Music venues say vaccine passport makes attracting customers a challenge
After being closed for months, Montreal music venues are working to get back on their feet. But now, local industry insiders are saying the vaccine passport has made it challenging to draw customers indoors.
“Our venues are the ones that are going to get fined if ever there’s a slip-up” with vaccine passports, said Jon Weisz, founder of Les scenes de music alternatives du Quebec.
“They’re already not making a lot of money, and the prospect of a $6,000 fine […] might be enough for venues to just say, ‘you know what, we’re just going to stay closed.'"
Performers say the new passport rules give an advantage to artists who perform outside. Vincent Stephen-Ong, a musician with the Urban Sciences Brass Band, says he’s been booked solid.
“There’s a high demand for bands that can play outdoors,” he said. “I swear to God, this is not part of my ‘great conspiracy plot’ [...] [but] we’ve had the busiest summer that we’ve ever had.”
“It’s been non-stop. We’re lucky and happy to be busy.”
The passports have pushed some to shift how they’ll present their work for live audiences. Bonsound, a Montreal-based music management company, is hosting shows on the water, with attendants floating on foam paddle boards during the performance.
The ‘Contre Courant’ series is ongoing at Jean-Doré beach in Parc Jean-Drapeau.
“It’s a new setting for us,” said artist Magi Merlin, adding that playing a show for an audience afloat brings new meaning to the words “crowd surfing.”
Still, despite being outdoors, show-goers will need to present proof of vaccination, causing issues for some.
“We did have a couple of people asking for refunds, I want to say about 10 to 15 per cent in the last week,” said Bonsound spokesperson Chloé El-Sayegh.
Still, “most people are just grateful to be able to come out and see live music,” she said. “We’re happy to comply with any government measures as long as we’re allowed to still put on shows.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.