With no concerts at Interlochen, no LivelyLands, Blissfest or Hoxeyville music festivals, and no live theatre like Lakeside Shakespeare or Parallel 45, northern Michigan has gotten pretty quiet. But a few live venues have persevered, while pop-up and drive-in shows are helping to return some semblance of normalcy.

At Chateau Chantal, Jazz at Sunset took on a new dimension for its 27th year. Performances by Jeff Haas and his band were moved outside. What used to be a very casual, admission-free show morphed into a ticketed event with socially distanced seating on the lawn, rather than patrons being packed next to one another indoors.

The musicians (pictured) are also safely distanced from each other and the audience. “We’re a little more spread out, and the bandstand (under a tent) is roped off,” says Haas.

Chateau Chantal CEO Marie-Chantal Dalese says the number of those in attendance has approximated that of summers past. “We average between 50-60 people at the jazz sessions this year, relatively on par with previous years,” she says. One bonus is that with the performance on the west side lawn, all patrons have to do to actually see the sunset is glance behind them.

While many artists have been offering virtual shows online from home, Chateau Chantal has taken it one step farther. Through the local company MusicHub.Live, the entire summer’s performances have been streamed live. Haas has enthusiastically embraced the idea. “My brother and sister-in-law in New York and sister in Detroit have been able to see it,” he says.

Rick Kiehle, creative director for MusicHub, says the company has also streamed live shows by the Moxie Strings and David Chown from the Music House Museum. It has one coming up for a musical group of dentists who were going to perform at their now-canceled convention in Texas. It will now be Zoomed with the rhythm section pre-recorded at the studio.

MusicHub has also streamed sections of a series of shows in the courtyard of the TruFit Trouser Building complex, where its studio is located. Jazz North has played some casual shows there that developed from a need for rehearsal space. Artist and Jazz North bassist Glenn Wolff also has a studio there, and he approached the owner about the band rehearsing outdoors so the members could be safely distant from one another.

“For us, summer was pretty quiet,” says Wolff. “We started rehearsing on the lawn outside my studio, and neighbors started coming out.” After talking with landlord Eric Gerstner, the band decided to make its rehearsals performances, and just concluded its third this past Friday.

“It was always fun to watch them rehearse, and we talked about having them do a real concert,” says Gerstner. “We put out the word and it took off from there.” 

He says the shows, which have been dubbed the Tiny Parking Lot Concert Series, are mostly for those who work in the building and friends. There’s no admission, though the band passes the hat – or in this instance, a flugelhorn case. At this point, Gerstner has only one more such show scheduled, with 1000 Watt Prophets playing Sept. 11.

Not too far away, Old Town Playhouse is showcasing its Theatre Under the Tent performances in its parking lot.The Golden Voices (Doc Probes with David Chown), Open Mic Night, BoBossa Jazz Quartet, Traverse Symphony Orchestra Brass, Interlochen Chamber Music and ReBooted’s country and rock stylings are among those slated for shows.

Deb Jackson, executive director at OTP, says the idea came from discussions among staff as to what it could do given the pandemic. “Gary Bolton, our production resource manager, and the staff were talking. We’ve done a variety – open mics music concerts, a couple small plays. It’s a variety of live entertainment, which people are craving. Entertainers are too,” Jackson says.

Like Chateau Chantal, the Theatre Under the Tent shows are ticketed events; attendance is limited to 75 people. The performers are under a tent, and Jackson says by 7pm the entire parking lot is shaded by the surrounding trees. “Some people bring their own picnic,” she says, noting the Cracked Food truck will also be available.

Numerous other wineries, brewpubs and restaurants have also returned to hosting live music, with all the requisite safety precautions. Jazz North and other artists have also been performing in the beer garden at Little Traverse Inn and on the porch at Torch Lake Café, while St. Ambrose Meadery has also been hosting live music on its expansive lawn.

If you’re longing for a night at the movies, that’s still a possibility. The Elk Rapids Cinema and Cherry Bowl Drive-in outside Honor are showing classic films, both with social distancing efforts in place. The Elk Rapids Cinema is limited to 25 percent capacity, or 75 people. The Cherry Bowl is operating at 50 percent capacity, with only one vehicle allowed between speaker poles to comply with spacing requirements.

While the hope is that the pandemic will ease over the coming months, the enthusiasm with which the shows have been met has those at some of the venues already thinking of a repeat in summer 2021. “I would be in favor of doing the same thing next year,” Dalese says, though she notes it would entail getting a waiver again from the township.

“It’s been so much fun. We’ve not done anything like it before, but next summer we could do another (series) – hopefully without COVID,” says Jackson.