live indoor performances will be able to resume in England from Saturday

[skidder652003]

according to BBC tonight,

"Indoor theatre, music and performance venues will be able to reopen with socially distanced audiences"

I'm guessing pub gigs still a no no though?

Edited August 13, 2020 by skidder652003

[Woodwind]

20 minutes ago, skidder652003 said:

according to BBC tonight,

"Indoor theatre, music and performance venues will be able to reopen with socially distanced audiences"

I'm guessing pub gigs still a no no though?

how has this been decided I wonder?

Announced just late enough to have not saved all the theatre and event tech' and front of house jobs that have been axed these last few weeks.

[Lozz196]

The majority of the places we played that were dedicated music venues were separate rooms attached to pubs so I wonder how this will work. Strictly speaking they’re part of the pub, even though unless you had paid for a ticket you couldn’t go into the venue part. Confusing methinks, can’t see said band in this room of the building for free but can in that room if bought a ticket?

Edited August 13, 2020 by Lozz196

[ubit]

5 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

The majority of the places we played that were dedicated music venues were separate rooms attached to pubs so I wonder how this will work. Strictly speaking they’re part of the pub, even though unless you had paid for a ticket you couldn’t go into the venue part. Confusing methinks, can’t see said band in this room of the building for free but can in that room if bought a ticket?

We played a wedding years ago where the dance hall where we were set up was separate from the bar. What an utter disaster of an evening. Whoever thought that was a good idea has no clue.

[Muppet]

There still needs to be social distancing measure in place though so audience numbers will be severely limited.  Will it be viable for a venue to put on any event? 

[joeystrange]

37 minutes ago, Muppet said:

There still needs to be social distancing measure in place though so audience numbers will be severely limited.  Will it be viable for a venue to put on any event? 

No.

[SICbass]

8 hours ago, skidder652003 said:

according to BBC tonight,

"Indoor theatre, music and performance venues will be able to reopen with socially distanced audiences"

I'm guessing pub gigs still a no no though?

A nice gesture (perhaps?) but in practice - about as much use as a chocolate fireguard. The model is financially non-viable. There may be exceptions where it could work but these are a handful at best.

[jimmyb625]

2 hours ago, Muppet said:

There still needs to be social distancing measure in place though so audience numbers will be severely limited.  Will it be viable for a venue to put on any event? 

It will also completely change the atmosphere for the performances, which could make it a relatively joyless experience.

[Roger2611]

We had been offered a gig in Gateshead, the plan was that the band plays in one room with the performance video linked to the "crowd" in a separate room! We decided that Northampton to Gateshead to play in an empty room was not worth doing 

[EBS_freak]

10 hours ago, Woodwind said:

how has this been decided I wonder?

Announced just late enough to have not saved all the theatre and event tech' and front of house jobs that have been axed these last few weeks.

It would not have made a difference. With social distance measures in place, a lot of the places wont be able to break even let alone turn a profit.

For example, a theatre in the West End for example, needs 80% occupancy to break even. You aren't going to get 80% occupancy with social distancing in place (I think most theatres could only get 20% occupancy with social distancing in place) - and if you put the prices up to cover the short fall, then nobody would be willing to pay over the odds to go anyway. It's a woeful situation.

From what I understand, only specific music venues are in scope (with social distancing measures in place). I suspect people will start ignoring that soon enough anyway. I know of a jazz jam (surprisingly, it was well supported before c19) that is going on not too far from me - they are currently performing outside (and looking on facebook, not social distancing anyway) - and are already talking about moving inside because the inside is big enough anyway. Err... thats going against the guidelines somewhat. And thats the thing, I suspect where people can, they'll start chancing it.

I'm aware of a band that "dont care about the guidelines" and have performed at a wedding - inside, with more than 30 guests. The venue are fibbing through their teeth, the band are... and nobody will dob anybody in anyway - because that's not a culture that people want to participate in because it's people's livelihoods.

Until the social distancing thing is lifted (and who's to say if thats sensible or not), I can't see gigging being anywhere near viable... or if it is, enjoyable, for either the band, the staff, or the punter.

[Lozz196]

24 minutes ago, Roger2611 said:

We had been offered a gig in Gateshead, the plan was that the band plays in one room with the performance video linked to the "crowd" in a separate room! We decided that Northampton to Gateshead to play in an empty room was not worth doing 

The Black Bull perhaps?

[skidder652003]

3 hours ago, jimmyb625 said:

It will also completely change the atmosphere for the performances, which could make it a relatively joyless experience.

no change for us!

[Painy]

The Music Venue Trust put a post up on Facebook in response to this earlier today. They estimate that of the 900ish grassroots music venues currently closed across the country (not sure if they're including pubs in that figure) only around 100 have sufficient space to make it viable with social distancing measures in place. 

[paul_c2]

3 hours ago, EBS_freak said:

It would not have made a difference. With social distance measures in place, a lot of the places wont be able to break even let alone turn a profit.

For example, a theatre in the West End for example, needs 80% occupancy to break even. You aren't going to get 80% occupancy with social distancing in place (I think most theatres could only get 20% occupancy with social distancing in place) - and if you put the prices up to cover the short fall, then nobody would be willing to pay over the odds to go anyway. It's a woeful situation.

From what I understand, only specific music venues are in scope (with social distancing measures in place). I suspect people will start ignoring that soon enough anyway. I know of a jazz jam (surprisingly, it was well supported before c19) that is going on not too far from me - they are currently performing outside (and looking on facebook, not social distancing anyway) - and are already talking about moving inside because the inside is big enough anyway. Err... thats going against the guidelines somewhat. And thats the thing, I suspect where people can, they'll start chancing it.

I'm aware of a band that "dont care about the guidelines" and have performed at a wedding - inside, with more than 30 guests. The venue are fibbing through their teeth, the band are... and nobody will dob anybody in anyway - because that's not a culture that people want to participate in because it's people's livelihoods.

Until the social distancing thing is lifted (and who's to say if thats sensible or not), I can't see gigging being anywhere near viable... or if it is, enjoyable, for either the band, the staff, or the punter.

As above, really, EBS_freak has succinctly summed it up. This is pretty much a disaster for live music and the wider entertainment sector. The only problem is, its about 8-10 million people who have been affected in this kind of way, to some degree or other. The UK always was (recently) more oriented towards services than manufacturing; and of those services, many are/were what you'd call "non-essential".

I believe its not been enforced so far simply because the relevant authorities (trading standards, council licensing, police, whatever) don't have the capacity to enforce it. With more testing and more localised targeting, that gap may narrow and with a high profile case or three, the message may finally get through to that minority who are chancing it.

I don't know what the answer is, or the way forward for the millions affected.

[sykilz]

1 hour ago, skidder652003 said:

no change for us!

😆😆😆😆

The crowning moment of my 'career' in an originals band ( slow Sabbath like riffs mostly) was a gig in Southend when, after several minutes of a song that had a  sludgy , D tuned,  grinding intro , there was a brief moment of silence, and some wag in the audience shouts out "Cheer up!!!!"

We fell about laughing, and I believe we crammed in a Thunder cover version later to lighten the mood 😆😆😆

[EBS_freak]

6 minutes ago, sykilz said:

and some wag in the audience shouts out "Cheer up!!!!"

Yeah, sorry about that. I've got to get out of the habit.

There was a certain bass player of a certain up and coming artist that I was well into about 10 years ago (so much I used to go to as many gigs of theirs as I could).

Every single gig, I would get peed off with the bass player looking so glum and miserable. I'd yell it out, "Cheer up <insert name>"

Years later, he comes clean on a facebook post saying that they were the worst years of his life, he was going through a mentally abusive relationship, he was having a battle with alcoholism and was a manic depressive on the verge of suicide. Just goes to show... I'm not proud. I just thought he had resting b1tch face.

Edited August 14, 2020 by EBS_freak

[SICbass]

4 hours ago, Roger2611 said:

We had been offered a gig in Gateshead, the plan was that the band plays in one room with the performance video linked to the "crowd" in a separate room! We decided that Northampton to Gateshead to play in an empty room was not worth doing 

This might seem like a silly question, but my point is seriously intended.

If your supposed to play to a crowd who are seated in a separate room anyway - why not perform in a room in Northampton and just send the signal (including video feed) through to a room in Gateshead?

[sykilz]

3 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

Yeah, sorry about that. I've got to get out of the habit.

There was a certain bass player of a certain up and coming artist that I was well into about 10 years ago (so much I used to go to as many gigs of theirs as I could).

Every single gig, I would get peed off with the bass player looking so glum and miserable. I'd yell it out, "Cheer up <insert name>"

Years later, he comes clean on a facebook post saying that they were the worst years of his life, he was going through a mentally abusive relationship, he was having a battle with alcoholism and was a manic depressive on the verge of suicide. Just goes to show... I'm not proud. I just thought he had resting b1tch face.

I think this is why we never made it big, our music was miserable as bloody sin but we were all well adjusted , happy , played with smiles on our faces, and really good friends who were having fun. 

[EBS_freak]

Just now, SICbass said:

This might seem like a silly question, but my point is seriously intended.

If your supposed to play to a crowd who are seated in a separate room anyway - why not perform in a room in Northampton and just send the signal (including video feed) through to a room in Gateshead?

Or just record a gig and distribute the video?

[EBS_freak]

Just now, sykilz said:

I think this is why we never made it big, our music was miserable as bloody sin but we were all well adjusted , happy , played with smiles on our faces, and really good friends who were having fun. 

I think we never made it... because our music was just.... stinky poo. 

[sykilz]

17 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

I think we never made it... because our music was just.... stinky poo. 

Oh ours wasn't THAT good 😆😆

[Rich]

7 hours ago, ubit said:

We played a wedding years ago where the dance hall where we were set up was separate from the bar. What an utter disaster of an evening. Whoever thought that was a good idea has no clue.

We had a corporate do in Brighton many years ago for a financial institution who I will not name (but it rhymes with 'Boil Skank of Rotland') which was much like this. Everyone disappeared to the bar and we played to a dozen people, 8 of whom were our WAGs/BAHs. It was disappointing, but they gave us good wedge and free accommodation, so we treated it as a paid rehearsal and a free weekend away.

[martthebass]

7 hours ago, Muppet said:

There still needs to be social distancing measure in place though so audience numbers will be severely limited.  Will it be viable for a venue to put on any event? 

Spoke to a couple of publicans this morning at 2 of our venues and the answer was no from both

[Lozz196]

42 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

Yeah, sorry about that. I've got to get out of the habit.

There was a certain bass player of a certain up and coming artist that I was well into about 10 years ago (so much I used to go to as many gigs of theirs as I could).

Every single gig, I would get peed off with the bass player looking so glum and miserable. I'd yell it out, "Cheer up <insert name>"

Years later, he comes clean on a facebook post saying that they were the worst years of his life, he was going through a mentally abusive relationship, he was having a battle with alcoholism and was a manic depressive on the verge of suicide. Just goes to show... I'm not proud. I just thought he had resting b1tch face.

It’s funny, a few years back we got chatting to some guys who’d just watched us and they said we were great but were terrified of looking at me, seeing I was staring the audience out, and didn’t want to risk annoying me and possibly provoking a row.

I was looking at the audience to see if they were enjoying the performance, so duly made note to self to remember to smile more when playing 😁

[martthebass]

10 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

It’s funny, a few years back we got chatting to some guys who’d just watched us and they said we were great but were terrified of looking at me, seeing I was staring the audience out, and didn’t want to risk annoying me and possibly provoking a row.

I was looking at the audience to see if they were enjoying the performance, so duly made note to self to remember to smile more when playing 😁

I always try and remind myself to smile more on stage......maybe it's a bassist thing?