Paris (AFP)

Prohibition of standing spectators, concerts seated with or without distancing depending on the red or green zones: the current music rooms juggle with contingencies to reopen their doors in the current health context.

Didier Veillault, at the head of La Coopérative de Mai, an emblematic venue in Clermont-Ferrand, remembers the last show hosted.

It was March 8, with the pioneers of French rap, IAM.

"Akhenaton (leader) was on stage telling the audience that he hoped the tour wouldn't be interrupted, but in the hall people were getting the info on their phones: more gatherings of over 1,000 people ..." , he tells AFP.

It was just the beginning.

Live entertainment was one of the first sectors to stop its activity completely because of the Covid-19 and is struggling to resume.

The ban on gatherings of more than 5,000 people now remains until the end of October, standing concerts are still prohibited, the mask is compulsory in the hall, the distance is lifted in the green zones but not in the red zones.

"And we are not ready to see an American group in France again", sighs Didier Veillault.

Partial unemployment measures "have been a big support", he explains.

The Cooperative has benefited from aid from the metropolis, the city and the region.

"And we took out a loan from the banks of 500,000 euros, we can hold out until the end of the year, then we'll see. If there is no prospect of resumption of activity in January, this will be the disaster ", reveals the person in charge.

- "Don't want to be under the cover" -

"We are worried but we want to do things, we don't want to be under the cover," he said.

He sums up the problem: "Are people going to want to come back? How can we convince artists to come to theaters with different formulas?"

He thinks in particular of a piano-voice or guitar-voice show, instead of a group, or two concerts in a day for example because of the reduced capacity.

David Fourrier, director of La Sirène, Salle de la Rochelle, insisted to AFP on the impact of health constraints "on the physiognomy of programming".

"We go from spectators with an expressive face to a pair of eyes behind a mask. And for genres like electro or hip-hop, it's hard to imagine sitting still."

Its enclosure can normally accommodate up to 1,270 standing spectators.

"We go to 3-400 seats if we stay in the green zone and 200 if we go to the red zone".

- "Gymnastic" -

Le 104 in Paris is offering concerts by Jeanne Added, Emily Loizeau and Catastrophe from next week.

Nice program but nice puzzle in sight for this structure in the red zone.

"We often talk about the repercussions in terms of lost revenue for the ticket office, but it's not just that: enforcing distancing forces us to double the staff, which leads to an additional cost," José explained to AFP. -Manuel Gonçalvès, at the head of the room.

With, again, a reduced assistance.

"For a show with 800 people in normal times, we go, taking into account the groups to be spaced, to 500 people. But we double our staff, eight in the hall and four at the entrances. Because in addition, we are in free seating. , without numbered seat ... "

To avoid the arbitrariness of an empty chair / spectator, it was necessary to contact ticket holders by email to identify groups and spectators alone.

A big "gymnastics" describes the boss of 104. But for many rooms, the slogan is the same, as David Fourrier puts it: "Take the bull by the horns so that the show stays alive".

© 2020 AFP