West Lothian’s oldest live music club say they are desperate for clarification so they can open in the coming weeks.
The legendary Dreadnought venue at King Street in Bathgate has only been open for 10 weeks throughout the last year and are desperate to get back to running live shows again.
The rock club were aiming to open their doors again on May 17, along with other hospitality venues, but the operations manager at the Dreadnought, Alan Russell, says nightclub guidance has not been updated since last year and a June opening is more likely.
Alan says it is the current social distancing rules make it impossible to open up in May.
Speaking to The Courier, he explained: “Unfortunately the guidance that was published last September has not been updated since.
“So, without that important information and guidance it is pretty impossible for us to guess what would be required to go ahead with an event.
“We have a rough idea based on what was published but there is a raging discussion going on about this one metre or two metre social distancing.
“It’s not about numbers. We set our stall up when did pub mode last year so that most of the tables would be two metre distancing.
“We went with that but it becomes critical with mixed households.
“At a pub people from different households can sit in a bar two metres apart but not at a gig.
“That is the complication and we are liaising with the Scottish Government through the Music Venue Trust.
“We have just decided that we will leave it for another couple of weeks and then hope we get the guidance to see what can or can’t be done.
“It is going to be well into June now before we could even think about putting something on. We have worked out we need about three weeks just to get set up, get stock and the bar operation, plus a lot of bands are just getting back to speed rehearsal wise.”
The Dreadnought are grateful for the furlough scheme and funding help they have received along the way from Creative Scotland.
The Music Venue Trust have played a pivotal role in helping small venues and now Alan wants punters to come out when shows restart and show their appreciation for new talent.
He added: “Things are raging on behind the scenes. We have been part of the Music Venue Trust for the last number of years but obviously in the last year they have been battling for small grassroots venues up and down the country.
“These venues are an intrinsic part of society, and without them you wouldn’t have had a Lewis Capaldi, so they have shone a light on the wee clubs that have scattered about all over the place.
“Our key message is to support live music and more so than ever before. We would encourage people who have never been before to make the effort and check the bands out. Places like ourselves are key to the progress of a lot of local musicians that are now making there way through to the big time.”
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