Brannon Calls For Bold Nightlife Plan

Bermuda must strike the right balance between international acts and homegrown talent if the island is to revive its once-vibrant nightlife scene, says a veteran local performer and entertainment impressario.

Tony Brannon, recently appointed to Government’s Tourism Board along with fellow musician Shine Hayward, says a new task force charged with finding ways of resuscitating the moribund entertainment sector has to be bold and innovative in its approach.

Unveiled last week by Minister of Youth, Families & Community Development Glenn Blakeney, task force members include hospitality sector and entertainment industry stalwarts such as bar owner Frank Arnold and performers Gita Blakeney and Gene Steede.

Mr. Brannon, who opted not to sit on the task force because of commitments to the Tourism Board, said he hoped the working party would come up with inventive recommendations for kick starting an industry which has been in sharp decline in recent years.

“There is no doubt that entertainment for visitors, especially in the hotels remains scant and often badly presented,” said Mr. Brannon. “Most hotels do not provide proper staging, sound systems/lighting/production. Many hotels continue to use ‘aging’ musicians who play the same material, often 30 years old. I am not suggesting however, that aging entertainers do not have their place — heaven knows, I am aged myself!

“But the fact is there is little effort to embrace some of the younger upcoming Bermuda artists. And there is something of a Catch-22 in play, in that with fewer places to play/perform, locals do not get the chance to really improve their craft. Constant work and a competitive environment mean that artists get better and also keep their music fresh and current.”

 Mr. Brannon, who performs regularly at various island nightspots, began working in the entertainment sector as a teenager in the 1960s. He has emerged as a vocal critic of successive Government Tourism Ministry policies in recent years, particularly regarding the impact of falling visitor arrivals figures on live entertainment.

Mr. Brannon said with hotels and nightclubs axing live shows in recent years to reduce operating costs, the sharp drop-off in foreign acts performing here has also hurt their Bermudian counterparts by limiting local exposure to international talent.

“The interchange between foreign and local groups has long-since vanished, but at one time many a local entertainer improved their craft by learning from foreigners,” said Mr. Brannon, who ran the 40 Thieves Club nightclub on Front Street in the ’80s which showcased a variety of Bermudian and international performers.

“Great examples from the past were The Sharx at the old 40 Thieves and Jimmy O’Connors Happening BDA which worked with international acts at the Southampton Princess.”

Mr. Brannon said “xenophobic attitudes” some Bermudians harbour towards foreign entertainers is both unhealthy and, ultimately, counter-productive — stymieing local entertainers who want to hone their skills and limiting what audiences can hear .

“The interchange between local and foreign musicians/entertainers is what helps locals to grow, and there is no doubt that the local audience also wants to see and hear entertainment that is different from the homegrown variety,” he said.

Mr. Brannon said since the cost of hiring live entertainment has risen over the years just like everything else, Bermuda needs to be smart about striking the correct balance between presenting locals on stage together with foreigners.

“Resort casinos would make a big difference for the tourist market in that entertainment could be an integral part of the complexes and therefore subsidised by gaming,” he said. “But in the absence of such an option, to simply demand that every bar or club has to hire a local band in order for a foreign band to work does not make economic sense and is indeed totally unaffordable.

“The work permit restriction on expatriates with musical talents is also unfair and stifles the artistic exchange that people can bring to the table. Whilst Bermudians should always be promoted and hired that, in my view, does not mean just because you are a Bermudian you have a right to work. My point here is it is all about quality and what the public will support.

“Great Bermuda talent needs to be nourished and presented, but what amounts to protectionism and policing the public taste is totally the wrong approach. Basically it comes down to if an artist is good, the public will support him. If not, then they will simply not patronise an establishment, be it locals or foreigners on stage.”

Mr. Brannon said in recent years the island had grown increasingly neglectful of spotlighting local talent to visitors — a far cry from tourism’s hey-dey in the 1960s and ’70s when Bermudian acts such as Hubert Smith & The Coral Islanders and the Talbot Brothers were promoted as ambassadors of song by the hospitality sector.

“There is no promotion of local talent in the bus stations, airport arrivals hall or indeed in most hotels,” he said. “Everyone from taxi drivers, hotel front desk personnel or indeed the man on the street is hard pressed when asked by a tourist where they can see local entertainment.”

Mr. Brannon said with visitor air arrivals continuing to dip and local hotels facing increasingly serious financial problems, most simply cannot afford to stage live entertainment.

“Either the hotels have no entertainment at all or they opt to hire the cheapest and present it poorly,” he said. “These days the sad fact of the matter is there’s not one hotel in Bermuda which has a proper stage for entertainment.

“The Bermuda Government has spent countless tens of millions over the years promoting a music festival in the fall — really out of season for Bermuda tourism — and the number of tourists who came to Bermuda to attend has in no way met the intended goal of increasing visitor arrivals in a meaningful way. It has simply become a festival for locals.

“When we can spend millions on a three-day event, once a year, and our visitors complain there is no real nightly entertainment in the hotels, then something is wrong.”

Mr. Brannon suggested the Bermuda Music Festival’s allotted budget instead be used to establish and support nightly entertainment especially in the summer season, with a reduced schedule in the winter.

“Establish a local entertainment czar, who pulls together a production team and entertainers to rotate seven nights a week at various venues,” he said. “To spice things up we should hire two foreign bands and five local bands and rotate the entertainment at the venues.

“With standardised production, the quality will be consistent at each venue. By having two great foreign bands for the season we will provide exciting entertainment to also pull locals out at night and thereby mix and mingle with our visitors.”

Mr. Brannon said the island should also be exploring other, creative approaches to stimulating not just Bermuda’s entertainment scene but the local economy as a whole by way of the performing arts. 

“I propose we make Bermuda a tax free zone for the arts in much the same the Republic of Ireland did in the 1960s,” he said. “Bermuda could become an island home to international movie stars/singers/bands/actors etc, if we simply allowed them to buy a home in Bermuda tax free and encouraged them to set up their worldwide earnings via their own offshore company.

“Indeed, we could also offer all these benefits in return for an annual performance in Bermuda! The idea is out of the box, but it would generate amazing buzz for the island! I would be more than happy to put myself up as the person who pulls this altogether and I look forward to talking details and solutions.”

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