DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN)– Back in March, the entertainment industry were the first ones shut down but now are the last ones to reopen.

“We can’t do takeout, there’s nothing right now,” said President & CEO Dayton Live Ty Sutton.

Stages across Ohio have been dark for the past six months. Dayton Live has lost $2 million from March to June and Sutton says they expect to lose even more.

“It’s just something you take for granted, like I’m going to a show, going to a live event, concert, live comedian, they don’t think about the huge industry it takes to put that on,” said Sutton.

New state guidelines allow entertainment venues to reopen but with a very limited capacity. Sutton says it’s just not economically realistic, and the safety aspect is still a major concern.

“We need the pandemic crisis to be solved, the immediate health crisis has to be solved because even if we had full permission to open today, we wouldn’t,” said Sutton.

Dayton-based band “Nightbeast” hasn’t played since February and says doing online shows isn’t the same.

“It’s so hard to play to no-one, like I feed off the energy of the crowd so when there’s no crowd there’s no energy,” said Nightbeast Singer Nick Testa. “It’s really hard to try to fake it if you know what I  mean.”

“Nightbeast” is currently producing an album but with no income for seven months, making the band profitable has been a challenge. They’re hoping to perform back in the Oregon District as soon as possible.

“I never thought it would go this long without playing,” said Testa. “We’ve never not performed for this long and it’s hard.”

For the Nightbeast singer, he said not performing is even taking an emotional toll on him and the crew.

“When you perform, it’s that 30-to-40 minutes that you can just let out that anger, frustration, or sadness and just let it out,” said Testa. “Being cooped up in the house is never good for anyone, but especially performers.”

At the end of the day, a massive industry like Dayton Live or a local band like Nightbeast agrees on the fact they need their community now more than ever.

“My office is in the Victoria Theatre which was built in 1866,” said Sutton. “It has seen multiple pandemics, been shut down, burned down and flooded and this community has always stepped up and rebuilt it. I’m hoping it’s the same way this time.”