With the shutdown of the live music industry across the world, a devastating amount of people have lost their sole livelihoods: as venues and nightclubs in almost every country have been required to close their doors for health and safety, with concerts and festivals following suit as they have been cancelled or postponed – it’s exceptionally heartbreaking seeing the toll this has taken on the music community.
While we all want to assist one another, and reclaim the beauty of live music – for the health and safety of people around the globe, we have to make sacrifices and fully play our parts with physical-distancing, hygiene and a focus on personal responsibility. Unfortunately however, this is not the case for many people as they are anxious to return to ‘normalcy’.
Last week Thursday on May 21st: Israelis living in the city of Tel Aviv managed to exploit a loophole in Israel’s health regulations in order to stage a concert in which 3,000 people attended, as Billboard reports.
מאות חוגגים סוף קורונה 🤷♂️ pic.twitter.com/yJCc2HxpHh
— איתי בלומנטל Itay Blumental (@ItayBlumental) May 21, 2020
While concerts are still banned in Israel, contained protests are not and can be legally organised. The concert, which took place at Charles Clore public park exploited a loophole which classified the concert as a contained cultural protest – calling for the hard hit support of the arts and culture sector, and all those who have lost their livelihoods due to the pandemic.
Organised as a legal protest “Behind the Scenes: an Assembly of Solidarity.” the concert was supported by the City of Tel Aviv, and Tel Aviv Police – with the Mayor of Tel Aviv Ron Huldai speaking out on stage in support of the cultural sector:
“This is the cry of an entire industry that needs answering. The responsibility lies first and foremost with the Israeli government and I’m appealing from here — Don’t forget the culture!”
Ron Huldai, Tel Aviv Mayor
Famous artists such as Aviv Geffen and Rita performed, and all employees and artists involved were paid in full for their participation, with veteran artists such as Shalom Hanoch waiving their own fees.
Billboard states that attendees were required to wear masks and stand at least six feet (one point five metres) apart from one another. Initially it seemed the crowd complied, however as the night went on – according to video footage and attendees: people disobeyed health regulations, standing extremely close to one another, with hundreds not wearing masks at all.
