The Ritz (San Jose) Plus, even more venues that do not have marquees will be supporting via their social media accounts. WHEN: WHY: March 13, 2021 marks one year that the live music industry was brought to a halt due to COVID-19. Venues across the country closed their doors to the public and those doors continue to remain closed a full year later. The Save Our Stages “One Year Dark” marquee and aligned social media campaign reflect on this unfortunate anniversary. Music venues and performing arts theaters were the first to close in the pandemic and will be that last group of businesses allowed to reopen due to government-mandated pandemic closures. This class of small business has the highest at-risk factor for failure, three to four times higher than the average small business. Saving independent music and performing arts stages across the country not only rescues the beloved ecosystems of arts, music and culture but also secures hundreds of local jobs per venue. It saves the stages that your favorite artists perform on (as well as where they got their start, built, and nurtured their careers). They are facing an existential crisis. Supporting independent music venues and theaters allows them to hang on and persevere the closures caused by the pandemic.