Andy Gray

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the whiplash effect of covering entertainment during a pandemic, where every piece of good news is followed by bad.

This week it’s been all good news.

Not only did I see my first movie in a theater in more than a year (a press screening of “Those Who Wish Me Dead”), but there are enough new concert announcements to make this look like a week in May 2019, not a week in 2020 or early 2021 when everything is shut down with no end in sight.

Clearly the concert industry is gearing up for a reopening. Outdoor venues like Blossom Music Center, Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica or whatever they’re calling Star Lake this week might not be opening in May, but they have shows on their schedules for late July, August, September and even October, which definitely is optimistic considering the region’s unpredictable weather.

And they’re announcing new shows, not just bumping back 2020 tour dates for the third time. Several indoor venues also have shows going on sale this week.

Perhaps the biggest show on sale this week is Nine Inch Nails, which will play its only headlining dates of 2021 at Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica at 8 p.m. Sept. 21 and 23.

The band has ties to the area. Frontman Trent Reznor is a Mercer, Pa., native and Nine Inch Nails’ debut album, “Pretty Hate Machine,” was recorded in Cleveland. It will be the band’s first northeast Ohio show since it was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2020.

Any list I make of my most memorable concert appearances would include NIN’s set as part of the first Lollapalooza tour at Blossom in 1991 and the band’s mud-covered set at Woodstock ’94.

The Pixies as an opening act makes it even more enticing. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday through Live Nation.

Also on sale this week:

• Blackstreet, Case and Adina Howard will play the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre on July 2. That lineup originally was scheduled to play Powers Auditorium in July 2020, one of the many concert casualties of the pandemic. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday through Ticketmaster.

• Contemporary Christian singer-songwriter Crowder — who will release his next album, “Milk & Honey,” on June 11 — will play Packard Music Hall in Warren at 7 p.m. Oct. 27. Sean Curran and Chidima will open. Tickets range from $28 to $43 (with VIP tickets for $103 that include a pre-show meet and greet) and go on sale at noon Friday at the Packard box office and through Ticketmaster.

• The Zac Brown Band announced a summer “Comeback” tour that includes an Aug. 20 date at Blossom Music Center. Teddy Swims and Ashland Craft will open. Tickets go on sale at noon Friday through Live Nation.

• Korn and Staind will play Blossom Music Center on Sept. 2 and The Pavilion at Star Lake on Sept. 3 as part of a 28-city summer tour. Both dates go on sale at noon Friday through Live Nation.

• MercyMe is scheduled to play PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on Nov. 20. Micah Tyler will open. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday through Ticketmaster.

• Dierks Bentley returns to the Pavilion at Star Lake at 7 p.m. Oct. 16, which may be the latest in the year an event has been scheduled at the Burgettstown, Pa., amphitheater. Mitchell Tenpenny opens. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday through Live Nation.

• Evanescence and Halestorm team up for a tour coming to Pittsburgh’s Petersen Events Center at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 14. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday through Ticketmaster.

• NEEDTOBREATHE brings its Into the Mystery tour to Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica at 8 p.m. Sept. 21 and UPMC Events Center at 7 p.m. Oct. 3. Switchfoot and The New Respects open both dates. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday through Live Nation for Nautica and noon Friday through Ticketmaster for UPMC.

• The Monkees Farewell Tour featuring original members Michael Nesmith and Mickey Dolenz will play MGM Northfield Park at 8 p.m. Nov. 3. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday through Ticketmaster.

• Motion City Soundtrack is coming to House of Blues on Jan. 4. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday through Live Nation.

Andy Gray is the entertainment editor of Ticket. Write to him at agray@tribtoday.com.