With restrictions continuing to ease, a bigger than expected summer of live music in Ballarat is beginning to form.
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Following the announcement of SummerSalt on February 28, one of the first big rock events to return to Victoria, smaller venues are preparing as well.
As well as the City of Ballarat's collaborative Be_Hear/Now festival, which will include some seated tickets with a livestream across the next three weekends, The Eastern, Ballarat East's beloved punk pub, has already held a few sold-out seated shows in its beer garden, with more to come.
Down the road a bit, Volta is set for a grand reopening, with the first round of shows set to be announced Friday.
While he couldn't give away any hints, venue owner Zac Hill said there should be big shows all the way through to March - done COVID-safe, of course.
"We're trying to get something going, and we're lucky the artists have come to the party, so have the bookers, and we're trying to work out what's going to work and what's viable," he said.
"We just want to get the shows back on the road."
The venue was able to open briefly just before the pandemic crisis really hit, with big names from across Australia playing the newly-redeveloped room.
Under the latest restrictions, indoor entertainment venues, including cinemas and theatres, can open with up to 20 people per space. There can be up to 10 people per group booking, and each group must be separated by 1.5 metres. Smaller venues can seat a smaller number of people.
Live music can resume in well ventilated indoor and outdoor venues, however live music outdoors is recommended. Patrons are limited based on the relevant restrictions that apply to the setting.
Mr Hill noted the roadmap ahead for live music in Victoria didn't provide "stability yet", but getting people seated indoors for a show was a good first step, particularly for staff left out of work completely like light and sound technicians.
"With our situation, they're going to be seated shows for a while, there's not a lot of small ones that can seat more than 40 people anyway, and that in itself presents a challenge," he said.
"It's really about people who haven't been doing what they're used to for a long time."
That's echoed by promoter Duane McDonald, who is behind the massive Red Hot Summer Tour - the Ballarat leg was originally planned for March this year, with headliners like Hunters and Collectors, but the festival was eventually postponed to March 2022.
In the meantime, the festival will tour every state but Victoria and New South Wales in 2021, with Jimmy Barnes at the top of the lineup.
Mr McDonald, based in Miners Rest, said his touring crews across the country were eager to get back to work safely.
"They've been hanging out since March, everyone thought originally it would be a six month thing that would bring them back in this summer, but in a lot of areas that's not possible," he said.
"To get something off the ground is better than nothing, to get those guys back in work will mean the world to them."
A longer term plan from the state government would be useful for further planning, he added - the Victorian government has committed millions of dollars in grants for venues and specific projects during the pandemic, including in Ballarat.
"Hopefully we can get some sort of direction, because these events can't be turned around in a matter of weeks, it's months of lead time," Mr McDonald said.
"It's people's livelihoods, for a lot of musicians and crew it's their life, and for them not to see some blue sky at the end, it's disturbing.
"Hopefully in '21 we can build it back up and get everyone back to work on the road."
The smaller venues have a big part to play as well, especially in regional areas, he added.
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"They're the main cog in the whole industry, these smaller venues, and without them, (problems will) filter right through to national touring," he said.
"Up-and-comers need a platform to showcase on, if they haven't got that platform, or some visibility about how they're going to move forward, god knows what they're going to do."
The Eastern was also phoned for comment.
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