Not Going Out, or How's Your Lockdown?

Saturday March 28th

A few days ago I wrote optimistically, but I believe perfectly reasonably about the boom that will follow the bust. The hairdressers, decorators, builders, mechanics and countless other trades and professions who have a very bright day to look forward to when the night finally ends. I hope those who are finding things tough at the moment can hold out and reap the benefits of the spike in demand that will surely follow.

We're close to a week in, how's your lockdown so far? Personally I'm practising, reading, writing, listening to a lot of old records and studying music in a way I rarely had the time to until last week. Other than the absence of camaraderie among my fellow players and a drop off in income of about 90 per cent it's actually extremely pleasant.

I haven't gone down the Netflix route so far and it's highly unlikely that I will. Nor do I care much for the fare available on the mainstream television channels. I'm more your BBC4 or Sky Arts type of guy.

Honestly though, as a player or audience member I'd give anything to be able to go to a gig. Wouldn't you?

Nothing lasts forever and I'm already seeing rescheduled dates, both my own and those of my fellow players, coming in for the second part of the year and through 2021. Quite how we will sustain ourselves between now and then is less clear, but looking a little brighter than it was just a few days ago. Two cheers and cautious optimism.

Just as our often alarmist and irresponsible mainstream media fanned the flames of the bog roll bonfire, you can be sure that when the time comes our screens will be alight with tattooed geezers brawling over a place in the barber's queue, together with a national tinfoil shortage and all of the attendant panic buying.
Your local Screwfix and Toolstation will have armed security and strict limits on numbers in stores at any one time.

I dubbed this the Coronabubble the other day. The seeds are sown, it's already on its way and even now it can't be halted.

Of course you know what I'm going to say next.
When all of this is behind us it's our collective responsibility to support local theatres, clubs, arts centres, pub venues and small to medium performance venues of every kind. There is no guarantee of a recovery in the performance sector, and as heartwarming as 8pm Thursday was, there are others who will need our applause in the times ahead.

So keep the binge watching for when you really, really can't do anything else, don't give the racketeers of our industry two hundred quid to sit in row 141 of a sports stadium either. Instead try paying fifteen or twenty quid to sit in row E, indoors, with a pub two minutes walk away in the interval, and transport or car parking every bit as close when the show is over.

Small venues need us at the best of times, and we should prioritise them over totally soulless, acoustically dreadful arenas, and like my friend Lawrence says,

Keep It Live

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