The COVID-19 pandemic dealt professional musicians a severe blow because they could no longer perform live. This persisted for almost two entire years, which was long enough to end careers that hadn’t yet taken off. Established acts managed to pull through, but returning to the performance space hasn’t been easy for them either.

In a recent interview with Primordial Radio, Halestorm bassist Josh Smith and drummer Arejay Hale addressed the challenges of touring in the post-pandemic era, elaborating on increased travel expenses such as gas, tour buses, hotels and flights.

Smith said the following: “We’re navigating the troubled waters, but logistically, it is a lot. It’s different. Everything costs more. It seems like everybody’s out, which is awesome, but at the same time, it makes for some tricky routing. You look at some of our routing maps, and it looks like someone was just throwing darts. And it was the same in the States. And also our summer tour, I feel like we haven’t had a six- or seven-week tour since… We haven’t toured like that since we were in our 20s… It feels like we’ve started over in a way, and we’re working hard for it. It’s incredibly humbling. We just feel so fortunate to be back out after such a hiatus.”

When asked about the future of touring, he responded: “I think things will adjust. I hope we can keep doing it, because this is what we love to do. For us, the live show is such an important part, so to have had a taste of it over the pandemic — like, ‘You can’t tour’ — was difficult. So I’ll remain optimistic that now we’ll figure this out and we’ll be able to continue doing it. We need it, and I think the fans need it too. So we’ll figure it out.”

Arejay added: “We’re fortunate enough to be at a position where we can afford to take a year and a half off and get back into it and kind of pick up where we left off. But I feel bad for a lot of newer bands that just released debut records right before COVID and can’t support ’em. It was tragic for a lot of the younger bands out there.”

Earlier this month, Halestorm released the deluxe edition of their record, Back From the Dead. This comes with seven previously unreleased B-sides, including the 80s-inspired “Mine.” Aside from a digital release, the record is available for the first time on CD and cassette tape as well. (Blabbermouth)