Freedom come, freedom go
Although Monday 19th July marked Freedom Day in England, for many it’s just a transfer of responsibilities. Most of the rules are not now enforced or mandated by Government, just switched to companies or individuals to create their own interpretations. Alighting at this website you’re likely to be most interested in how this can impact upon events, gigs and venues, unfortunately there is no absolute clarity.
For music venues in particular there are likely to be any number of stakeholders, all hoping to impose their own restrictions – from promoters, agents and artists to sponsors, licensing bodies and authorities. What this can mean, if we’re not careful, is that gigs within the same venue might be subject to different levels of control and restriction. Until September of course, when the Govt wants to impose a no-entry unless double-jabbed plan.
The immediate response is to celebrate reopening, albeit cautiously. No venue, event, promoter, or artist wants to find themself back in an extended lockdown, ever again. Whatever metaphorical or administrative mountain we must climb to be back in work and providing entertainment, we’re obviously going to do it.
Initially it looked like reopening during the rapid spread of the Delta variant would see most caught in a pincer movement with staff and performers side-lined, locked down by default. The steady decline of infection though has helped to calm fears and for every cautious punter there are many more who are eager to be on the dancefloor and in the moshpit again.
Our next hurdle is inevitably going to become the Covid Passport or Vaccine Pass. I’m baffled that this has become a political football when its imposition was such an inevitability that even the barely educated (i.e. me) were writing about it over 10 months ago and again at the end of 2020.
Clambering out of Covid has been a series of delays and missed opportunities, many of which are a mystery to those of us who know and acknowledge that it’s an airborne virus. Consequently, a high crowd density in an enclosed space with poor air circulation provides a greater level of risk. The Govt’s latest response to this is that those attending ‘nightclubs’ will need vaccine passes, a motion then bafflingly rumoured to be extended to football stadiums – although conveniently long after Euro 2020 departed our shores. All venue owners must anticipate that this is coming their way and plan accordingly, whilst also managing their own levels of risk.
Fortunately for many there are a wealth of resources provided by the likes of the Music Venue Trust whose work has been exemplary throughout this process. Even without their campaigning and lobbying, their guide to reopening safely is worth the membership fee on its own. It remains something of a mystery though as to why (almost 2 years into this) there’s no definitive or legal advice on ventilation or financial support to do our own work.
As ever we cannot rely on others to help, we must ensure that we’re united against contracts that try to enforce fees when shows are postponed due to Covid, and official bodies that change their minds and regulations every few hours. We also have to kick back against all venues and events being categorised as being the same – they are not. A jazz or classical show in a large airy auditorium is entirely different from a punk gig in a 300 cap club with a low ceiling. The prevarications hint at rules that were relaxed not because of a desire to do so, more that they couldn’t hold us back any longer and didn’t want to offer further fiscal support. The ongoing reluctance to support or endorse any insurance package speaks clearly to the latter point.
Shows and touring are going to be distinctly home-grown for a while, there are few tours that can sustain having cast and crew in quarantine and no signs that exemptions will be offered. With differing laws across countries, the international mega-star tour will be unworkable until 2022 at the earliest. And when 2022 dawns its anticipated that we’ll have the opposite problem, too many shows and saturation for the market and fans.
We also rely on the fans to protect each other which is inherently risky. If you have been locked down for months and have tickets to see one of your favourite acts, are you going to act responsibly even if you feel a bit ill in the days before the show? People are selfish and testing/tracking is currently the only way to ensure the safety of other gig attendees, venue staff and the artists themselves. Artists are going to want protection – witness Fontaines DC having to withdraw from Latitude because they’d registered a positive result, possibly contracted whilst playing a smaller show. Very few are going to take that risk in future.
No-one said it would be easy, it never has been. Maintaining an awareness of the different scenarios and their likely impact on your market has never been more important. Think local, act global and let’s try and put the fun in freedom. As they used to say on Hill Street Blues, 'Let's be careful out there'.
Footnotes -
Government guidance on working safely during coronavirus for events and attractions
Jul 29: Although Music Week believes that Government relaxation of rules for vaccinated travellers is good news for the industry, it remains the fact that it would have to be extended Europe wide (at least) for agents/managers to believe that global touring is viable again. The story includes QOTSA pulling out of Reading/Leeds which proves that point.
The future’s so bright…..
Events at the end of the pandemic
By mid-February I’d read so many contradictory reports and surveys about how to resume live events and concerts that I’d begun to doubt if we’d ever be able to open a venue again.
An example of the conflict is summed up in two German studies – one claimed that the transmission risk at indoor concerts was negligible, provided that good ventilation, social distancing and face masks were in use
At the same time the Germans were celebrating this ‘win’, another report suggested that the risk of aerosol spread was reckoned to be higher if you sing in certain languages, like, er, German.
Promoters and venues were already well aware that the risk factors are hugely dependent on a number of issues, from type of venue to genre/style of show. A seated, socially distanced performance in an airy, high-ceilinged hall would be entirely different to a standing gig in a sweaty basement. The trouble was that governments and licensing bodies were insistent upon treating everything the same.
So, whilst we could have some hope that cultural events were safer than schools there was little public clamour to test that proposition. Yet in the UK, after months of barely acknowledging that the sector exists, we were finally given a glimmer of hope and, astonishingly, actual dates. It looked like a plan, which was astounding for all those who had been asking for evidence of one since before Christmas.
Naturally the dates came with caveats, but they were enough for some festivals to go on-sale and sell out, almost before the PM had stopped speaking. The following week produced future amazement as industry experts like the Music Venue Trust noted that the plan looked to be based on data rather than guesswork. The predicted roll out of the vaccine and continuing expected fall in infection rates make these dates likely to become a reality.
Whilst I see few people clamouring to hit the May deadline for restricted capacities, July and beyond look like reasonable expectations. The industry will have its own caveats of course, the most notable being insurance. Where EU governments and some others have stepped into the void where commercial firms fear not tread, UK authorities are more tight-lipped. Perhaps the upcoming budget will give us a better steer, but I fear the chancellor is keener to tighten the purse strings than keep the coffers open.
Talent may be another thorny issue in 2021. The UK may relax but that possibility seems unlikely across Europe. If you’re an international artist and dependent on the economies of scale that multiple shows offer, flying in for one or two UK shows might not cut it. That’s if you’re even able to escape your own country’s restrictions.
On that basis the future looks more optimistic, as long as you like British artists. Frankly, since everyone seems to be straining at the leash to be released, this looks to be less of an issue than it normally would be. New UK acts may thrive on those festival slots that may previously not have been available and, as Brexit & Covid restrict their ambitions, popularity may well have to start at home. Bring it on.
Testing Times
Covid 19 and the live events industry
In the popular events industry, we’ve rarely benefitted from Government intervention; we prefer to advise them than the other way around. We get on with things ourselves and work with local licensing bodies and authorities for the best outcomes. Governments just get in the way, with their infinite bureaucracy and leaden-footed methodology. Those in concert and event production are proudly autonomous but that same independence is punishing many of us who have slipped through the treasury’s ‘safety net’. The question is not whether we trust the authorities to get things sorted quickly enough (we don’t), rather is there something we can do to speed up the process?
How to re-start concerts and events
Next year the most important pass you’ll get won’t be the ‘crew’ laminate or ‘AAA’, it’ll be your Covid passport, the certification that you’re coronavirus free. It will inevitably come to this, those who are allowed to work & travel and those who are not. You may legitimately argue that if you’re allowed on a flying tube of metal with as little vigilance as a simple temperature check then we should be able to do the same with mass gatherings. Sadly, it’s unlikely to be that simple and we all know that socially distanced shows aren’t going to work - not only do the numbers not add up but you’re still at the mercy of locally enforced lockdowns as experienced by SSD and their socially distanced arena. No one can or will insure you against those risks which means that the solution is testing. All event attendees are going to have to arrive pre-tested and clear, with evidence to prove it – or you’ll have to provide testing on site.
Right now this sounds daft. Government is struggling to get results for people within 48 hours, lab capacity is non-existent, but we are not Government and our industry is too important for us to wait around for them to get their act together. If nothing else, we’ll need to have next year’s festival shows on-sale in the next two to three months and we’ll need a way to reassure ticket buyers that the shows will go on.
In 2020 we won’t just be in the business of shows, we will also be in the testing business.
Testing, testing…..Lamp Testing?
It’s no secret that the UK Government has failed to make test and trace work. We can do better. We already create mini cities with their own eco systems to stage big shows. In 2021 this will become greatly expanded to give more space to testing. Naturally the process will have to give instantaneous results, but we are very nearly there. I was alerted by friends in the movie industry to the possibility of a Covid test result within 30 minutes.
It hasn’t been widely reported but the methods and the costs seem promising. Perhaps at scale it’ll become even cheaper and faster, more efficient. Of course, we’ll need people to take and process the tests, but those services are being discussed, it’s a conversation we can already have – drop us an email when you’re ready.
Perhaps the only realistic way of starting events again is to put the onus on the attendee. Either they turn up with a clear Covid result or evidence of immunity and failing that they have to pay for a test to ensure they can get in. Correctly communicated to meet statutory conditions or event safety restrictions it should overcome any significant issues. We should not underestimate people’s desire to resume normality and start having fun – the quantity of ‘pop-up raves’ proves that.
Just as there are no omelettes made without broken eggs and no festivals staged without sore heads, there are significant logistical challenges, but it has to be better than another year without gigs and festivals. With our industry on its knees, that is just unthinkable.
Note (Oct 2020): The Events Industry Forum, Association for Independent Festivals and Association of Festival Organisers have published a draft document to assist festival promoters and organisers during the pandemic. It is sensible and comprehensive. They anticipate further updates as the situation evolves.
Boots (UK pharmacy) has also introduced a nasal swab test producing results in 12 minutes at a cost of £120. This is potentially a vital step forward for event organisers. The test uses technology developed by LumiraDx.
The UK Govt's 'moonshot' programme which is partly operational in Liverpool uses a version of the Lamp Testing referenced above.