Inside Arts
Scotland’s live music scene may need state bailout, writes Brian Ferguson
In common with much of the rest of the country, Sunday night was spent reliving some classic moments from the Glastonbury festival courtesy of the BBC’S athome celebration of the event. While David Bowie’s iconic headline performance in 2000 was an undoubted high point, it was Kylie Minogue’s star turn in 2019 which made me most melancholy. I was struck with pangs of regret that I’d been away on holiday last summer when the Australian star performed at Edinburgh Castle for the first time. It is strange to recall a double-header from both Minogue and The Proclaimers, plus the return of Paul Weller to the castle, were merely the appetisers served up before Edinburgh’s August extravaganza. Three-and-a-half months after mass gatherings were banned in Scotland, it is still something of a mystery how Edinburgh is going to look and feel this August.
All of the city’s key attractions, including the castle, are widely expected to be up and running again, albeit it with social distancing measures enforced and strict new capacity limits in place. It is uncertain how much public appetite or tolerance from the authorities there will be for street theatre or busking in areas like the Grassmarket or the Royal Mile, where cafes, bars and restaurants are gearing up to reopen as early as next week. As with the prospect of businesses tempted to spill out onto pavements and street corners, striking a balance between common sense and ultra-caution may be tricky.
It is also a complete mystery who, if anyone, is going to attempt to stage any ticketed events, either indoors or outdoors, other than in a drive-in format. In theory, the return of small-scale events could be allowed under the Scottish Government’s timetable by the end of July, just in time for the traditional start of the Fringe. But this surely would leave anyone planning a festival event in limbo till then, and would then have the unenviable task of trying to recoup whatever costs they face in trying to make them safe, when they will only be able to sell a fraction of their venue’s usual capacity.
It is hard to believe the only options to enjoy cultural events in the city will be via the screen of a phone or laptop, or inside a vehicle. But at the time of writing, I have not heard of a single venue, promoter or event organiser committing to a non drive-in or digital event.
What is becoming increasingly clear is that, with social distancing seemingly here to stay for the foreseeable future, the return of what we would regard as normal theatre and concertgoing is vanishing over the horizon, and well into 2021, by even by the most optimistic estimates. If there is a performing arts venue planning to reopen with social distancing in place I’ve yet to hear of it. Extra costs combined with reduced capacities appear to be make it virtually impossible, which has grim implications for venues, promoters, events and arts companies.
The cold, hard reality of coronavirus is that just as the tourism, retail and hospitality sectors are able to get back into gear and bring in much-needed revenue, the prospects of live performances returning are more distant now than they were when they shutters came down on venues in mid-march. The longer the hiatus goes on, the more financial reserves will drain away, and the greater the demands for urgent state aid will become to avoid the prospect of mass redundancies. Only the introduction of a safe testing regime for events would seem to offer any kind of alternative way forward, but right now it is hard to see that as anything more than a faint hope.