The Stunning singer Steve Wall has described the restrictions imposed on outdoor gigs in the Republic as "ridiculous".
The band is due to play Pearse Stadium in Galway on August 29th in a Government-supported series of concerts in front of 500 fans, as part of the live performance support scheme (LPSS) designed to help acts who have not performed live since the pandemic started.
Some €25 million has been allocated to host concerts through the LPSS between now and the end of September.
Wall described the capacity in the stadium for the concerts as a "joke" and contrasted it with the All-Ireland finals, which will see 40,000 fans in Croke Park.
“They [the Government] need to cop on. The whole music industry should be out on the street marching about this. There is a lot of justifiable anger around.”
Musicians who spoke to The Irish Times said the sight of 10,000 fans at an outdoor music event at Féile an Phobail in Belfast last week, followed by 5,000 fans at Tom Jones in the city, showed the marked difference in responses to the return of live music on both sides of the Border.
Wall said recent test gigs in the Iveagh Gardens, for which 500 fans gathered in pods, was “optics to placate the industry into thinking the Government is doing something”.
Wall said he did not blame the Minister for Arts Catherine Martin or her officials who were doing their best, but their hands were tied by “over-stringent regulations”.
Representatives of the music industry are due to meet the Minister on Wednesday.
‘Total disgrace’
Live music consultant Justin Green described the meeting as a "tick-box exercise, a publicity stunt in response to mounting public and media pressure".
“After 17 months, over 500 days being the only sector still fully closed, it is a total disgrace that we are given two to three minutes max each to present our sector’s case.
“We call upon the Government, the Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, Catherine Martin and Stephen Donnelly for proper and meaningful engagement as they have done with all other sectors.”
Singer Mary Coughlan said she played four concerts in Northern Ireland at the weekend, both indoor and outdoor, including one in front of 4,500 people.
She said she found the attitude of the Irish Government "appalling and shocking" given the situation in the North and Britain, where live music is returning to normal.
"I'm going to stand in the Milk Market in Limerick tomorrow night in front of 200 people and freeze my socks off. I shouldn't have to do this anymore," she said. "They really have to let us back indoors."
The Music and Entertainment Association of Ireland (MEAI), which represents 5,000 people who work in the sector, is calling on Government to set a date for reopening.
Aslan guitarist Billy McGuinness said the delay was “disgraceful”.
"You are going to have 80 or 90 per cent of the population fully vaccinated by the end of September and they cancelled the Electric Picnic. Vaccination was supposed to be the big gamechanger for the music industry, but it isn't," he said.
Aslan played their first gig in 18 months to a crowd of 200 people outdoors at the INEC in Killarney at the weekend. McGuinness said the LPSS money is due to run out in October.
"There is no information coming from the Government. They are really ignoring us. MCD and Festival Republic are already running festivals with 40,000 in the UK. Gigs are normal up the North now. I can drive an hour up the road from Drogheda and go to any gig I want."
Singer-songwriter Eleanor McEvoy said the Government should look to the Arts Council of Northern Ireland manual for safe opening of venues. "It is crucial that audiences have full confidence that venues are adhering to the very highest public health and safety standards if they are to be encouraged to return to cultural gatherings quickly," she said.
