Covid-19 Omicron outbreak: Wanganui musicians trying to tackle life under red light setting

Elizabeth de Vegt in action at the Royal Whanganui Opera House this month. Photo / Steve Caudwell

Whanganui musicians are facing an uncertain next few weeks, with shows and tours under threat as a result of the current Covid-19 red light setting.

The Wanganui Musicians Club could keep ticking over with the 100-person limit, committee member Annie Keating said.

"At this stage we are going to carry on with our club night, but obviously if Covid comes to Whanganui then we'll have second thoughts.

"Things are a bit scary at the moment, not really knowing what's going to happen next.

"We need these bookings just to survive."

Last year the club was able to secure some funding for cancelled events from the New Zealand Music Commission, Keating said.

"It wasn't a lot of money, but it helped us get through.

"We should be helping out artists and musicians, but it's got to be in fairness to the rest of the community that are suffering."

A new petition asking the Government to provide financial support for those in the music and events industry that can't work under the red traffic light setting has gathered close to 20,000 signatures in four days.

The petition, launched by Will Thomas of electronic duo SACHI, has gathered around 20,000 names in three days.

Gioia Damosso, organiser of the upcoming Sound Valley music festival, said she thought there had been an oversight from the Government in terms of the support it provided to artists.

She thought the petition was "an amazing idea".

"Artists who are booking smaller gigs or club shows are missing out on a lot of work.

"The show itself is actually only a small percentage of that work they put in.

"There's no support or backup for them. There's nothing for their loss of income or the time they've put in to their industry."

One of the motives behind increased vaccination rates was to allow events to go ahead, Damosso said.

Club nights at the Whanganui Musicians Club will be continuing under the red light setting. Photo / Bevan Conley

"You need to have made provisions, not just for large events but for these smaller artists as well."

Whanganui musician Elizabeth de Vegt is preparing for the album release show of her latest project, Flow: Beautrais+De Vegt.

At this stage, it will still be going ahead at St Peter's Church on March 5, albeit with a reduced capacity.

"I was relying on the ticket sales to help pay for the mixing and the mastering of the album," de Vegt said.

"Selling 50 tickets as opposed to 100, it's quite a big difference.

"Now is not the time to book shows in other towns either."

De Vegt said one model that could be implemented was playing numerous smaller shows, like Whanganui musician Anthonie Tonnon had done at the Royal Wanganui Opera House last year.

"Something like a late afternoon show and then an evening show.

"There are definitely options, but it's certainly not easy."

"I would never want my music to turn into a super-spreader show. That would just be heartbreaking.

"Something like that plays on my mind heavily.

"We are going to try to go ahead with the show, but we'll be making sure it's safe for people."

De Vegt said she really felt for artists who were now rearranging tours for the second time.

"I don't know how they are sustaining themselves.

"You are emotionally carrying this body of work and you want to release it out into the world, you want to do your concerts, so you can lay it down and move onto something else.

"At the moment things are stuck in a kind of time warp."