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By Guy Faulconbridge and Natalie Thomas
LONDON – London clubbers flocked to one of the first live music events without rules since the pandemic began last year on Monday, dancing the night away and rejoicing in human interaction as England lifted the more COVID midnight restrictions.
Britain, which has one of the highest death rates in the world COVID, is facing a new wave of cases, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson is lifting most restrictions in England on what some have dubbed ‘Freedom Day’.
Epidemiologists are generally skeptical that lifting the restrictions is the right thing to do, but many young Britons are fed up with more than a year and a half of lockdowns, they say, and thirsty for celebration.
“I haven’t been allowed to dance for what feels like an eternity,” said Georgia Pike, 31, at the Oval Space in Hackney, east London. “I want to dance, I want to hear live music, I want the atmosphere of a concert, to be surrounded by other people.”
Besides the fun of it, however, there was also clear concern about a wave of new cases – more than 50,000 a day across the UK.
“I’m so excited – but it’s mixed with the feeling of impending doom,” said Gary Cartmill, 26.
After rushing to vaccinate its population faster than almost any other European country, Johnson’s government is betting England can reopen because fully vaccinated people are less likely to get seriously ill with it. COVID-19.
Event promoters Rob Broadbent and Max Wheeler-Bowden put together a video of themselves getting a COVID test and urged those who were asked to self-isolate to do so.
They said they reduced the number of groups and the number of venues and lost money on the event because fewer people than expected attended.
British society appears divided over restrictions: some want tough rules to continue because they fear the virus will continue to kill people, but others have resented the most onerous restrictions in peacetime history.
Business owners – including nightclubs, travel agencies and the hospitality industry – desperately wanted to reopen the economy while many students, young people and parents quietly ignored many of the more onerous rules.
Artists say the lockdown has been difficult.
James Cox, the 32-year-old frontman of Crows, a post-punk band playing The Oval Space, said the last time he performed live was at Halloween 2020.
“Before that, I was a little afraid that I wouldn’t like him because it’s been so long,” Cox said. “As soon as I got on stage and started doing scales, I was like, oh yeah I like that, I like that, I was like, it’s my passion.”
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