Features June 22, 2017

Festivals & Venues Update: June 22

Senior Journalist, B2B

REBORN LANSDOWNE OFF TO STRONGSTART

The return of Sydney’s Lansdowne Hotel last Thursday has been met with “outstanding excitement,” says Matt Rule, who books the room. The first week was packed out – both the 400-capacity music room and downstairs pub – and the second week is also selling strongly.

Rule tells TMN that The Lansdowne’s return was “perfect timing, because there’s such a strong scene at the moment in the Inner West and people are absolutely supporting it 100%. The whole Sydney scene is the strongest it’s been in 20 years.”

The first official night of opening (after several soft-launch nights for industry and friends) saw a supergroup made up of members ofDMA’s, The Jezabels, Royal Headache, Gideon Bensen, The Delta Riggs andHigh Tails.

Also working a treat were “surprise shows” by The Preatures, Skeggs, Palms and The Pinheads.

The Lansdowne is outside the lockout zone and closes at 3am most nights.

FUTURE, PNAU, DUKE DUMONT LEAD LISTEN OUT

Future and PNAU are among the major names in the first round of Listen Out in spring. Others include Duke Dumont, Bryson Tiller, Mac Miller, Safia, Jai Wolf, Touch Sensitive, Vallis Alps, Mallrat and Kučka.

Tickets went on sale this morning.

WHEN LEAPING AND BOUNDING ENDS

The closing event of Melbourne’s Leaps and Bounds is Hip Hop Hooray – Deadly Style on July 23 at the Melba Spiegeltent.

Treading the boards between 1pmand3pm are the North End hailed Jimblah, Philly who is signed to Briggs’ Bad Apples label, and Lady Lash aka Kokatha/Greek woman Crystal Clyne.

HUGO’S BACK WITH NEW NAME

One of the Sydney lockouts’ first casualties, Hugo’s in Kings Cross,is back on the radar, and steered by owner Eric Jury, business partner Poata Okeroa and BDM Sidney Pierucci.

It’s set to re-open in September as “luxe” late night spot Flamingo Lounge, with two spaces, The Terrace and The Discotheque.

GRASS IS GREENER…ELSEWHERE

The long-simmering dust-up between The Grass Is Greener and the Cairns Regional Council over the use of the 5000-capacity Fogarty Park is over.

The festival, which stages in Cairns and Mackay, will on October 14, be hauling ass to Cairns Showgrounds. There was apparently problems over wanting to increase capacity to 7000 and acceptance of council’s safety demands.

MUSIC VICTORIA WARNS ON FESTIVALS CRACK DOWN

In the wake of reports that the Victorian Government is moving to give police more “stop and search” powers, Music Victoria issued a warning to the powers that be.

“Safety of music fans, musicians and industry is paramount at any music event. Drug use is a broad societal issue and while promoters and venues need to acknowledge their duty of care to patrons, drug use is a matter for the police.

“We urge the police to be wary of any moves that could force patrons to take dangerous amounts of drugs quickly to avoid detection.

“We encourage police to promote education to patrons rather than prohibition and to adopt progressive interventions that have proven effective in European countries.

“Entertainment can often be the solution to drug problems – particularly in the regions where there can be limited opportunities outside sport, to engage with other young people and build cohesion in communities. As this story about Groovin’ the Moo Festival in Bendigo shows, the biggest issue they had at this gathering of youthful tribes was locating a fan’s hat backstage

“Music Victoria is working with other peak bodies such as Live Performance Australia as well as festival organisers and promoters to ensure that all music events are as safe as possible.”

NOMINATIONS OPEN FOR AHA NSW AWARDS

Nominations have opened for the Australian Hotels Association NSW chapter’s annual awards. This year sees a record amount of categories.

This year, as reported previously onTMN, the new Rockin’ the Puburbs comp will see an artist win the chance to play at the awards before heading off on a tour of pubs across the nation.

According to John Whelan, CEO of AHA NSW, the comp already has over 120 entries.

DEADLINE FOR QUEENSCLIFF GRANT APPLICATIONS

Applications for Queenscliff Music’s Emerging Artist Grant & Alison McKenzie Scholarship close June 30. Emerging acts from the Barwon South West region can get up to a $10,000 grant and a $2,000 professional development scholarship.

Details at www.qmf.net.au/emerging-artist-grant

ROCK NAMES UP FOR SA WALK OF FAME

The public is encouraged to vote for acts to be included on Adelaide Festival Centre’s new Walk of Fame Over 200 names representing cabaret performers, directors, comedians and conductors are in the list of those who appeared at the Festival Centre and Her Majesty’s Theatre last year.

Rock names include The Audreys, Dami Im, Damien Leith, Lulu, Diana Krall, Jane Clifton, Cat Power, Matt Walker and DJ Trip. See the venue’s websitefor the full list.

AND A FEW OTHER THINGS…

A 20-year old man collapsed and died at Wollongong’s Mr Crown over the weekend. Paramedics were called at 12.20 am on Sunday but could not revive him. Police have ruled out suspicious circumstances.

The good news for Dark Mofo’s nude solstice swim (at 7.30 am) saw a record 1020 people risking the freezing waters. The bad news was that as a result, they ran out of towels.

Seems the WA Government was on the money when it capped the attendance at Ed Sheeran’s set at Perth Stadium in early March as its first music concert. The reason given was that footbridge delays would create havoc with those using public transport to get to the venue. The WA Premier says there’s a bigger question mark over whether the bridge will be finished in time, due to further delays in making it by an overseas company.

A recent visit to Mackay’s BB Print Stadium by Elton John’s production crew found they could have 300 more joining the sell-out crowd when the piano man plays there on September 22 – but the new batch of tickets was only for Mackay residents.

The outer Melbourne suburb of Frankston got another venue, with The Cheeky Squire opening its doors. It was previously known as Davey’s and owned by ALH in partnership with Lion and James Squire. It underwent a $1 million renovation.

Townsville gets a new festival,The Neck Of The Woods (July 8—9) at Hervey’s Range. It’s put together by local musicians Nicole Cross and Sam Wright as an extension of their successful backyard gigs series Neighbourhood Sessions. Wright also runs the label Neighbourhood Records and recording studio The Rec Room.

Dubbo’s Dream Festival is being marketed interstate after getting two lots of funding from the NSW Government. It’s been allocated $20,000 from Flagship Event Fund and also set to receive $40,000 from Dubbo Regional Council in the 2017/18 budget. The festival drew 12,000 in its last instalment and injected close to $370,000 into the local economy.