‘Catastrophic’ COVID clampdown threatens music venues

Powderfinger bassist John ‘JC’ Collins has hit out at the ongoing “contradiction” in COVID-19 restrictions that allows tens of thousands of people in stadiums but limits live music venues to a fraction of their capacity.

Powderfinger’s John ‘JC’ Collins is blowing up at the ongoing COVID-19 clampdown on live music venues – and he’s lit the fuse for a celebrity-led campaign to get the Palaszczuk Government to listen.

The bassist for the iconic Brisbane band, who now owns The Triffid and Fortitude Music Hall, says venues and the thousands of workers and subcontractors they support are battling for survival while sporting events enjoy capacity crowds.

He is recruiting muso mates and sports stars for a campaign called Play Fair to shine a spotlight on the ‘unfairness’ and get the live music scene back on song.

John ‘JC’ Collins owns the Fortitude Music Hall and The Triffid. Picture: AAP/Photo Steve Pohlner

“This is not about making money, it’s about survival,” Collins told The Sunday Mail.

“We need help. Once JobKeeper ends, we don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Collins said that with the widespread relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions, many people assumed music venues were back to normal.

“People think we’re back fully open but we’re not, far from it – we’re still only operating at 30 per cent capacity,” he said.

“It seems like a big contradiction when you’ve got capacity crowds for events like State of Origin at and the (AFL) grand final at the Gabba, and almost 30,000 people at Suncorp Stadium for the Broncos season-opener last weekend,” he said.

“I know they’re outdoor venues but you still have thousands of people milling around the bars or jumping on a bus.

“It doesn’t look like there’s much empathy for us.”

Queensland live music venues have not been allowed to return to full capacity. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/The Australian

Collins said the Fortitude Music Hall had suffered ‘catastrophic’ losses, with about 100 shows cancelled and staff laid off.

“It’s been really horrible for our venue … brutal,” he said.

“Our capacity is 3300 but we’re restricted to 1100 and we can’t just make it work in a lot of cases with that number.

“We respect that the government is doing its job (in managing the pandemic) but we don’t think they really understand our situation.

“We need some sort of conversation on how the industry can survive the rest of the year. If we can’t get more capacity, we need rescuing.”

Collins said live music venues supported not only performers but production crew, truck drivers and suppliers who were ‘all hurting’ as the industry continued to suffer.

He is recruiting fellow musicians and sports stars for the Play Fair campaign to try and persuade the Palaszczuk Government to ease venue restrictions.

“We want the government to ‘play fair’ when it comes to COVID-19 restrictions,” he said.

“Hopefully music fans across Queensland will get behind it.”