Live performance returns to iconic venues

As Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome prepares to reopen for 30 fans at a time next weekend, two iconic venues in the UK and Australia are also declining to be silenced by the Covid-19 crisis.

London’s Royal Albert Hall and Sydney Opera House are among those to experiment with different ways of bringing live music to fans during the coronavirus crisis.

The 5,272-capacity Royal Albert Hall hosts the BBC Proms each summer, an eight-week series of daily concerts starting from mid-July. Undeterred by the crisis, the Proms will go ahead this year as a combination of archive footage, virtual performances and live shows, broadcast live on radio, television and online.

Proms director David Pickard says he is “very hopeful” for live events to form part of the programming at the end of August, with the presence of an audience not being ruled out.

London’s Royal Albert Hall and Sydney Opera House are among those to experiment with different ways of bringing live music to fans during the coronavirus crisis

The UK government has stated that cultural events can be held without an audience from as early as next week (1 June). However, no information has been given as to when fans may be allowed to return.

The Royal Albert Hall has already broadcast from behind closed doors, hosting opera singer Katherine Jenkins for a special performance to mark the anniversary of Victory in Europe Day.

Another iconic music venue to see live shows return is the 5,738-capacity Sydney Opera House, which broadcast two live shows from behind closed doors last weekend (23 to 24 May). Sydney band Low Life and hip-hop act Winston Surfshirt made their debut at the Opera House as part of the venue’s digital season From Our House to Yours.

Upcoming behind-closed-doors shows at the venue include electro soul duo Bow and Arrow (30 May) and Muggera Dance Party, featuring TV personalities Daz and Jax Compton (31 May), both in celebration of Australia’s First Nations.

Photo: Solvarsity/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) (cropped)

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