Is this the shape of COVID-safe music festivals to come?
A rotating “turntable stage” and a site split into separate quadrants awaits patrons at Good Day Sunshine in WA next month.
A Western Australian concert promoter has devised a world-first COVID-safe music festival layout that will feature a rotating “turntable stage” before a crowd split into four groups of about 1250 people, with each quadrant run as a separate event.
Headlined by roots artists John Butler and Xavier Rudd, the first Good Day Sunshine festival will be held on October 31 in the coastal city of Busselton, 222km south of Perth.
“The idea behind it was about mitigating the spread, if there was to be someone with COVID-19 at the event,” said promoter Ross Macpherson. “The four separate areas will each have all of their own facilities and their own staff, so there’s no staff moving between the areas.”
Organisers have sold 95 per cent of tickets to the 5,000 capacity event, which was originally scheduled to take place in March at Margaret River. The relocated event in Busselton will also see performances from Sydney singer-songwriter Josh Pyke and a solo performance from Vikki Thorn of folk-rock trio The Waifs.
“The idea to do the rotating central stage is nothing new in the stadium world, with bands like Metallica, Beyonce and Pearl Jam,” he said. “It just made sense to give everyone the same experience by doing it that way, and having some big screens so that they can still watch the artists perform at the times when the stage may be facing the other way.”
In an unusual pairing, Macpherson sourced the rotating stage through a car dealer: most luxury car dealerships have one, and they’re also commonplace at automotive shows.
On the day, there will be another challenge for artists who are used to staying stationary while performing. “The other side of it is regulating the speed to make sure that everyone’s happy with the speed at which they’re rotating, while not making the artists feel like they’re on a show ride,” he said.
During the COVID era, event promoters have tried a few different approaches to restart live music while observing social distancing. In Britain earlier this month, Van Morrison performed at an outdoor event before about 2500 fans watching from 500 raised metal platforms, while a few drive-in concerts have cropped up, including one held near Brisbane in July that featured singer, songwriter and guitarist Russell Morris.
As of Tuesday, Western Australia had four active coronavirus cases; the affected people are in hotel quarantine. The state has recorded a total of 659 cases this year, while earlier this month Premier Mark McGowan refused to put a time frame on reopening the state’s hard border closure, which has been in place since April.
If successful, the approach taken by organisers of Good Day Sunshine — named after a 1966 song by The Beatles — may soon be adopted by other festivals here and internationally.
Rather than seeking to place a trademark or patent on his unique idea, though, Macpherson and his team are hopeful that what’s planned for next month is only the start of further innovations in the events space.
“The live music industry has taken a real blow through [COVID], and I think anyone trying to then capitalise on something that could potentially help would be a pretty horrible thing to do,” he said.
“But I don’t think this is the be-all and end-all,” said Macpherson. “I’m really excited to see what else comes out of this — things that we can potentially adopt to make it better for the punters and the artists, as well.”
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