Oops, Crooners Supper Club did it again. The music-oriented venue in Fridley hoped to restart live concerts outdoors à la drive-in movies on May 8, but plans have been put on hold.
Crooners has learned that its concerts announced on Wednesday do not comply with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's latest directives about the coronavirus pandemic.
"We received notice that our series was in violation of the new stay-at-home order," Crooners music director Andrew Walesch said late Friday in a statement. "Unfortunately, with the executive order of [Thursday], which expressly prohibits spectator events like concerts in its Outdoor Recreation Guidelines, we really have no choice here."
Crooners had scheduled 11 outdoor concerts over 10 days, starting Friday, with the ticket-buying audience sitting in vehicles in the club's parking lot. Crooners dubbed it the Lakeside Drive-In Series because the stage would be positioned in front of Moore Lake. The series was set to feature popular Twin Cities performers including Mick Sterling, Prudence Johnson and the Daisy Dillman Band.
This is the second time during the coronavirus pandemic that Crooners had to scrap a proposed alternative.
In March, Crooners, the Twin Cities Jazz Festival and KBEM-FM (Jazz 88) helped raise more than $25,000 for a planned livestreaming April concert series inside Crooners sans a live audience. However, that series was abandoned after Walz's first stay-at-home coronavirus order; the money was distributed to musicians who had committed to perform.
On March 15, Crooners presented the last live Twin Cities concert with an audience for a while, featuring Debbie Duncan and Robert Robinson.
Crooners is hoping to reschedule the outdoor series in mid-June, pending Walz's orders.
"We know our patrons and our artists are ready to make this happen at the appropriate time," Walesch said.
Twitter: @JonBream • 612-673-1719
