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A prominent live music venue in Saskatoon is receiving plenty of criticism since announcing vaccines will be mandatory for anyone attending or playing a concert.
Amigo’s Cantina promoter Brant Palko said the venue has been the target of Facebook groups rallying against COVID-19 public health measures and mandatory vaccines since the venue updated its live event protocols on Aug. 17.
“Many of them don’t even live in Saskatoon. People started talking about it — anti-media, freedom rally-type Facebook groups — and then they clearly decided to start spamming our page with cries of discrimination and these sorts of things,” Palko said, noting an exact moment the comments turned from local support to harsh criticism from outside the city’s borders.
“I consider them to be the vocal minority.”
As part of the new measures, all fans, staff and artists must be vaccinated against COVID-19 at least two weeks prior to attending a show, with proof of vaccination required.
Palko took to Twitter earlier this week to say some local artists have pulled out of shows for “ideological reasons.”
Since @AmigosSK announced our vaccine policy for live events a week ago, I’ve had local artists drop off of shows for ideological reasons. I’m not in the business of naming and shaming, but history will judge them. #covid19sk
— Brant Palko (@BrantPalko) August 23, 2021
Palko said the entire live music industry is keen to keep as many people safe as possible after 18 months without any activity.
With each passing day, more and more venues are requiring proof of vaccination at the door of future concerts.
“Artists, tour managers, sound techs, booking agents — many of us did not qualify for any sort of federal funding or assistance and haven’t worked in this industry in 18 months,” Palko said.
“Industry people know that if our industry is going to avoid another lockdown situation, we’ll have to take measures to mitigate the possibility of outbreaks at events.”
Palko also feels the move towards vaccine mandates for a variety of gatherings is helping increase new vaccinations. He’s seen the nudge to roll up a sleeve materialize quickly.
“I maintain that a vast majority of unvaccinated people are just hesitant. I had several artists with bands who had one member who wasn’t vaccinated but was willing to get the vaccine in order to play a show at Amigo’s,” Palko said.
“Vaccine mandates work.”
Some bands have pulled out of shows due to the new vaccine requirements, but Palko maintains the overwhelming majority of artists support the new vaccine policy.
“We’re gaining way more than we lost. Artists want to feel safe, they want their audiences to feel safe,” he said.
With the first show slated for Sept. 3, Palko and the rest of the staff at Amigo’s can’t wait to have the popular venue back to hosting concerts.
“This has also been an opportunity to come back and be better than we were before,” Palko said. “I hope everyone feels safe and welcome and wants to come to our venue.”
