FEATURE:
Slight Return
IN THIS PHOTO: Sam Fender recently played the first major socially distanced gigs in the U.K. since lockdown
Socially Distanced Gigs, and a Chance for Change Post-COVID-19
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I have put out quite a bit this weekend already…
IN THIS PHOTO: Sam Fender at the Virgin Money Unity Arena/PHOTO CREDIT: PA Images
and there is a lot going on right now! Despite the fact we are still restricted in terms of where we can go and what we can do, I like the fact that there are socially distanced gigs happening. I want to bring in an interview that NME conducted with Sam Fender soon, as he opened the first set of socially distanced gigs at Newcastle's Gosforth Park. There are signs that, if done right, socially distanced gigs can work and find a willing audience. There is this split between larger outdoor spaces where we can accommodate these types of gigs – through building special platforms and areas so that people do not come into contact with one another. On the other side, there are smaller venues, which are unable to truly open and operate as they would be vastly under-capacity and struggle to break-even. It may not be until next year until we see them resume a normal service, so people are attending outdoor gigs in the meantime. This is a slight return to normal, or at least it provides access to gigs, as opposed watching artists livestream or paying to see artists perform alone/without an audience at a venue. I will discuss a bigger question in a minute but, first, I want to quote from that NME interview with Sam Fender, as he discussed how he felt returning to live performance, and why they have the socially distanced formula cracked in the North East:
“After a heavy amount of touring, how did you find taking a pause from it all?
“I hadn’t gone a month without a gig since I was about 14. I was in a band then and I never stopped gigging, whether it was a buskers’ night or whatever; I was always trying to get myself out there and practice my craft. To not play live for the best part of five months is bizarre. I never realised how much I lean on it. When you’re creative, you lean on it for your mental health. There’s always the writing and recording side, but that communal thing of being on stage and hearing songs that you wrote when you were hungover and pure depressed as fuck being sang back to you is the most cathartic, uplifting experience.
“It’s nice to be back but I’m scared [socially distanced shows will be] like methadone for the heroin addict. If we can prove that this works and keep doing this then that’s fantastic, but if not then I’ll be waiting until April next year so it’ll be another long stint on the PlayStation.”
IN THIS PHOTO: Another shot of the Virgin Money Unity Arena/PHOTO CREDIT: PA Images
How does it feel to have opened the UK’s first set of socially distanced concerts – and in your hometown?
“I’m so proud of it. I’m proud that it’s our region that’s done it and proud that it’s the Geordies that are the trailblazers. I hope that it can keep going because people are dying for live music and I’m happy to play in whatever capacity we possibly can until this all blows over. There was only 2500 people in a space that would usually fit 20,000 and it still felt enormous because people were screaming louder than they usually would and they needed it. It’s wonderful, so I hope we can keep it going.”
How are you finding the industry’s new normal and is it making you more creative in the way you connect with your fans?
“If I’m honest, not really. I didn’t handle any of the lockdown stuff well. I went very inward and became quite pessimistic and it took its toll on my head. Now that we’re getting back in the studio and I’ve got my ducks in a row; I’m excited to get back out there. I did a little bit on TikTok, but it scares me. I got sucked into the Tiktok machine for a while; people told me you have to ‘like’ things to get the algorithm to work but I just don’t have the patience for that and I just want things to not cringe me out straight away! I find it all terrifying so I didn’t come up with anything particularly to engage with fans. I hope in 2021 we’re gigging again, because I don’t know how much longer I can sit in the house”.
IN THIS PHOTO: The Green Door Store, Brighton
Fender’s comments echo that of many other artists regarding adaption to lockdown and how they have either become more pessimistic, or they have had to perform and release music in a way they are not familiar with. It must have been a huge relief for Fender to perform again, and I do hope that other large spaces can provide a sort of mini-festival or socially distanced gig. Whilst venues won’t be able to welcome people back in this manner, there will be many hoping that, before the weather turns and we approach autumn and winter, we can squeeze in some socially distanced gigs and sort of make up for a bit of lost time. Fans are desperate to see artists perform as soon as they can and, whilst venues are eager to open their doors when it is safe and they can bring as many people in as possible, I wonder whether COVID-19 has provided some time for reflection as to the way tours are organised and how much artists actually make. I was reading an interesting article from The Guardian, as they talked with a few artists who explained how touring rarely results in profit and, actually, how this period of quiet and inactivity has been a bit of a relief! Of course, we will see artists go back on tour next year, but is this a perfect moment for labels, managers and those who look after artists to change things – rather than rush them back into tours and send them all over the world?
IN THIS PHOTO: Hannah Cohen
I think we all love gigs, as it is great to bond with an artist and share in that electricity and relationship that can only be experienced at gigs. The audience get that thrill and sense of enrichment, but what is it like for artists who are touring relentlessly? It is less to do with the number of gigs; more to do with the incredible amount of travel and how far flung they are. The title of this feature, Slight Return, was a nod to socially distanced gigs and how it is almost like normal (in some respects), but there is also that financial aspect that applies to artists’ revenue – how many are not cracking even or taking much away. I think it ties into the socially distanced gigs cropping up and how, when everyone is keen to get on the road next year, why things can’t just return to how they were. In that article from The Guardian, Hannah Cohen was one of the artists who talked about her touring experience. There was also some fascinating insight from Alexandra Denton (better known as Shura):
“This month, New York musician Hannah Cohen said what many were secretly thinking. “I don’t miss touring,” she wrote on Twitter. “I am relieved. Touring with a band is a bottomless pit of expenses, emotionally & physically exhausting and I rarely break even … I will spend this break in touring slowly chipping away at my tour debt.” Other musicians chimed in on the thread, citing non-existent profits and gruelling schedules as a significant strain on their mental health.
“It’s possible to make money over a festival season, but with touring, most people I know are really lucky if they break even,” says Alexandra Denton, better known as Shura. After she released her second album, Forevher, in August 2019, her planned promotional campaign around a run of 2020 festivals “evaporated overnight”. With paltry royalties from streaming, touring is now seen as musicians’ primary income. But from the 30 tour dates Shura performed before lockdown, she estimates her overall profit at £2,300 – after takings had been chipped away by the expense of a live band, accommodation and staging, all paid at a fixed rate. “Genuinely, if you can finish a tour and say: ‘We didn’t lose any money’, it’s a real win,” she says. “But for 30 shows, as a single-entity musician, I’m making less than anyone else working on the tour.”
IN THIS PHOTO: Shura
The one upside, she suggests, is that this conversation might finally bring change. “There needs to be a real re-examination of necessity – do we need to be doing four dates in Germany when we know we only sell 50% of tickets? And it’s drilled into you from the early stages of your career that it’s important to project success, but when people are livestreaming from their bedrooms in their pyjamas, any mystique is fully gone.” She says artists need “transparency” – an increased willingness to speak up against disappointing fees and schedules, and to challenge the returns from streaming. “Being a musician is thought of as a privilege, but we’re already losing a lot of great artists. I just hope that I’m one of the ones who make it”.
There are mixed blessing regarding gigs being suspended (or largely postponed). It does mean that many artists can recharge and, until things get back to how they were, we need to talk about tour schedules and the realities of touring for many artists. On the other hand, socially distanced gigs such as the ones Sam Fender has delivered have provided music fans with their first taste of live music in months. For smaller venues, their future is unsure, but let’s hope most of them can survive to open their doors next year. If you can get to a socially distanced gig, then make sure you do, as there is evidence to show that they work perfectly fine in larger open spaces. After things calm down and there is light at the end of the tunnel, everyone needs to go to their local venues and see as many artists as they can…but there is also a flipside on a wider level. For artists who have a packed schedule and are touring across nations and covering a vast number of miles, is that really workable, considering many are not making any money at all?! COVID-19 has reinforced just how vital live music is to us all but I hope, at a period where we can recharge and look ahead, changes come in so that artists who are feeling exhausted by touring can fall in love with live music…
PHOTO CREDIT: @joshappel/Unsplash
ONCE again.