A Münster-based venue, Coconut Beach in Germany, has held what is believed to be the first socially-distanced event at a club. Promoter TakaTuka threw the event which hosted just 100 attendees at the open-air club. Patrons were each positioned in personal sections which were each distanced several feet apart.
Gerd Janson, who performed at the the socially-distanced event, took solace in the thought that this was a first step towards a return to normal. In a statement provided to Resident Advisor, the DJ commented, “It felt like a reinsurance that it [the event] can go on in some way, shape or form until things can get back to normal.”
Coconut Beach normally has a capacity of 2,000, meaning the 100 person cap marks a 95% attendance reduction compared to the club’s normal cadence of business. As a result, prices were much higher than normal with tickets running €70 each (approximately $76 USD).
Even with the price hike, the club is far from matching the revenues seen prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the Resident Advisor report, the club’s managing director Thomas Pieper acknowledged the abnormally high prices, stating that costs will decrease as regulations adjust and as the live event space continues to slowly return to its long-awaited state of normalcy.
