Who knows when it will be showtime?
It looks like there will be an easing of the lockdown restrictions soon.
For venue operators the big question is what it could mean if social distancing was enforced at shows.
For example, the difference between a two metre and a one and a half metre social distance will mean the difference between opening up and simply staying shut.
Paisley venues have told me of their concerns as the immediate future of live music remains uncertain.
Just about all large gigs and festivals have been cancelled or postponed to next year and no one is sure when life will return to normal.
Many countries have also banned mass gatherings until September, although Sweden has allowed for gigs with up to a capacity of 40 people to take place with appropriate social distancing measures and Spain is now phasing in live music events in a number of stages with gradually increasing capacities.
So what if similar measures to Spain were introduced in the UK, with the lockdown eased and venues allowed to reopen with social distancing enforced?
The first thing is that the whole experience of a live music venue is to do the complete opposite of social distancing.
Try stopping someone going for it when a band plays their favourite song.
Promoters and venues run on quite minimal margins. Promoters are in it for the love of music, not the love of money – but to have a half-full venue every night is just not financially worth it. One of the worst things that can happen is opening with a reduced capacity and keeping your distance.
Venues operate on a business model that relies on a packed room for a short period. Income from ticket sales usually breaks even and covers the payment made to the bands so all the profit comes from bar sales.
Reducing the numbers reduces the level and type of band that will play at the venue.
Another thing would be, apart from not being able to pay the bands, some bands won’t want to play in a venue with no atmosphere.
If venues are told to open up it will harm a lot of businesses due to the furlough payments stopping. Wages would have to be paid in full and venues would not have a case for a rent holiday.
The Bungalow is a member of the Music Venue Trust. The trust is for small local independent venues and they have been working with the government representing what is the first tier of the music industry. The chief executive of the Music Venue Trust, Mark Davyd, recently launched the Save Our Venues campaign to raise money for UK grassroots music spaces facing immediate threat of closing permanently due to lockdown.
Mark said: “Ongoing conversations were happening behind the scenes to ensure that any returning shows would be as safe and financially viable as possible. A blanket announcement like the one they’ve made in Spain really won’t work. I don’t know anybody here who thinks that 30 per cent capacity at shows is viable in any form.”
The margins of live music are tight, with around 65 per cent of revenue brought in by sales from the bar and catering, and only 35 per cent from ticketing.
How and when we can get back to live music is anybody’s guess.
Local venues are working on a programme called Reopen Everything Safely.
It’s a programme that will deal with what information the government needs to provide, and standards would need to be followed – whether that’s through limited capacity, testing, tracking or whatever.