{"id":19831,"date":"2020-08-25T11:47:10","date_gmt":"2020-08-25T18:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=19831"},"modified":"2020-08-25T11:48:05","modified_gmt":"2020-08-25T18:48:05","slug":"victorias-one-man-band-dave-harris-deals-with-performing-during-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2020\/08\/25\/victorias-one-man-band-dave-harris-deals-with-performing-during-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Victoria\u2019s one-man band Dave Harris deals with performing during COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The entertainment industry has taken a beating around the globe, and Victoria is no exception. Dozens of local concerts were cancelled or postponed in the wake of COVID-19, and that trend continues as acts like Steve Miller Band, Limblifter, and Cowboy Junkies will not be making it to town for shows previously scheduled for September.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The effects of the pandemic were felt throughout the industry. With the streets deserted, buskers were hit particularly hard; long-time Victoria street performer Dave Harris, known for playing as a one-man band, says he has had to try a few new things to make money this year.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI lost my job, so I did collect the government benefit,\u201d says Harris. \u201cI\u2019ve just now cut myself off but I needed it. The reality is my bills didn\u2019t go away but my income did. I did some Facebook shows, and I think people enjoyed them, but they didn\u2019t always pay.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Victoria’s Dave Harris performs with a shield to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 (photo provided).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Victoria\u2019s downtown core is coming back to life, thanks in part to a temporary initiative designed to stimulate business: the city has reduced vehicle traffic to one lane on a short stretch of Government and made the block between Fort and View pedestrian only, which has made room for patios and live music while allowing adequate social distancing. Harris says that the new setup is a huge improvement.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI always thought Government Street would make a great walking mall,\u201d says Harris. \u201cThat\u2019s been on my mind since I started busking in the \u201970s. It just seems natural that it should be closed off, and so far it seems to have been proven successful. With all of the outdoor patios it\u2019s a natural fit for buskers. It\u2019s been good.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The city only closed one block, but Harris says that the dynamic has changed downtown.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cEven the blocks going down towards Wharf Street are quite a lot nicer now with all of the outdoor patios, because drivers are avoiding the area because they know the one block is closed to traffic,\u201d says Harris. \u201cThe tourists aren\u2019t here but it feels to me like there are more locals out than there ever were. Those patios are humming.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Harris says that when businesses started reopening, he could see that people definitely wanted to get out and sit outside.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cPeople still wanted to go out for a beer and some entertainment,\u201d says Harris. \u201c People realized how much they missed it, which was good because I needed to get back out and make money again. This season is more or less a write-off compared to other years. I can\u2019t do what I would normally do, which is play for about six hours a day for this time of year.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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There is now some outdoor music happening around town, but indoor shows are still rare. Harris, who usually plays pubs every week, says he just recently started playing at the Loft on Tuesday nights, with some significant changes in setting.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m playing indoors, but it\u2019s at half capacity,\u201d says Harris. \u201cI\u2019m playing there with Jack Levin, formerly of the Powder Blues Band, and we\u2019ve got screens in front of our faces when we\u2019re singing. It\u2019s slowly coming back, but it\u2019s going to be a long time before it’s anything close to what it was. At half capacity we aren\u2019t getting paid by the room, so it\u2019s by donation. It\u2019s working out so far because people are being generous, but it\u2019s not sustainable if it continues indefinitely.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Harris says that he\u2019s seen a lot since he started busking back in 1977, but buskers might be more important now than ever.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI think buskers often get a bad rap,\u201d he says. \u201cI know a lot of people to this day think that busking is a form of begging. And sometimes you see the odd person who doesn\u2019t even bother to tune their guitar and they give us a bad name. I think busking is an age-old, and important, profession. Entertainment is hard to find right now and I\u2019m seeing busking as having more significance with COVID.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The entertainment industry has taken a beating around the globe, and Victoria is no exception. Dozens of local concerts were cancelled or postponed in the wake of COVID-19, and that trend continues as acts like Steve Miller Band, Limblifter, and Cowboy Junkies will not be making it to town for shows previously scheduled for September. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19834,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-webexclusive"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19831"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19833,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19831\/revisions\/19833"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}