THUNDER BAY – It may be back to business this weekend at the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium, but it’s likely going to take some time before it’s business as usual.
With capacity restrictions completely lifted across Ontario, the 1,500-seat concert hall has started booking shows, but acting general manager Trevor Hurtig acknowledged there’s some hesitancy to take too many risks given the uncertainly left by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The ticket-buying public is also a little wary, which has to be recognized, having endured two years of cancelled shows and either waiting for refunds or gambling the concerts would be rescheduled when government restrictions eased.
A dance competition will reopen the facility this weekend, with Bianca Del Rio scheduled to take to the stage on March 16 and the Snowed In Comedy Tour slated for three days later.
April brings ABBA revisited, Celtic Illusion and an Evening With Steven Page, featuring the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, while May will finally see the long-awaited return of ZZ Top, a show originally scheduled for 2020. The TBSO show will require proof of vaccination, a requirement announced on Friday by the orchestra's management.
Hurtig said the goal is to return to Auditorium to its pre-pandemic schedule of about 150 bookings per year.
But it’s going to take some time, he said.
“I think it might take a little while to work up to that exact number, but there seems to be some strong interest and I think in general everybody just wants to see a few shows, a few events starting to happen and people feeling safe coming back,” Hurtig said.
“I think that’s what everyone’s looking for and once they realize that it is safe and we are taking a lot of precautions, we’ll start to see people coming back and feeling more comfortable about it.”
Promoters are also champing at the bit to get their artists into the Auditorium, especially as the busy summer concert season approaches.
Other shows already booked include Mother Mother on May 8, Queen – It’s a Kinda Magic on May 25, Jeremy Hotz on June 3, Dallas Smith on June 9 and Canadian favourites Blue Rodeo on Nov. 10.
“There is a lot of interest from shows that were either scheduled before and had to cancel or postpone and come back, and there just seems to be a strong interest in getting tours going across the country again and renters wanting to rent the building for their tours,” said Hurtig, who took over the acting GM role following the retirement of long-time GM Bob Halvorsen.
“We’ve been fortunate. There’s no lack of interest in shows wanting to come here.”
The lifting of capacity limits was the key to ramping things up.
“Having a show with 50 per cent capacity changes a lot, and in two cases, even this first show, Bianca Del Rio, is up to 800 seats sold. Fifty per cent of 1,500 and we’re already over and that wouldn’t work, at least not the way it was,” Hurtig said.
“The Glorious Sons were up over 1,000 sold, and how do you do that if there were restrictions. So it was a relief that we do indeed have wide-open capacity and we can run a show the way we’re most comfortable doing it – for the most part.”
For the immediate future, there will be some restrictions left in place, including masking, a current provincial mandate, which could be lifted after the upcoming March Break. The Auditorium also plans to keep its bar and vending machines closed for the time being in order to discourage patrons from removing their masks inside the building.
