VENUES TOUT SAFE REOPENING

A survey by the Music Venue Trust has shown evidence of a safe return to live music. During the first month of the U.K.’s reopening, COVID-19 case rates in the areas surrounding grassroots venues were down 39%, more than the daily national average of 28%.

MVT’s survey also revealed that just 2.1% of live-music fans wanted to see certified double vaccination as the sole mandatory condition of entry to gigs. Instead, fans more strongly supported a mix of vaccination proof, testing or immunity. This runs counter to the latest plan from Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who said in July that proof of vaccination will be the only ticket into gigs from late September on.

Of the 1.9k people surveyed, 82% had already attended or planned to attend a grassroots live-music event. More than 73% of those attending gigs were double-vaccinated, which is higher than the rate of the general U.K. population (61%). Nearly 92% of live-music fans plan to be double-vaccinated by the end of September.

MVT says that 86% of grassroots music destinations are currently open, equating to 817 venues delivering 13k shows in the last four weeks to an audience of 2m. Advance ticket sales are down compared to pre-COVID stats for 68% of the 221 venues surveyed, while 62% said that turn-up on the night of the show is down.

Said Music Venue Trust CEO Mark Davyd, survey results “clearly demonstrate a will by the live-music community to create safe spaces, to take personal responsibility for ourselves and each other and to act to Reopen Every Venue Safely," adding, "It is particularly striking that local case and transmission rates around grassroots music venues, far from exponentially increasing as was predicted, have, in reality, exceeded the decline in rates witnessed nationally.”