At long last, the Blue Grotto in Kamloops reopened its doors though there were COVID-19 restrictions still in place.
Owner Pup Johnston says while it was nice to have people back in the building this weekend, there was no dancing allowed and no socializing between tables.
“It was mildly successful even though we did not hit capacity, which is 89 people,” he told NL News. “We had about 66 to 70 people the first night, and we hit about 50 the second night.”
“Still, people were forthcoming. They walked up to the door, they had their vaccine passports ready or their vaccine card, and everybody had a great time, like it was a really good vibe in there.”
Johnston previously told NL News that he hoped the BC vaccine passport – which came into effect last Monday – would have allowed businesses like his to potentially reopen in the near future.
He also noted then that it was “a loud minority of people” that prevented businesses like his from reopening.
“A nightclub is not an essential business. A live music venue is not an essential business. A hockey game is not essential. They are the extras. They are the entertainment. And the only thing that is holding us back from all of those frills of life that we enjoy is our own public human behaviour,” Johnston said, earlier this month.
But now that the doors were opened, The Blue Grotto will be welcoming people again this coming weekend as Johnston looks to the future. The band ‘Shattered Blue’ will be on stage this weekend, though he notes a concert by D.O.A., set for Sept. 23, has been postponed, as B.C. did not move to Step 4 of its COVID Restart Plan on Sept. 7.
“There’s been some talk about having small shows midweek running a small house band until Thursday just so that we can be open,” Johnston added. “I can fairly confidently say though that after this first weekend, and seeing what the numbers are, we’re not going to make it with being open without government support. It’s not going to happen.”
“Yes, we’re open, and yes, people were compliant and people had fun but the no dancing thing was really really hard to get past and the partial capacity is going to be the downfall because without the full capacity, we won’t be able to generate enough sales to cover the expenses of running the club.”
Johnston says expenses are higher now partly due to an increased liability insurance as well as the need to have more staff in place to ensure people are complaint with the rules.
“When I used to have a metal or a punk show for 60 to 80 people midweek, we would staff accordingly. We would put a couple guys at the door and one bartender with bar service only,” he said. “But the way that we have to run right now, we require seven or eight staff to police the crowds and to do table service only. I need multiple servers for that, even for that many people.”
Still, Johnston is optimistic about the future that lies ahead for The Blue Grotto, even though he admits it will be a tough haul.
“We’re happy to bring that music back to Kamloops. We’re happy to get the bands working again, to get our staff working again,” he said. “I’m sure I can reach out and apply for the wage subsidy and things like that, but it would be awesome if I could open fully and do the dancing as we were hoping to at that level 4.”
“It is what we wanted and what we waited for these past several months.”