Entertainment business IN A COMA
Fab 5 leader says entertainment is usually the first to be affected
SINCE LAST week’s announcement by the Government of a 14-day suspension on all entertainment events, due to the arrival of the coronavirus in the island, the industry has been sent into a downward spiral, with events being cancelled left, right and centre, and the brakes effectively pulled on nightlife. Frankie Campbell, the band leader for Fab 5, has vocalised his concerns, stating that “with the entertainment business now in a coma for at least the next six weeks, it means that no musician or performer in Jamaica will be earning any income from any live event”.
In an interview with The
Gleaner, he revealed that in the 50 years that Fab 5 has been around, this is the third major event that has affected the band and the industry in a major way. He emphasised, however, that this incident is the worst.
“In 1988, we had Gilbert (hurricane) and we were out of employment at home for two to three months, but we had a choice. We could still fly out and perform in the USA or any other country in the world. Then in 2008, the recession hit us really hard. America has been our playground and they cut back heavily on entertainment. Our sector is the one that gets kicked off the list first in any cutback. You can’t do without food, shelter and clothes, but in a crunch, you give up entertainment,” he said.
The third major event, the coronavirus, Campbell said, “is horrifying”. According to him, the fact that it is global, combined with the reality that there is no specific date for it to come to an end, has placed the entertainment industry in a serious bind.
“We don’t know exactly how long this thing will last. We may be on lockdown here in Jamaica for two, maybe three months. And even if we get over it in two months, what about America, Canada, Europe, the Caribbean, and the other parts of the world where we as musicians make our living? How long will it take for them to recover? It’s very depressing, and the hard truth is that there is nothing we can do about it,” he said.
MANY CANCELLATIONS
Campbell noted that with Fab 5 already experiencing cancellations as it relates to six shows – one last week, two this week, and three for next week – things look grim. “Everybody knows that in entertainment, January into February is tamarind season, so you save for that, and then look forward to the following months to pick up back. So this is the time, going into the summer months, for entertainers and musicians to go on tour and make some money, but that is not going to happen,” the band leader said.
The summer festivals in Europe, he noted, cannot be counted on to take place this year. “We can forget about Italy. And then there are usually the big festivals in Spain and Germany that probably won’t happen. So, how are the touring artistes and their bands going to eat? Maybe 20 per cent of the industry will stay afloat, but the majority will have to be very creative in order to sustain ourselves, because even those who have other businesses, a lot of it is also entertainment-based.”
Campbell, however, is hopeful that in Jamaica, at least, things will return to some sense of normality by the time the summer is here, and events like Good Times, Mello Vibes and Reggae Sumfest “can gwaan”.
“As an industry, we won’t die; it’s just that we are not sure when we will wake up out of this coma,” he said.