How one B.C. venue is bringing back concerts
Alex Cuba wasn’t planning to be a trailblazer for the future of Canada’s live music scene, but his upcoming concerts may serve as a blueprint for the road ahead in the midst of the pandemic.
The Latin Grammy Award-winning artist is booked to play four nights at the Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney, starting Thursday. He’ll be among the first acts to return to the stage at the venue, or any other space of its size in the country.
“Somebody has to take this step,” the Canadian Cuban musician said before the shows. “If we were going to just crawl into a wall and become fearful, nothing will ever happen. I want to give my best and I want to make an effort to let people know that, yeah, there is hope.”
Nearly five months into a nationwide shutdown that crippled the country’s independent music scene, a growing number of bars and restaurants are welcoming back musicians under COVID-19 precautions. But without a vaccine in sight, uncertainty lingers everywhere.
Huge arena concerts won’t be possible until at least next year, which means an evening of live music will look quite different under strict distancing measures. And while outdoor performances at drive-ins and garden parties were all the rage this summer, the cooler weather ahead is pushing some venues to consider ways to safely provide live entertainment indoors.
Brad Edgett, executive director of the Mary Winspear Centre, is among those hoping his venue will help write the playbook for the live-music community. He booked Cuba as only the second artist since COVID-19 to play the centre and theatre, which fit 900 people in its largest hall before the virus limited capacity to 50.
Before him, Vancouver country performer Aaron Pritchett stepped onto the stage for a series of four small shows in mid-July.
Preparations for each concert start roughly a week before the show when Edgett’s staff begin making calls to ticket-holders with a list of COVID-19 questions:
Have you recently travelled outside the country? Been in contact with anyone who’s sick? Are you coming with your partner? Do you live in the same household?
With those answers, they group everyone at tables by their social bubble, not unlike they would for a wedding.
Inside the venue, snacks and drinks are available for purchase through a server, and instead of a table with the artist’s merchandise, fans can order shirts and albums through a digital platform and have them delivered to their seat.
Pritchett’s concerts went off without a hitch, Edgett said, even if some concertgoers found themselves slipping into old habits.
“By the fourth night, the crowd was a little bit more energetic,” he added. “We had to make sure they were still staying in their seats, and their little bubbles we’d given them, and not to get on the dance floor.”
It’s not only the fans who have had to adapt. In Cuba’s case, playing to a significantly smaller audience comes with a pay cut.
In “normal times,” he would’ve performed one night at the venue, possibly two if ticket sales were brisk, Cuba said. But, during COVID, he’s struck an agreement with the Mary Winspear Centre to play four nights for the payment of one. He’s also playing without his backing band, because a solo performance is the only way the arrangement makes financial sense.