Musos’ desperate plea to Marshall, Spurrier and Stevens: Please let us dance – our industry is dying

Hospitality and entertainment workers have rallied to demand venue restrictions ease, ahead of Tuesday’s transition committee meeting.

A huge cohort of musicians and entertainers gathered at the Arkaba Hotel this week to warn that current restrictions, including a ban on dancing, are crippling their industry. Picture: Matt Turner

South Australia’s entertainment industry says the state government’s ban on dancing is crippling the sector, sending businesses to the wall and forcing the exodus of an entire generation of emerging talent

More than 100 hospitality and entertainment industry workers met at the Kings Head Hotel in desperation on Monday afternoon, demanding Tuesday’s transition committee meeting review restrictions on dancing.

A rally of concerned musicians, DJs, production crew and others connected to the live entertainment industry at the Kings Head Hotel in Adelaide: NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz

Co-founder of the Hospitality Owner’s Collective, and owner of the Duke of Brunswick Hotel Simone Douglas said businesses were hanging on by a thread under the restrictions.

“We’d like them to take the handbrake off our lives, realistically,” Ms Douglas said.

“Give us back the right that we had and the freedom that we had to trade prior to the lockdown, that are in line with every other state that has no community cases.”

They group is calling for an increase to 75 per cent capacity at licensed venues, with standing consumption allowed, and a return to dancing and singing.

Rally at the Kings Head Hotel in Adelaide: NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz

“Everyone’s getting ready to give up, we don’t have much left in us … we don’t have a plan, we have people that aren't booking functions because they don't know what the rules are going to be,” she said.

Rob Pippan, promoter and musician, said the entertainment industry had been decimated since July, when the JobKeeper subsidy ended.

“Our cumulative losses have now placed us all in an untenable position,” Mr Pippan said.

“Shows are now being cancelled in record amounts.”

He said if restrictions did not ease by October, thousands of South Australians would face a bleak economic future, and “possible bankruptcy”.

Local artist Lainie Jamieson started an online petition for the cause on behalf of SA musicians, called Save our SA Stages, which has seen 2735 signatures since it was published about a month ago.

“I am urgently calling on Steven Marshall to ensure that live music gigs, venues, events are no longer targeted with singing and dancing bans and restrictions,” Ms Jamieson wrote on the petition.

It follows more than 150 musicians, DJs, venue owners and production crew gathered at the Arkaba Hotel last week to air their grievances and add their support to an open letter pleading for authorities to reconsider the dance bans and capacity limits before the traditionally busy holiday period.

The letter – addressed to Premier Steven Marshall and the Covid-19 Transition Committee – asks authorities to immediately consider the re­moval of restrictions on dancing and singing and to increase venue capacities and density rates.

“These requests are vital for getting South Australia’s entertainment industry and entertainment venues (public and private) back from the brink of closure,” the letter reads. “We can’t wait ‘months’, we need action now as we come into our (normally) busiest three months of the year.”

Chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier this week said dancing and singing would likely remain banned in the state for several months as authorities pushed towards an 80 per cent vaccination rate – as desperate nightclub owners proposed a compromise that would allow fully vaccinated clubbers to dance.

Professor Spurrier warned a “brake” was needed on some high-risk activities at potential “super-spreading” functions.

“These are the things that we have put aside to be thinking about when our community has a much higher vaccination rate,” she said.

Entertainers, however, say they feel like they are being used as a bargaining chip, a belief they say is compounded by the fact that dancing is still allowed in other states where there is no community transmission such as Western Australia and Tasmania.

Jason Makarenko is the co-owner of legendary late-night karaoke bar La Sing and co-founder of the Hospo Owners Collective. Speaking to the gathering at the Arkaba Hotel this week, he said the industry had patiently complied with 545 days of restrictions.

“545 days and 545 ways of myself and all of you trying to survive,” he said to the gathering.

“We’re up against it. The difficulty for us is … that everyone is expecting us to be here when this is all over.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starting to not see the light at the end of the tunnel. We want our venues back, we want our bands back, we want our dancing back.”

DJ Xander Blakmore, 21, said that before the pandemic he had regular gigs and a steady income and was on the verge of moving out of his parents’ house. Now he’s struggling to make ends meet.

“I’ve been DJing since I was 11,” Mr Blackmore said.

“It’s what I love doing and it’s all I want to do. I have seen people quit, although I try to convince people to keep going and that we’ll come out of this eventually, but it’s so hard to get gigs when can’t even have private events. Why is OK to dance in Queensland or Tasmania but not here?”

It’s a question posed by another DJ who’s been on the scene for decades, indie disc spinner Craig Flanigan.

Mr Flanigan said he has lost two-thirds of his income after two of his three regular DJ nights dried up.

“This has had an immense effect, as the bills don’t stop,” he said.

“The other problem is that the staff have to control people and enforce these restrictions, and they cop a lot of abuse when they ask people to sit down and stop dancing.

“First and foremost, we need to see a return of dancing. The current capacity restrictions we could probably make work, but only if there was dancing.”

Mr Flanigan posed a question many in the entertainment industry have been asking this year: How is more than 26,000 football fans at Adelaide Oval better than a dance floor?

“Sport seems to have a privileged position, but I’d say that there is actually more money in the entertainment industry,” he said. “It’s a huge industry that employs thousands of people.”

Musicians Sam Raciti, Sharni Stewart, Jordan Lennon, Max Lopresto, Kaelee McKay and Jesse Catalano are banding together to fight for the right to dance. Picture: Morgan Sette

One of those people behind the scenes is lighting designer Tim Upward, who invested heavily in new equipment just before the pandemic hit. That equipment now lies dormant.

“I also build stages for concerts and events, so we’ve copped both ends of the pineapple,” Mr Upward said.

“My income is down 95 per cent on what it was before the pandemic. I’ve ripped through 30 years of savings and let a staff member go. We had planned to launch a second business with two or three staff, but that’s not happening now.”

Rob Pippan is a veteran of the Adelaide music scene, having played guitar with everyone from Ross Wilson to Orianthi.

He said the industry had been “clobbered” and there was a risk of losing thousands of collective years of knowledge from the music business.

“I think we’re at the point now where unless something happens very quickly there are going to be thousands of people out of the business forever,” Mr Pippan said.

“The industry is on its knees. All we want is a safe and reasonable return to business. We feel unfairly treated.”

Mr Pippan said it was the music industry that was often called upon to help in times of crisis.

“Now it’s time for us to be supported,” he said. “And we’re not even asking for a subsidy; we’re just asking for a chance to do what we do.”

Tam Boakes, the owner of Hindley Street live music institution Jive, said it was constant battle to stay open.

“With seating, we can only fit one-third capacity of the venue, not 75 per cent, which makes it impossible to cover wages and expenses,” she said.

“We should at least have the option of 50 per cent standing, the same as private functions. We are being forced into restrictions so harsh that we can’t cover costs, yet given no recompense or protection from financial hardships.

“All ‘just in case’ we have a community transmission.” Jordan Lennon, who plays in several bands including The New Romantics and The Fab Four, said people didn’t realise how deep the tentacles of the entertainment industry ran.

“It’s a domino effect – you take out one piece of the puzzle and everything follows,” he said. “You cancel a gig and you’re not just cancelling the band, you’re cancelling the people who book the tickets, the production crew, security – it’s so many people.”

Jesse Catalano, who plays in popular party band Mr Buzzy, was instrumental in organising the open letter. Mr Catalano said the comparison between sport and entertainment had many scratching their heads.

“They’re beating their chest about getting more people into the football; meanwhile, there are all these people in the entertainment industry that can’t work,” he said.

“Some bands have said ‘This is just too hard’, and I think young people that once looked to music as a profession are going into other industries.

“We understand that we’re always going to be the first hit and the last to come back, but it’s been more than 50 days-plus since any community transmission so you’d think we’d be getting a bit more relief.’’

Mr Catalano said many musicians relied on the summer period for a large chunk of their income.

“All the Christmas shows, the corporate shows … it’s huge,” he said.

“We need help now and we need some action now.”

Vaccine passports could end band’s career

Adelaide Celtic rock act The Borderers know there’s a looming deadline that could put an end to their 27-year career – the introduction of vaccine passports.

Husband-and-wife team Jim and Alex Paterson are unvaccinated and believe that is going to seriously hinder, if not end, their ability to play gigs in the very near future.

Jim and Alex Paterson – The Borderers – at Saunders Gorge Sanctuary. Picture: Matt Turner

“We don’t take any drugs at all,” Mr Paterson said.

“We eat organic food, don’t take antibiotics … we try to live a healthy life. We’re just unsure about this vaccine.”

Mr Paterson said he worried that policies such as the Adelaide Fringe’s mooted no jab, no show rule, along with current Covid-19restrictions, could mean a change of career was imminent.

Overseas, festivals where the artists and the punters are required to be fully vaccinated or produce a negative Covid-19 test result have become commonplace.

“There’s the vaccine, and the fact that you can’t sing or dance at a live show,” he said.

“If you can’t sing or dance, then you might as well become an accountant. As Jim McKew, director of the Port Fairy Folk Festival once said, ‘You must be dead if you’re not seen dancing at a Borderers gig’.”

The state government is considering the option of incorporating vaccine information into check-in apps, allowing businesses and events to impose restrictions on unvaccinated patrons if they choose to. Australia’s fully vaccinated rate currently sits at 45.40 per cent.

The Borderers play The Gov next Sunday