Festivals & Venues Update: August 3
ADELAIDE’S GOV WINS YET ANOTHER AWARD
One of Adelaide’s most high profile music venues, The Gov aka The Governor Hindmarsh, took out the Australian Hotels Industry awards for best live music venue 2017.
The award acknowledged the Gov’s safety record, production values, customer service, inclusive facilities and music experience.
Gov owner Jo Tonkin, whose family has run the place for 24 years, attended the event at the Entertainment Centre alongside hotel manager Kat Teale and venue manager Coco Hübner. Tonkin said, “Music is the beating heart of the Gov.”
The Entertainment Venue category went to the Alma Tavern in Norwood.
The Lion Hotel in North Adelaide, which features live music seven days a week, was the overall winner of the night, taking three trophies including Best Overall Hotel for the third time.
NIGHTS IN THE ROUND
Sydney’s Leadbelly Newtown’s new singer-songwriter night In The Round is held every second Wednesday of the month. The doors open at 6 pm.
Inspired by the sessions at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, the night – which is curated by a different musician each month – features four musicians who hit the stage at the same time to tell stories and perform music: their own, each others, special covers and once-in-a-lifetime collaborations
The next one, on August 9, is curated by Maples who is joined by Timothy James Bowen, Rosie Catalano and Andy Golledge.
BATHURST HOSTS INAUGURAL INLAND SEA OF SOUND
Central NSW’s Bathurst – best known for car races and goldfields – will host the inaugural all-ages Inland Sea of Sound. It offers music, local food, camping and accommodation options ranging from hotels to farm stays.
It is held Friday November 3 and Saturday 4 at the top of Mount Panorama in Wahluu, More details at www.inlandseaofsound.com.au.
PERTH INTERNATIONAL ARTS ANNOUNCES FIRST ACT
The first act announced for Perth International Arts is US piano man Ben Folds. He plays Chevron Festival Gardens on February 11 as part of his seven-date Australasian visit.
The one time Adelaide resident’s performance is in two parts, the first spanning his career. For the second, Folds wants fans to write requests on paper aeroplanes to be launched on to the stage and then selected at random.
The full PIAF program for 2018 is unveiled on November 9.
STORM GETS WEATHER REPORT
Some time back, TMN announced that China’s EDM festival STORM was heading to Australia. A2LiVE announced that its Ignite visit lands in Sydney on December 9.
The media release says, “STORM has enlisted a local team based in Sydney and Melbourne, many of which helped to create some of the biggest festivals and events ever to grace Australian shores.”
Created in Shanghai in 2013, it stakes its claim to be one of the world’s largest EDM events. Las year, it drew 180,000 across five cities and over 70 million joining the livestream.
BPM, REGURGITATOR LEAD NYE ON THE HILL CHARGE
Ball Park Music and Regurgitator lead the charge at the three day & camping NYE On The Hill.
It is held between Saturday December 30 and Monday January 1 at The Farm, which is 10 mins from Loch Village, 20 mins from Wonthaggi and 95 mins from Melbourne.
THIS THAT UNVEILS 2017 LINE UP
Among the 22 acts announced for This That (Saturday November 4) are The Presets, The Preatures, Tash Sultana, Alison Wonderland, Thundamentals, Paces, Tigerlilla, Elk Road, Winston Surfshirt, Crooked Colours and, all the way from Canada, Zeds Dead.
At its new home in Wickham Park in Newcastle, come new additions this year. Added to food trucks of all kinds comes Japanese street food.
The Other chill zone with emerging producers showcasing augmented by The Imaginarium, “an immersive journey through sight and sound…part dance party, part art gallery, part cinema (combining) Ribongia’s energetic live instrumentation and musical prowess with EGO’s surreal production and audio-visual performance.”
The AV project debuted at Tasmania’s Mona Foma this year and Newcastle is its second destination..
CROWBAR GETS ITS MAN
Like the Canadian Royal Mounties, Brisbane’s Crowbar got its man. Last Saturday night, some people made their way into the bandroom “with someone with access”, smashed a hole in the wall, took a piece of it and took a photo of the wall outside the venue.
Not surprisingly, the person was identified and given 24 hours to get in contact before the venue took action.
The Crowbar, delighted with the subsequent outpouring of public sympathy and support, posted afterwards:, “We are in talks with the guy in question and are working towards fixing the damages with him.”
But what of the person who had the backstage access in the first place?
CANBERRA GETS NEW LIVE MUSIC SPACE
Canberra has got a new live music space. It is in the new 20,000-square-metre, warehouse-style precinct Dairy Road District being set up in industrial Fyshwick by Molonglo Group.
One of the tenants, Capital Brewing Co whose new brewery will produce more than 750,000 litres of beer per year, has also set up a 600-capacity venue where people can taste their products while utilising the large outdoor seating area and a stage for live music.
LIVE MUSIC PART OF DUE WEST’S OFFERINGS
Live music is a key component of inner west Melbourne’s inaugural Due West: Immersive Arts (August 10—27).
The partnership between the City of Maribyrnong and the Victorian Government’s Creative Victoria showcases local creatives, organisations and venues with free and ticketed events that includes bands and DJs
It also invites art-lovers and culture-vultures of all ages to participate, engage and interact with art across multi art-forms; often in unexpected locations.
Fridays are Better than Mondays at FCAC (Footscray Community Arts Centre) includes local bands as well as poetry and art. Music showcases are also at opening and closing parties.
Other events include guerrilla opera cruises by BK Opera floating along the Maribyrnong River, performance at the iconic Franco Cozzo furniture store, Spanish culture and cuisine, showcases and songwriting & dance workshops curated by Bad Apple Music women’s circus performance, and an artist talk and exhibition by the Warriors of Aboriginal Resistance (W.A.R), “a collective of young Aboriginal people committed to decolonisation, resistance and revival.”
SURRY HILLS FEST ANNOUNCES MUSIC LINE UP
Sydney’s Surry Hills Festival which traditionally draws 60,000 people welcoming spring (September 23— October 15) announced music from soultronica singer-songwriter Thandi Phoenix, hip hop duo Coda Conduct, indie folkster Joe Mungovan, psychedelic gypsy rock band Ungus Ungus Ungus, soulsters The Fever Pitch, Borneo, Dweeb City and DJ Jay Katz.
AIM Pop up stage will be at Shannon Reserve this year.
Other events include the new three-week Double Take of projection and pop up installations, which includes The Most Amazing Devonshire Tea, Ever! inspired by legendary local artist Martin Sharp and other Surry Hills characters.
TEN DAYS ON THE ISLAND MOVES TO BURNIE
Tasmania’s Ten Days on the Island, next presented in 2019, moved this week to Burnie from Hobart. After using the Burnie Arts Festival as a key venue in 2017, its new headquarters is at Makers’ Workshop which is now part of the University of Tasmania’s West Park campus.
Festival Chairman Saul Eslake explains the move as “refocusing our approach as a regionally-based operation with a program that is sourced from Tasmania’s regions, developed within a worldview and presented across the state.”
It received extra funding from the state government (Premier Will Hodgman spoke at the launch) as it will increase employment and skills in regional areas. The festival also partners with UTAS for study, qualifications, research and creative collaborations.
SUBSTATION PREMIERES MORE UP A TREE
The Substation and Melbourne Festival will stage the premiere of More Up A Tree (October 12—14) which features The Dirty Three’s New York-based drummer Jim White, Portugal-born dancer Claudia de Serpa Soares and US multi-media artist Eve Sussman.
The production looks at the relationship between drums and dance, held in a giant mirrored glass box, and relies heavily on the audience’s response and participation.
INCREASED CAPACITY FOR ETIHAD STADIUM?
The Sunday Herald Sun reported that among options being discussed for Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium are to lift the roof to increase capacity to 75,000, update the ground area or to demolish it and start again.
RESTRUNG RETURNS TO BRISBANE POWERHOUSE
Restrung Festival – a mix of stringed performances covering classical, electronica, folk, jazz, rock and pop with dance and physical theatre – returns to Brisbane Powerhouse for a third time August 17—19. Full details at brisbanepowerhouse.org.
MORE CONCERTS FOR GEELONG STADIUM?
Expect more concerts at Kardinia Park Stadium in Geelong. Its new CEO Michael Brown, who’s signed on for the top job for three years, wants to not only create a sports hub but attract music and community events. Brown says he’s contacted promoters of one-day festivals and concerts to indicate his interest, and an advisory board will be convened.
AND A FEW OTHER THINGS…
The Federal Government this week struck a deal with the Australian Hotels Association to offer up to 10,000 internships in clubs and pubs across the country as part of a $760 million program.
Promotion of Darwin gay nightclub Throb of its new Star Whores production aroused the ire of the city’s sex workers. They posted on social media that its characters as ‘Luke Street Walker’, ‘Jabba The Slut’ and ‘Princess Layher’ disrespects their profession.
Queensland Police are frothing that despite Collaborations in the state’s remote Far North on a sheep farm advertising itself as family friendly with a zero tolerance for “illegal substances” , they busted 40 patrons for drugs.
The Bendigo Advertiser reported that Victorian bush doof Earthcore had to move to Elmore from its home in Pyalong after Mitchell Shire Council refused it a permit citing drug offences last year and the death of a woman (still being investigated by the Coroner) which promoters say had a pre-existing medical condition.
Wollongong promoters Yours And Owls have a new bash The Last Frost, to celebrate the end of winter, on the grounds of the University of Wollongong’s Innovation campus on Saturday August 19. Acts include Violent Soho, Cloud Control, The Kite String Tangle and Cub Sport.