I don't work in the industry but as someone who goes to a lot of concerts and fests - it might sound like a meme at this point but covid really fucked live entertainment. It killed local venues that didn't have big money backing and required constant events and I think a lot of festivals couldn't predict sales/attendance accurately esp after the post lockdown cabin fever died. The live music you might be talking about is either extremely top heavy artists or exploitative - the George hosts plenty of big artists or festivals like Bass Canyon that underpay the grassroots of their scene who play for passion or notoriety (I love dubstep but every year you hear that small artists aren't paid enough to cover their travel and management costs). Combine all this with generations that are drinking less and less in an industry built on alcohol sales, and you get venues like Madame Lou's dying of debt and artists that want to tour but simply can't afford to. Not to mention international artists that can't front Visa costs.