Cruel summer for Australian live music industry as Covid restrictions bite

It’s shaping up as a cruel summer for the live music industry, with crowd restrictions forcing the cancellation of major festivals across the nation.

Crowd at Wildlands Music Festival at the RNA Showgrounds, Brisbane on December 26, 2021. Picture: Steve Pohlner

What looked like a much-needed return to full productivity for Australian live music is fast becoming one of the lowest moments of the pandemic for the industry, as crowd gathering restrictions in several states force the cancellation of major summer events.

On Wednesday morning, the heavy metal festival Full Tilt announced that its inaugural event at the Adelaide Showgrounds on January 29 could not proceed due to the reintroduction of the South Australian government’s Covid restrictions.

“We simply can’t run Full Tilt in a seated format, and a postponement into a time where we have zero confidence in the state government to remain true to their word has forced this decision,” event promoter Chris O’Brien, who is also general manager of tour and event promoter Destroy All Lines, said in a statement.

“We are devastated for the artists, contractors, crew and event staff who will all miss out on the income, many of whom have barely worked since March 2020. We are also gutted for the thousands of fans that have purchased tickets and were looking forward to Full Tilt.”

About 5000 tickets had been sold to the festival, representing about $500,000 in ticket sales.

The promoter noted that his team had followed the SA government’s Covid-safe event guidelines that were set to come into place on December 28, in line with the state’s 90 per cent vaccinated reopening plan.

“With yet another change in Covid policies and with the government backtracking on all its earlier promises on density and outdoor gathering limitations, presenting the event in just two weeks was simply unrealistic,” said O’Brien in a statement.

The announcement on Wednesday follows the postponement of Full Tilt’s Brisbane event last weekend, which was shifted to April 23 after members of the touring parties for several bands – including the headline act, Northlane – tested positive to Covid-19.

“We feel for the organisers, we feel for the staff, our crew, our fans and the other artists, some of which we know have travelled far and wide to attend,” wrote the Sydney metalcore quartet on Instagram. “We look forward to seeing you again soon, once we’ve recovered.”

On Tuesday afternoon, organisers of the NSW music festival Grapevine Gathering announced that the event planned for Saturday, January 15 at Roche Estate in the Hunter Valley could not proceed due to changes in NSW Health restrictions.

“We are extremely heartbroken to share with you that just four days out, we must cancel this weekend’s Grapevine Gathering NSW following a decision by the government to amend the Public Health Order overnight which been amended to ban singing and dancing for outdoor events (until last night the ban was only for indoor activities),” wrote organisers on Instagram. “We are deeply sorry this news has come at the final hour.”

As revealed by The Australian on Tuesday, NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant signed an amendment to the Public Health Act on Monday afternoon whose objective was “to prohibit singing and dancing by persons attending music festivals”.

In a new clause under music festivals, the NSW Public Health Order states that “an occupier of premises at which a music festival is being held must ensure that […] no person sings or dances on the premises other than a person performing at the festival, or a person rehearsing to perform at the festival”.

Grapevine Gathering had sold about 16,000 tickets for an event set to feature performances by artists such as Peking Duk, The Jungle Giants and The Veronicas.

Late on Wednesday, NSW Health responded to questions from The Australian on this event cancellation.

“NSW Health’s number one priority is the safety and wellbeing of the community,” said a spokesperson. “The January 10 Amendment to the Public Health Order applies to all premises where a music festival is being held.”

“The Public Health Order now states singing and dancing is prohibited at music festivals, hospitality venues, nightclubs, entertainment facilities and major recreation facilities. The directions in Public Health Orders apply for a maximum of 90 days.”

In other words: these restrictions might be in place until April 10. Byron Bay Bluesfest is scheduled to begin on April 14, across the Easter long weekend.

With this amendment, Grapevine Gathering may be only the first major festival NSW cancellation of 2022, causing yet more pain across an industry already on its knees.

“This is a devastating blow not only to the live music industry, but also to regional tourism,” said the festival organisers in their statement on Tuesday afternoon. “A projected loss of over $5.2 million to the greater Hunter Valley region is expected from this cancellation.”

“Over 1400 jobs are now lost across our artists, food vendors, security, production crew, ticketing staff and more who were deep in preparation for the weekend. We appreciate your understanding and support for what is an incredibly sad day for live music.”