Outdoor music concerts back on in NSW, just don’t stand or dance
Exemptions granted by the NSW health minister mean outdoor festivals can be held by event promoters, so long as attendees don’t engage in anything resembling dancing.
The NSW music industry has been granted a reprieve from onerous prohibitions on live events, after health minister Brad Hazzard signed an exemption to the public health order.
The exemption, published on Monday afternoon, will allow outdoor events to occur across the state so long as attendees remain seated and don’t engage in anything resembling dancing.
As a result, major concerts to be held in NSW this month can proceed as planned, including dates on the Red Hot Summer and Summersalt touring festivals.
Headlined by Jimmy Barnes, Red Hot Summer also features artists including Hoodoo Gurus, Jon Stevens, and Vika & Linda.
About 7000 tickets have been sold to the tour’s first NSW concert, which will be held on Saturday at Roche Estate, a winery in the Hunter Valley.
The following day, about 5000 fans are expected to attend Mount Penang Parkland in Kariong, a town west of Gosford on the central coast.
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The exemption also gives the green light to other events including Summersalt, a touring festival headlined by blues act The Teskey Brothers which has dates booked at Roche Estate and Wollongong’s Stuart Park on January 29 and January 30, respectively.
None of these concerts is likely to attract a raging moshpit filled with sweaty teenagers. Instead, these are the sort of shows where mostly middle-aged punters tend to bring chairs and picnic blankets, and find a comfortable spot on the lawn to sit and enjoy the music from a social distance.
The public health order exemption issued on Monday will effectively treat these concerts similarly to an event like Test cricket, a low-risk event where seated patrons share space across several hours.
The exemption states live event promoters “must take reasonably practicable steps to ensure attendees (patrons not workers) remain seated.”
As well, promoters “must ensure that attendees do not congregate away from their seat or seating area” and “must take reasonable steps to ensure that there is no dancefloor at the event, or that any existing dancefloor is not used”.
Lastly, even promoters must engage with “must engage with security guards and/or Covid marshals to ensure compliance with the conditions of this exemption”.
At the weekend, the first two dates of the Red Hot Summer were held at Mornington Racecourse. A video posted by musician Jane Barnes on Sunday showed a large crowd on its feet while singing along to the Cold Chisel song Flame Trees.
“What a beautiful evening at Mornington, Victoria,” wrote Barnes on Instagram. “Perfect temperature, a cloudless sky, the moon nearly full. The audience in great voice. I think we all needed this.”
Also on Monday, NSW treasurer Matt Kean announced a $43m fund for organisers of major events and festivals that have been significantly disrupted by Covid public health orders.
Named Event Saver, the fund will offer a financial lifeline to organisers who have had to cancel, postpone or vary events held between December 15 2021 and December 31 this year..
“Major events are a key economic driver that create thousands of jobs across the state,” said NSW premier Dominic Perrottet. “The Event Saver fund will ensure that organisers aren’t left high and dry as we work through this latest phase of the pandemic and sends a strong signal that the government is here to support business.”
Like many national tours, Red Hot Summer has been postponed twice previously, after prior dates for both March and October 2021 were rescheduled due to event and border restrictions.
Following the NSW tour dates this weekend, the Barnes-headlined tour will visit Bendigo, Port Macquarie and Berry before concluding in Canberra on February 27.
A separate 16-date Red Hot Summer tour featuring artists such as Hunters and Collectors, James Reyne and The Living End will begin at Sydney’s Cockatoo Island on February 20 and end in Cairns on May 14.
News of the exemption will be warmly received by NSW live music industry, which was last week grappling with the dire implications of amendments to the state’s public health order which prohibited singing and dancing.
During interviews with senior industry figures last week, The Australian heard widespread concern and despair.
Veteran festival promoter John Zaccaria – whose festival brands include Summersalt – told The Australian, “The amount of anxiety within the industry is just out of control […] It’s deja vu, everything getting cancelled again. And you wonder how all the independent contractors – and the industry as a whole – is going to survive round two.”
Event cancellations announced last week included Grapevine Gathering, a festival headlined by Peking Duk and The Jungle Giants which sold 16,000 tickets and was scheduled to be held last Saturday at Roche Estate.
“This is a devastating blow not only to the live music industry, but also to regional tourism,” said Grapevine Gathering organisers in a statement last Tuesday. “A projected loss of over $5.2m to the greater Hunter Valley region is expected from this cancellation.”
On Saturday, Melbourne band The Cat Empire announced that its outdoor concert to be held at Parramatta Park this Friday was cancelled.
“Due to innumerable Covid related issues that we just can’t get around and that are too dull to detail, our Sydney Festival show cannot go ahead on January 21,” said the band in a statement. “We are gutted we won’t be able to deliver this final Sydney show. Apologies for the disappointment which we are carrying heavily too.”
