good work as we celebrate our 40th year.”