Montreal’s independent clubs may not play all night with live music in the short term.
On Monday, the indoor sites were allowed to accommodate 250 people, up from 50 o’out. Also on Monday, the provincial government announced a $6 million fund for live entertainment venues. But club owners say that e-book broadcasts are now unprofitable, given the government’s social estrangement rules, which particularly diminish their capacity.
“Social estrangement prevents us from having more than 12 people in Casa (del Popolo) if we did exhibitions, which doesn’t mean much at the end of the month,” said Mauro Pezzente, co-owner of Casa del Popolo and La Sala Rossa, two of Montreal’s most famous undefined places. “And Sala Rossa that I calculated can have only 35 or 36 other people. We pay our expenses with dance parties, DJ nights. Some exhibit the paintings well, but for the most part, the exhibitions do not pay the expenses … and (social estrangement regulations) do not allow us to have dance shows.”
House reopened in July, but as a bar and restaurant.
“No one’s going in, ” said Pezzente. “It’s incredibly slow. Most of the other people are outdoors on the terrace. Without the terrace, we couldn’t stay open. The city did a wonderful task by allowing other people to have terraces temporarily and very easily.
“Occasionally we will have a table with 4 other people inside, as we did a few weeks ago when it was very hot and the air conditioning was working; some other people were inmates and were pretty excited about the air conditioning.” I felt weird. As if it didn’t seem right.”
Veteran indie promoter Dan Webster, one of the owners of Greenland Productions, says he just can’t make money with these rules.
“The challenge with the capacity of 250 is that it’s hard to pay for,” Webster said. “Bringing other people to the rooms will now be very expensive in terms of management, and one should wonder if it’s worth it. The last thing we need to worry about now is the systems that are wasting money. It’s vital that if we do something, he doesn’t dig a bigger hole for us. (The 250 limit) works if you have a place that has an investment other than tickets and also if you have artists available. They’re more or less Quebec artists. Array… Someone like the Crown can make a capacity of 250, but someone like Café Campus can’t make 250. »
Marc St-Laurent, who books shows at Café Campus, said Petit Campus, the smaller venue in the complex, has a regular capacity of 275 to 300 and with the COVID rules can hold 40 to 50 people. The big room at Café Campus has a capacity of 550; he figures he could fit in 75 or 80 people under the current rules.
“I made a quick budget the other day, ” said St-Lauhire. “Let’s say I’m doing an exhibition for 50 people. Once you have paid the organization and paid all of your fees, the price, even with local equipment, is about $3,000, once I have paid technicians, rent and utilities. sample for 50 people, your tickets have to charge $60 to be profitable. It doesn’t even make sense. The online display for me right now is more appealing than making an exhibition for 50 people.
Café Campus and La Sala Rossa will be doing online shows in the fall. The concerts will be streamed live, with the artists playing onstage but no audience on site. People can pay to see the shows at home.
The old Wheel Club on Cavendish Boulevard. at N.D.G., he began live concerts, with his legendary Hillbilly Night Roots broadcast live online on the past two Mondays. The club won donations and benefited during the first two nights.
The venue has no plans to open its doors to the public for the moment. Wheel Club president Clifford Schwartz said he did a Facebook survey and 97 per cent of respondents said they wouldn’t come right now due to fears related to the pandemic.
“I’m not even comfortable with that, to be honest, ” said Schwartz. “If you have health problems because of that … that’s not how I need to make a living. I just don’t value it. I like the concept of continuing the live broadcast.”
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