Saving Bristol's Venues

With the latest announcement from PM regarding when gyms, beauty salons, casinos and bowling alleys can reopen, most of us were wondering when we can go and watch some of our favourite bands live again. The delay of indoor performances to the 15th August cause’s uncertainty again amongst local venues with live gigs being the last on the government’s list to allow to reopen. The announcement regarding the reopening of venues – at first glance - was a relief; finally there was a way of getting the culture sector back up and running. However, the further delay and the government guidelines for when venues do reopen have now caused more concerns and raised more questions for local, grassroots venues.

The Music Venue Trust released a statement with regards to their concerns to the PM’s announcement (please note: their statement was published before the delayed reopening): “[…] staging live events with any level of social distancing measures would not be financially viable for the majority of Grassroots Music Venues. If such socially distanced events are to be part of the progress towards normality within the sector from 1 August, significant subsidies will be required if this measure is to have any noticeable impact upon the number of shows actually taking place.” Although socially distanced audiences may work for large arenas, small, independent venues in local cities will struggle massively with attempting to implement this, particularly in such short notice and with no clarity on when or where the pilot schemes will take place.

When reaching out to The Louisiana, they directed us to the above quote and said “I think the above says everything” – I truly think it does.

Bristol’s music scene is one of my favourite things about the city. The amount of talent and the range of talent is wide-reaching. There are dozens of local music venues all over the city that give up-and-coming artists a safe space and those who want to perform and those who want to watch an outlet to do so.

One venue in Bristol that is unlikely to open, despite the government’s go-ahead, is Exchange. Matt, the director of the popular live music venue in Old Market, is aware of the difficulties of opening during these times; “a good night at Exchange (or any grassroots music venue for that matter) involves singing, dancing, sweating and spending a significant amount of time in a sealed room with air conditioning units recycling air, all of which are activities that actively spread the virus.” Not only would be the atmosphere be different (and perhaps a lot less enjoyable) but it also doesn’t make financial sense for it to reopen; “public health and consumer confidence concerns aside, we also know from engaging in the MVT [Music Venue Trust] Reopen Every Venue Safely survey that it's not actually financially viable to open with either 1m or 2m social distancing. So unfortunately at this time reopening is not the agenda.”

Similarly, Nick, Events Programmer at Crofters Rights and other venues around Bristol, believes that “it will cheaper for venues to remain closed”. This is because “punters often only buying a couple of drinks at a gig or club event, [therefore] venues require a high volume of customers for sufficient bar takes to cover operating costs and to pay staff, artists, sound engineers etc.” Reopening music venues requires a large team and crew of people, it is a job that is a lot bigger than people realise.

Nick also stresses the concern of socially distanced audiences being simply not viable; “the backroom at Crofters can only accommodate a handful of gig-goers with social distancing, so the only way to make it work would be for one act to sell out and perform 5 shows on the same night to 5 different audiences. It’s not sustainable for anyone involved.” Venues all across England are having the same issues, with their spaces simply not accommodating socially distanced audiences.

Large arenas seem to be picking up where they left off with holding socially distanced audiences; small groups of people crowd onto separate platforms, and each row of platforms have their own dedicated toilets. Virgin Money Unity Arena in Newscastle has already proved that this can work with Sam Fender and Two Door Cinema Club’s live gigs being a success, and a string of others including The Libertines due to perform later this month.

However, it is not the arenas surviving that it is our concern. Michael Kill, CEO of the Night Time Industries Association, has said that “by the end of September 2020 we will see 70% of nightclubs and venues in the UK close for good, with thousands of jobs lost, without a clear roadmap for re-opening and further financial support during this extended period of lockdown”. The government’s lack of action is undeniably damaging to the arts and culture scene who many rely on, not only for support with their income but also as a creative outlet whether that be for performers or for spectators.

The music industry is facing an unprecedented amount of uncertainty and with no roadmap on how the government will help, it has never been a more important time to stand up and help out. We are already seeing many companies going into administration, such as those behind the Welly and the Polar Bear in Hull, and Liverpool’s famous Zanzibar Club has announced its closure after almost 30 years. There was some good news, however, as two of Manchester’s beloved venues, Deaf Institute and Gorilla have narrowly been saved from closure. Despite this, uncertainty remains extremely close to home. It has never been so important to help our favourite places survive.

You can find out more by visiting: http://musicvenuetrust.com/

You can donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/2pt5g8k


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Written by Issy Packer

Hi, I’m Issy, the Music and Film Editor at The Everyday! I’m an English Literature graduate and have been passionate about all things to do with writing and journalism from a young age. I am interested in a number of things, including politics, feminism and music and am a firm believer that Bristol is ONE of the best cities in England for anything to do with culture, art and music. You can find me either at the cinema watching all sorts of films or trying to work my way through the long list of books I’m desperate to read.

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