Joyful return to live music in Brisbane – but for how long?

Having been to COVID-safe concerts at four different rooms in recent weeks, I wanted to report a few observations from dark rooms before seated crowds.

Brisbane alternative rock band Screamfeeder performing before seated patrons at music venue The Zoo on Thursday July 23, 2020, two weeks into the Queensland capital's return to COVID-safe live music. Picture: Andrew McMillen / The Australian

Live music returned to the Queensland capital on July 10, as several of Brisbane’s busiest venues reopened their doors after about four months between gigs. Having been to concerts at four rooms in recent weeks, I wanted to report a few observations from seeing a pirate metal band in acoustic mode (Lagerstein), an accomplished alternative rock institution (Screamfeeder), a punk-rock innovator performing solo and electric (Ed Kuepper) and a compelling Sydney indie pop band (Lime Cordiale) at the Triffid, the Zoo, the Outpost and the Tivoli, respectively. First and most significantly, there has been a palpable sense at each of these shows that nothing compares with the feeling of being in the room while musicians work their craft. I believe that goes both ways: it’s not only music-mad punters like me who have missed that feeling, but plenty of artists also have become all too aware of late that performing to a live-streaming phone or laptop is a poor (if necessary) substitute for the real thing.

Social distancing, temperature checking and recording your contact details are now the order of the day. The Triffid and the Outpost are offering table service to guests, who are required to stay in their seats at all times unless using the bathroom, while the Zoo and the Tivoli are requesting that patrons seated in groups send one person at a time to the bar to avoid congestion bottlenecks on the floor. Most of these venues have been restricted to just 100 patrons because of their size, while the Tivoli — a bigger theatre that under normal conditions can hold about 1500 people — managed about 350.

Importantly, everyone I’ve witnessed at these shows has been on their best behaviour, which might be connected to the knowledge that all of this could be taken away from us — once again — at very short notice. While I am writing this on Wednesday afternoon, Queensland Health has recorded a couple of concerning COVID-19 cases after months of extremely low numbers statewide, and the Premier has announced that all residents of Greater Sydney will be excluded from the state until further notice. By the time this column is published, things could have taken another turn for the worse, and Brisbane venues might be forced to shut their doors like their Melbourne counterparts, which again are under a citywide lockdown.

The takeaway from all this? If you’re a live-music fan and there’s a gig happening anywhere near you, I suggest you get along as soon as you can because there’s no telling whether live music is truly here to stay or whether it’ll continue flickering on and off like a fluorescent tube near the end of its useful life.

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