A petition supported by La Vapeur, the current music hall in Dijon, calls for the return of standing concerts from Monday January 24. The director of the hall, Yann Rivoal expresses his incomprehension of the sanitary measures in force for the concerts.
France Bleu Bourgogne: Why is it so complicated to organize seated concerts at La Vapeur?
Yann Rivoal : We have already done it, it is possible, except that we do not have the same gauge at all, we go to 300 places only. And if we have sold more than 300 tickets, it is not possible to draw participants. So we are forced to postpone, to shift. And then, there are other phenomena that make standing concerts impossible, there is the whole logic of touring. Even if we decide to do a seated concert, the artist has to agree. But the other rooms that will make up the tour must also agree. That’s a lot of parameters that most of the time, it’s not possible.
Who makes the decision to cancel or postpone a concert? Is it the room or the artist?
It is done in consultation. Depending on the possibilities of each other, we try to prioritize the postponement. But sometimes that’s not possible. With Benjamin Biolay for example, we had already postponed this concert and there his schedule did not allow him to find new dates beyond January. In Dijon, we are geographically well positioned in the tours, so that gives us facilities for postponements. It’s more difficult, I think, when you’re in Brest or Biarritz, when you’re really at the cardinal points of France.
You campaign for the return of standing concerts, you believe that there are no risks?
We cannot say that there are no risks, but we do not understand why there is more risk standing than sitting. Because we can put 500 people seated in a room but we cannot put 500 people standing according to the measures in place. However, we have put protocols in place and we tested them again in December. We have banned indoor consumption, we ask people to wear the mask and they do. The studies and the test concerts that were done in 2021 show that there were no more risks standing than sitting. And yet, without consultation, it was the first thing the government decided to stop. In any case, we need a resumption date very quickly.
