Gigging before the 26th June...

[Brian45]

Hi guys, I was hoping to get some opinions regarding on this matter....

Could a band be held responsible if the audience decided to get up and dance, sing along etc.. at a outside function (marquee) after may 17th but before the 26th June. What I can make out is the function can take place but everyone needs to be seated?
If people decided not too after one or two drinks, who’s neck would be on the block 

many thanks

[jrixn1]

https://musiciansunion.org.uk/working-performing/coronavirus-guidance/overview-of-covid-19-restrictions-for-musicians

Quote

• Outdoor live performance permitted with audience limitations (4,000 people or 50% of venue capacity, whichever is lower).
• Large outdoor seated events permitted with audience limitations (10,000 people or 25% of venue capacity, whichever is lower).

So to me (no expert) it seems the 'seated' restriction applies only for more than 4,000 audience members.

[Cato]

I doubt there's a water tight 'correct' legal answer to this.

There's too many aspects of the restrictions that are untried and untested in a court of law.

I suspect if the police or other authorities decided to take action the event organiser would be culpable before the band (unless the band are the organisers) but there's no way to say whether the police might press charges against the band and whether those charges would result in convictions if they were contested in a court of law until it actually happens.

With a lot of the pandemic restrictions the decision as to whether to take any action against any breach is mostly at the discretion of the officers attending the alleged breach.  In any given situation they might do nothing, ask people nicely to disperse or start issuing fines. 

If you look at fines for breaching the restrictions in different areas of the country there are a lot of inconsistentencies that suggest some police forces are much more relaxed about fining people for breaches than others.

TL:DR version. 

I don't think anyone knows.

 

Edited April 29, 2021 by Cato

[bertbass]

Turned down a gig for the 2nd bank holiday in May because we don't want to risk the covid thing.  We managed to book the 30th August instead when things should be a lot better.

[Dad3353]

20 minutes ago, Brian45 said:

Hi guys, I was hoping to get some opinions regarding on this matter....

Could a band be held responsible if the audience decided to get up and dance, sing along etc.. at a outside function (marquee) after may 17th but before the 26th June. What I can make out is the function can take place but everyone needs to be seated?
If people decided not too after one or two drinks, who’s neck would be on the block 

many thanks

(And, to avoid any risk, play only a repertoire of Radiohead songs...)

[Lozz196]

I can’t see how crowd control is the responsibility of the band, surely it has to be of the owner(s) of the venue.

[Supernaut]

1 hour ago, Dad3353 said:

(And, to avoid any risk, play only a repertoire of Radiohead songs...)

I don't think that's the title of the song? 😄

 

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited March 14, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[Cat Burrito]

In terms of case law, it's untested water because it hasn't happened yet i.e. been put before the courts. I did two gigs since the pandemic (both socially distanced) & the second was stopped by police. We were onstage and didn't get why people were walking out. It turns out one punter got drunk and decided to kick a police car outside. Everyone suffered. The police seemed to take this up with the event organisers. We were never spoken to. It was a shame as it was really well organised with all the social distancing / track and trace measures in place.

[skidder652003]

2 hours ago, Cat Burrito said:

In terms of case law, it's untested water because it hasn't happened yet i.e. been put before the courts. I did two gigs since the pandemic (both socially distanced) & the second was stopped by police. We were onstage and didn't get why people were walking out. It turns out one punter got drunk and decided to kick a police car outside. Everyone suffered. The police seemed to take this up with the event organisers. We were never spoken to. It was a shame as it was really well organised with all the social distancing / track and trace measures in place.

weird, this happens to us at Every gig? Now we know!