VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — As we continue to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, music venues are looking forward to the summer. Many of them have been empty for more than a year, but that is changing.

“This is going to be like your first chance of normalcy since March of 2020,” said Coleman Ferguson, owner of the Gala 417 in Virginia Beach.

The Gala 417 is known best for hosting weddings.

“We had brides that normally would want to book a Saturday, but they aren’t available,” Ferguson added. “They are taking Thursdays; they’re taking Sundays or whatever day they can get.”

But this weekend, this venue could be the first in Hampton Roads to have a major recording artist take the stage. It’s part of a fundraiser for the Roc Solid Foundation.

“Friday night we have a 90’s theme event,” Ferguson said. “We were given a last of bands that were available that were hot in the 90’s and Everclear really stuck out to me.”

The group will be first of many coming to Hampton Roads.

“We were reaching out and they wanted to play too,” Ferguson said. “They needed to find a way.”
Chartway Arena at Old Dominion University announced its first major concert earlier this week with the band Styx.

“It’s fantastic,” said Chartway Arena General Manager Mike Fryling. “The last 14 months have been very difficult.”

After layoffs and furloughs, staff members are back this week for high school graduations. Everything is a go.

“My phone has been ringing off the hook for the last two months since we dropped the restrictions,” Fryling added.

Everyone is hoping 2021 brings a different tune.

“It’s great to have all these events back,” Fryling said. “Tt’s going to be a crazy busy fall.”