Let's hope the Covid blues is not the sound of our summer - Susan Dalgety
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I have quarantined myself in our spare bedroom/office/TV room, but it must only be a matter of time before I too succumb.
I wouldn’t mind, but it means we had to cancel our weekend trip to Bath to see Elvis Costello. Watching five episodes of Come Dine with Me back-to-back just isn’t the same – even if it was the one from in Edinburgh shown recently (Gerald, the creative writer and foie gras fan was my favourite).
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Hide AdI reckon we picked up the virus at the Madness concert at the Big Top in the Royal Highland Centre last Sunday. It was our first gig since Covid took hold, and we were very excited to go.
Suggs and Co. may not have been at their best, but it was still a great night. Nothing beats listening to live music with thousands of other people.
But Covid is clearly a risk to live entertainment. The King’s Theatre had to cancel their remaining performances of Sunshine on Leith last week because of the virus. The Lyceum was also forced to cancel a week’s performances of their hit show Laurel and Hardy. Even the seemingly indestructible Rolling Stones had to call a halt to their gig in Amsterdam after Mick Jagger tested positive.
Covid is not going anywhere fast. The latest figures suggest one in 40 people in Scotland have the virus, and experts are concerned that the new variants BA.4 and BA.5 could herald another wave.
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Hide AdI hope this doesn’t prove bad news for Edinburgh. The city is looking forward to a summer of fun, with the International Festival and Fringe promising to be better than ever. There is something for everyone, from Kyiv ballet to Rage Against the Machine.
It would be a terrible blow if the festivals were disrupted for a third year because of yet another wave of coronavirus. And the cost would not just be financial. Live entertainment is good for the soul and our city has sorely missed it.
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