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Live music venue Freo.Social closes doors for month due to WA’s Level 2 COVID restrictions

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Simon CollinsThe West Australian
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Freo Social has cancelled or postponed its March gigs.
Camera IconFreo Social has cancelled or postponed its March gigs. Credit: John Koh/The West Australian

Fremantle live music venue and microbrewery Freo.Social has made the “sad decision” to close its doors for the rest of this month amid WA’s new Level 2 restrictions.

On social media, the venue said that while it could continue trading under Level 1 rules, the introduction of a 150-person capacity with Level 2 restrictions made it impossible.

Part of the Triple-1 -Three hospitality group which also owns Otherside Brewing Co. and Mojos Bar in North Fremantle, Freo.Social has a maximum capacity of 900 people.

Freo.Social’s March gigs from popular interstate artists Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever and Babe Rainbow, plus local artists Death by Denim and Ra Ra Viper, have been postponed or cancelled.

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Freo.Social has shows in coming months from national profile acts Tropical F… Storm, Baker Boy, Caravana Sun and Perth Comedy Festival performers.

Freo Social at Freo.Social on Saturday August 15th, 2020.
Entertainment 
Picture by John Koh.
Camera IconThe venue’s March gigs have either been cancelled or postponed. Credit: John Koh/The West Australian

The venue said that the 2sqm rule and 500-person capacity under Level 1 restrictions “wasn’t ideal” for a live music venue their size.

“But, we could make it work and we could continue to showcase live music and entertainment,” it said.

However, the 150-person capacity and seated service only rules forced Freo.Social to close until stage two restrictions are lifted.

“Unfortunately, we can’t make that work,” the venue said. “Nor does it work for the artists we have scheduled.

“As a result, after a lot of deliberation and, in spite of our staunch commitment to support local live music, we have made the sad decision to close the venue during the period that these restrictions apply.

“We are hoping that this will only be for March,” Freo.Social added, “but we will continue to monitor it all closely and will re-open as soon as conditions change.

“We apologise to those of you that may have been looking forward to coming to the venue.”

The venue was also due to host Fleetwood Mac tribute act LandSlide and 16th annual Amateur Pole Queen event during March.

Local singer-songwriter Carus Thompson supported the decision.

“Completely understand. Hang in there. Great venue,” he wrote on Facebook.

Alex Irving, better known as DJ Alex Mac, said that he was “sorry to hear” the decision.

“Difficult times,” he wrote. “We will look forward to playing at your great venue again soon.”

Triple-1-Three chief executive Al Taylor said that the current restrictions make it commercially impossible to trade.

He said Freo.Social’s closure would have a knock-on effect on crews, bar staff and music industry workers, “part of the sector that has already been walloped beyond comprehension”.

Mr Taylor said that the State Government should consider a “scalable cap based on venue size — standing and seated” because the ongoing uncertainty around live entertainment was causing long-term damage to WA’s reputation as a touring destination.

“The bigger issue here is that even when we re-open the apparent, unpredictable, unexpected nature of the decision making and announcements has generated a growing negative sentiment amongst the music community on the East Coast,” he added.

“This is resulting in a ‘WA’s too hard, wait and see’ stance which is impacting re-bookings and general artist commitment in the short and long-term.

“It will take a long time for that community to gain confidence.”

Mr Taylor confirmed that Freo.Social would only reopen when Level 2 restrictions are lifted or eased.

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