07/01/2022
2022! Who could have ever imagined that CoVid would still be destroying the live music industry in this country as we head into year 3 of this insidious virus. But it is. And to a certain extent, it’s even worse now than it was in year 1. At least back then, we had no idea what we were looking at. As the country went into lock down , and as a race, we all thought these measures were a necessary evil to overcome those dark days to have our freedoms returned. As the months rolled by, the appetite to again return to normality and see music live again was fierce. People were so hungry.
Bands, including my very own, would sneak a show in here or there, between border closures and constant restrictions, just to try and keep the heart beat of live music alive and stop it from a a massive cardiac arrest. It as year 1 rolled into year 2, that hunger that punters once had was starting to wane. Divisions between the vaxed and the unvaxed started to appear. Parting with their hard earned money to see shows whereby they couldn’t dance anymore, only drink seated, having to wear a mask and no singing. That craving for live music had slowly diminished.
Then artists were confronted with a brand new challenge. Ticket Faigue. Was that even a thing before CoVid. The constant rescheduling of shows, sometimes up to 5 times, has left the very people we need to support this industry, either requesting refunds on tickets or deciding to make the call on the night of the show. As a promoter of ticketed events, this is my worst nightmare. But the end result is dwindling numbers at shows.
Now we have Omnicron. As the case numbers continue to rise at a rate not experienced in this country to date, more and more punters are choosing to not venture out into places of large social gatherings.
While I understand we all want to get back to the stages and do the things we do best. I more than anyone wants that as it is how I earn a living. However, patience is a virtue and it won’t be long before we are all doing what we love. I believe we would be better off putting the cue in the rack temporarily and letting the dust settle a little. Venues are constantly having to reschedule shows that were originally booked years ago now, which is frustrating and confusing for the punter, and also not allowing new acts that have formed during this period to unleash themselves into the industry because future dates are clogged up with old bookings. This is slowly grinding our industry into a rut.
To try to understand the complexities of what we are dealing with at present I watch a lot of the acts of people I know to see what they are doing and more importantly what the outcomes are from their activities. Knowing my old band mates from Dont Change - Ultimate INXS themselves had announced their 2022 East Coast tour starting today, I checked in to see how the new NSW restrictions were going to effect their shows this weekend. These lads had hit the road early this morning for a 5+ hour road trip up the NSW coast. The new restrictions will now leave them only playing 1 small show before having to do a U turn and come all the way home. I can feel there pain and wouldn’t wish for that to happen to any act. NSW have now going into no dancing, no singing and mandatory masks until Jan 27. In my own home state of South Australia, we are still under the same restrictions. It is for these reasons alone that I think we are in for some pretty challenging times in the near future.
To all my fellow artists, stay strong. Our time to shine will hopefully not be too far away.
