A MUSIC venue ‘can’t wait’ to welcome back audiences as national lockdown will see live music gigs cancelled for at least a year.

Electric Church Club on Northgate hosted their last performance on March 13 before closing their doors as Boris Johnson urged the public to stay away from pubs, clubs and theatres and to avoid all non-essential contacts and travel.

The venue, which has a capacity of 200, has not been able to re-open due to Covid-19 guidelines however promoter, Courtney Thomas said that she and club owner Damian Lee are excited to re-open the doors again.

Courtney said: “We can’t wait honestly - it’s what we live for every single weekend and we put so many hours into it.

“Just to have really good live music in the centre of Blackburn is what a lot of people want and we do see ourselves as that.

“For us to be able to re-open our doors and say to everyone ‘right come in we’ve got some live music on’ - it’s going to be great.”

The venue hosts a range of bands, with various different music genres taking to the stage.

She added: “After our last gig at Electric Church Club we have had to keep our doors close because there is no way we could open and socially distance.

“I know quite a few venues tried that out but we can’t do it so it is difficult.

Courtney said that the constant changing of restrictions has been hard to deal with, with hopes originally set on September then Christmas and then March. However with the current lockdown lasting until at least mid-February and cases continuing to rise, it is looking less likely by the day.

Music venues and clubs were one of the first industries to be closed in the pandemic and are likely to be one of the last to re-open in venues that can’t operate social distancing.

Courtney added: “Normally now I would be trying to plan a calendar for the year but we just don’t know when to even think about planning ahead.

“You don’t want to be booking loads of gigs then having to cancel them.

“You just can’t see a straightforward path for the future and until we do know, our doors will just have to stay shut. There’s nothing we can do.”

Some venues in East Lancashire were able to re-open with social distancing.