The Triffid’s beer garden to bloom again with COVID-safe live music

Brisbane music venue The Triffid reopens on Friday with a roster including Bernard Fanning, Dami Im and Troy Cassar-Daley.

7th July 2020. Reggie Allen and John Collins at The Triffid ahead of their Cabin Fever Festival. photo: Glenn Hunt / The Australian

On Friday night, Brisbane music venue The Triffid will host its first live performance in almost four months when pirate-themed metal band Lagerstein performs a rare acoustic set for a seated ­audience.

“It’s going to feel like a really different experience from a normal show, and I think that’s why people have responded so well,” said co-owner John Collins of the sold-out concert. “I think people are looking forward to getting out and seeing something.”

Lagerstein is the first in a series of ticketed and free events to be held in the beer garden, where artists such as Bernard Fanning, Dami Im and Troy Cassar-Daley will perform intimate sets to 100 fans, who must arrive together and keep 1.5m from their seated neighbours. Attendees will have their temperature checked before entering the venue.

On Thursday, Queensland had two active cases of corona­virus. Reggie Allen, who runs events and marketing at The Triffid, said keeping the venue COVID-safe was important if crowd numbers were to increase when health restrictions eased.

“Our worst nightmare is that we have to take a step back,” said Allen, who also runs events at The Fortitude Music Hall.

“Given everything that’s happening in Victoria at the moment, it’s a very real fear.”

Across the city, night life is gradually returning: also on Friday, Fortitude Valley venue The Zoo will begin a series of 100-­capacity gigs, while nearby theatre The Tivoli will next week open its doors for the first time since March for a performance from Sydney pop-rock duo Lime Cordiale.

“I’ve been talking to other venue owners, and I just want everyone to get back up and get going,” said Collins.

“It’s not a big money thing. It’s about getting artists, staff and production working, to get the wheels turning again.”

In late May, the bassist reunited with his Powderfinger bandmates for a one-off socially distanced charity fundraiser.

“It was so awesome for me on a personal level, because with the venues I was talking about cash flow and accountant stuff — which is so far removed from what makes me tick,” said Collins.

For Allen, who watched the band’s One Night Lonely gig from home, it was an emotional moment to see her boss performing from inside an empty Fortitude Music Hall. “It was something pretty special,” she said. “You know when you go to your first gig when you’re 14 or 15 and you have that wild excitement? It felt like that again.”