There is now a Florida concert promoter who is in some hot water because he came across as preventing unvaccinated fans from entering a punk rock concert. However, he insists that characterization is simply not the case.
Yes, those without the jab showing that they have received the COVID-19 vaccine can still enter the show. However, they will not be able to enter the VFW Post 39 concert venue in St. Petersburg without paying the substantial amount of at least $1,000.00. On the other hand, fans that have been vaccinated only have to pay the paltry sum of $18.
“I’m not denying entry to anyone,” promoter Paul Williams insisted when talking to the Washington Post. “I am only offering a discount to the vaccinated ones.”
The Details
Of course, the high ticket prices of this concert promoter completely fly in the face of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who recently signed an executive order that said businesses are not allowed to force patrons to prove that they have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
DeSantis also signed a law that threatened business owners with fines in the thousands of dollars if they discriminate against unvaccinated individuals.
In the case of Williams’ $1,000 per ticket policy for unvaccinated concert-goers, DeSantis’ told the paper that the promoter’s policy is absolutely discriminatory.
“Charging higher ticket prices for individuals who will not furnish proof of vaccination will unfairly discriminate against the people who have various enumerated rights under the Florida statutes,” Press Secretary Christina Pushaw told the Post in her emailed reply.
Angry Responses
The concert promoter told the paper that this tactic actually seems fairly safe simply because the new law signed by DeSantis doesn’t even go into effect until after the show – regardless of that, he still noticed that there were plenty of angry responses to the $1,000 concert price.
The Post noticed that Williams had received anti-vaccination spam calls and Facebook messages. Additionally, the paper noted that the concert promoter made special mention of an email that was “misspelled” and the ones that had “warned the band that their next show could be their last” and that “you’re (sic) fans are going to kill you.”
“I’m kind of shocked,” the concert promoter said. “I didn’t know that to care about my community would have people turn me into Hitler,” Williams said to the paper, adding that he made a report to law enforcement about the threatening email. He also notes that he is not going to bend even though he is now getting nationwide attention. “We are going to stick to our guns here,” he said simply.
Williams went a bit further, even admitting to ABC News that he had a desire for his concert to be a “vaccine drive” where the “fence-sitters off the fence.” He continued, “I wanted to get these kids that come to these shows to go out and get their shots.”
As of last Saturday afternoon, there were a few of the “discount” tickets that were left. The headliner is a group called “Teenage Bottlerocket” and they listed the St. Petersburg show as being sold out. They also noted that none of the “standard” higher price tickets had even been sold at all.
Williams said that all of the concert-goers will need to present a photo ID and a coronavirus vaccination card on the day of the concert in order to enter at the lower price, as reported by Creative Loafing of Tampa Bay. Punk rock fan Brittney Wigen was disappointed because even though she is a punk rock fan she had COVID too recently to get the vaccine in time.
Without skipping a beat, Teenage Bottlerocket singer and guitarist Ray Carlisle told the station that Wigen and others like her do have ANOTHER option: “Perhaps you should put together a Go Fund Me campaign and then that way all of the other weird anti-vaxxing people can support you going at the higher rate of a thousand dollars. That’s always an option.”
Miguel Chen is the bassist for Teenage Bottlerocket, and he said that he and the rest of his bandmates were initially surprised that Williams was charging people a thousand dollars to go to their concerts if they were unvaccinated. “When we first heard about this, we thought that it was a joke, to be honest.”
Chen and the rest of Teenage Bottlerocket quickly came on board though, saying that if Williams thought this was the “best way to throw a party safely in the St. Petersburg area then we will back him and support it too.” On the other hand, Chen also told the paper that he too was surprised, because he “never in my life thought that I’d be in a place where I was getting threatened for trying to play and spread joy in the right way.”
Legal Concerns
Legal experts told the Post that the ticket price disparity could be problematic.
As a Fort Lauderdale business lawyer, Andrew Zelmanowitz has seen a lot in his days, but he said that this has definitely raised his eyebrows. According to him, the large price hike for unvaccinated concert goers would “violate the spirit” of Florida’s ban on a business requiring proof of immunization.
Eric Feldman is a University of Pennsylvania law school professor with some expertise in health policy, and he commented to the Post that the $1,000 ticket price is “basically like saying that unless you show us proof of your vaccine status, we’re going to treat you like a second-class citizen.”
Which side are you on? Feel free to comment on this issue!
