Industrial Strength: Live Nation in race to run Palais Theatre; Sydney MC wins Hilltops initiative; More music venues for sale; SA Screen Awards nominees

Live Nation among final three in race to run Palais Theatre

Live Nation is one of the three finalists in the bid to run Melbourne’s Palais Theatre in St. Kilda. It is part of the company’s expansion into venues.

It is already part of a consortium which makes up Perth Stadium Management which operates Perth’s Domain Stadium and bidding for the rights to the upcoming 60,000-capacity stadium in Burswood.

The other two contenders are the incumbent Palais Theatre Management which has run the venue since 2007 under Neil Croker (and which continually makes the Pollstar annual list of the best global theatre venues) and Sydney’s Playbill which operates Hordern Pavilion and Royal Hall of Industries and sees the Palais as “a perfect fit”. The three were picked from 37 applications.

The Live Nation bid has caused disquiet among some St. Kilda residents who say that it may not maintain community ties. But some agents and venue operators say it’s important for the longevity of the 1927 venue, which needs $43.4 million in funding for urgent repairs, to bring in a cashed-up operator to vamp up its technology and ambience and increase its appeal.

Sydney MC wins Hilltops initiative

Emerging Sydney hip hop artist Sarah Connor won this year’s Hilltop Hoods Initiative. The Hoods and APRA AMCOS give her $10,000 towards the release of her debut solo album. In the same week, Connor was the triple j Unearthed feature artist. The Hoods’ MC Suffa said, “We first became familiar with Sarah when she won Briggs 'King/Queen of the Town' competition, it was clear to us then that she had a real gift.”

In its eighth year, the Initiative received the most amount of entries. Aside from the cash, Connor also gets legal and career advice from David Vodicka and Media Arts Lawyers, a Zoo York Clothing prize pack and a Love Police ATM Merch Manufacturing Start-Up Kit (to the value of $500).

Two more music venues for sale

After 13 years, owner operator Driller Jet Armstrong put Adelaide underground dance music club Sugar up for sale. As a result of his battle with cancer, he’s opting for a less stressful lifestyle as a visual artist. He is hoping that the buyer continues the Rundle Street property as a music venue. Blaming lock out laws, Armstrong last year ceased operating on Mondays and Tuesdays saying these nights made an annual loss of $208,000.

In Sydney, entertainment showcasing venue Macquarie Hotel in Liverpool, is the latest on the market. Tenders close on May 5. It has a 24 hour liquor licence.

Aussie spent $980 million on DVDs last year

Despite the landscape shift with SVODs, Australians still spent $980 million buying 54 million DVDs last year, reported The Australian, on figures from the Australian Home Entertainment Distributors Association Yearbook. Revenue from digital screen entertainment was $160 million. Meantime, 400 video stores closed in the six months to December 2014.

Petition urging Aussie acts at AFL Grand Final gains momentum

A petition at Change.org Rock The Granny is trying to persuade the AFL to present Australian acts at this year’s Grand Final in Melbourne. It says using international acts as Meat Loaf, Lionel Richie, Ed Sheeran and Tom Jones (and Kiss this year) fails to help local talent. “Let’s promote to the world Australia’s amazing new musical talent on our biggest sporting stage and get (sports mad) Pond, King Gizzard and Lizard Wizard and Bad Dreems to perform live.” Last year’s event had a viewing audience of 3.6 million.

‘Your Shot’ back to find next big DJ

Your Shot is back a sixth time to find the next big DJ to play clubs and festivals. You don’t need experience, you get a six week DJ training. They can play international DJ sets at either: Snowbombing (Austria), BPM (Mexico), Groove Cruise (USA), VH1 Supersonic (India), Chasing Summer (Canada), or Your Paradise (Fiji); as well as Stereosonic 2015. See yourshot.com.au.

2014 winner Penny LA performed Snowboming festival in Austria over the weekend where she met Skrillex and gave him one of her merch bracelets. “[…] catch him here shredding the decks, AND wearing my bracelet,” she posted, linking to this video.

Gizzfest announced

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard announced Gizzfest, an ambitious national run with a host of their fave bands. They announce details of each city each day on Facebook through the week.

The one in hometown Melbourne is on Saturday May 2 at the Corner Hotel. The under-18s, between 1-5pm, also features Dreamin’ Wild, Love Migrate, Atolls and Sleep Decade. The grown-up one, 6pm-1am, has The Murlocs, Babe Rainbow, Scott & Charlenes Wedding, Sewerside, Contrast The Kremlings, Sagamore, The SMB, Crepes, Drunk Mums and Destrends.

On Sunday, the 5 pm show showcases Dave Graney & the Mistly, Harry Howard & the NDE, The Pink Tiles, Fucking Teeth, Tiny Giants, White Bleaches, Mangelwerzel, Davey Lane, Zig Zag, ORB and The Dead Heir.

Music video nominees for SA Screen Awards

Nominees in the Best Music Video category of next month’s 16th South Australian Screen Awards are K21’s ‘Change My Way’ (Capital Waste Pictures), Moonlight’s ‘Message to Bears’ (Beanpole Productions) and Baghdad Social Club’s ‘Without You’ (pr: Capital Waste Pictures). Winners of the 17+ categories are unveiled at the Mercury Cinema on Friday, May 15.

Venues update: launches, sales, fires, scandals

Melbourne gets a new live music venue this weekend, at the St Kilda RSL’s Memo Music Hall in Acland Street. Caravan Music Club founder Peter Foley will program the venue. Foley’s partner in this sister venue is Richard Mitchell (known in government performing arts sector for his innovative touring and artist development program 6PAC) who handles partnerships and venue development. MEMO will showcase everything from rock to classical recitals to theatre, with Liz Stringer and her band christening the stage.

The late lamented Palace in Melbourne holds a sale of posters, T-shirts, ticket stubs and other items on April 18 and 19 at 1000 Pound Bend.

The strategy to court major live acts saw Nambour Civic Centre on the Sunshine Coast draw 45,000 punters over the past 12 months, Council said.

A fire which broke out at Perth’s Domain Stadium caused $600,000 worth of damage. A faulty chip fryer in the kitchen was copping the blame.

Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium has received a $10 million digital upgrade to make it “the most advanced and connected stadium in Australia.”

Perth’s historic Newmarket Hotel, derelict for the past two decades, is being turned into an arts hub and dance studio.

Soho nightclub in Sydney’s Kings Cross quickly deleted a Facebook post after a storm on social media over a poster promoting a drink special depicted what seemed to be a drunk girl passed out near two glasses with her legs spread.

Tamworth’s the Post Office Hotel, the Tudor, the Imperial Hotel, the Good Companions Hotel, the Albert Hotel and the Wests Group signed up to install ID scans to stop troublemakers from entering, the Tamworth Leader reported.

Impala, Flume, Panama, tour abroad

Tame Impala’s Coachella appearances on the weekend kicked off a 36-date run through North America and Europe, which winds up in Berlin mid-September. Most of the North American shows are sold out.

Fresh from doing a remix on Sam Smith’s Lay Me Down, Flume heads off on a nine-week global run. After six North American shows (May 16 to 24), he returns to Sydney to headline FCX: 10 Years of Future Classic parties at the Sydney Opera House (May 29, 30) before 12 more North American appearances June 6 to 25. After that it’s 10 mostly festival appearances in Europe (July 3 to 19) and winding up at Japan’s Fuji Rock (July 24, 26).

Future Classic label mates Panama hit Europe and the UK between May 27 to June 2. They headline clubs in Paris and London, and at Barcelona's Primavera Sound and the Berlin Festival.

RAA fellowship deadline

Applications for Regional Arts Australia’s five fellowships for 2015 close on April 17. These provide the opportunity for an artist or art worker from any artform to create new works, develop partnerships and collaborations with other arts professionals and cultural organisations.

The five categories are International creative development ($30,000), indigenous ($20,000), 18 to 25 year olds ($15,000), institutional ($30,000) and indigenous institutional ($30,000).

Good Works #1: Nick Saxon’s For Rozi, A Pilgrim's Journey

When Newcastle singer-songwriter, surfer and National Geographic Channel adventurer, Nick Saxon, was on assignment in Kelantan, Malaysia, he met a local man called Rozi. Born without eyes, he was a master musician. Recently he heard that Rozi’s house had been swept away in the flooding of December 2014 and has set about to raise funds to help him re-build. He put together a limited edition release For Rozi, A Pilgrim's Journey with 10 songs, including three unreleased tracks, and two unreleased music videos. The release is available on USB stick only at shows during his April 23 to May 29 tour.

Good Works #2: “Band Together for Vanuatu”

After seeing TV news footage of Cyclone Pam’s March 15 devastation in Vanuatu, Sunshine Coast musician Darren Griffis put out a call to other bands. The response was so “overwhelming” he had to move the benefit to a larger venue. Band Together For Vanuatu is held April 18 at Nambour's Nook & Cranny from 2 pm with in2nation, Bearfoot, Barry Charles, Annie J & Fusion, Matt Stillert and Hope Springs. Entry is $25.

Festivals update: Townsville, Alice Springs

The inaugural Townsville Blues and Roots was held on the weekend, held in multi-venues across the city. It was essentially a Bluesfest sideshow, with names as Donavon Frankenreiter, Crossroads, Steve Towson and Women In Docs. Promoter Tim Pellegrino of Packmule Entertainment who’d spent three years trying to get the event up, hopes it will put a spotlight on Townsville’s blues and roots scene, which has between 25 to 40 acts.

This year’s Alice Springs heavy metal festival Blacken the Globe changed its name to Rock For Rowley. It was in tribute to drummer and surfer Rowley Hill who drowned in January. Hill’s band Uncreation played their last, with Tasmanian headliners Psycroptic’s Dave Haley sitting in for him.

Vale

Gary Nessel, co-founder of Strauss Sound Systems and Nova Sounds, passed, aged 68. In 1962 he and school friend John Woodhead set up Strauss Sound Systems which became an industry icon for ground breaking technology. It went bust in 1970, after which the pair began Nova Sounds. “Unrestrained, enigmatic, an original … a free thinker, not bogged down in industry protocol,” was how ACETA President Frank Hinton remembers him.

Canberra radio presenter Jim Pilgrim passed after a long illness, Radio Today reported. He was with 2CA in the early 70’s and being the first Drive announcer of 2CC when it launched in 1975.

And a few other things

Sheppard’s Geronimo has hit 3x Platinum in Holland.

While in the UK (where they played to 10,000 at Wembley Arena) The Jansokians also shot a documentary of their shows, alongside their continued work on their LionsGate feature film.

So why does singer songwriter Elena Stone have a track called Steely Dan on her Kintsugi album? Because when she first wrote it, the bassline sounded similar to Rikki Don't Lose That Number. She nicknamed it after the band but the title stuck. She wrote it in a band with her brother (Bluejuice’s Jake) called The Break Up. “Unfortunately the band lived up to its name.”

While awaiting in the Virgin Lounge for a flight back to Perth to play West Coast Blues'n'Roots, soul singer Morgan Bain got chatting to a cool looking dude. He met him again, backstage at the festival and felt sheepish that he hadn’t recognised Keb Mo. Bain who won song of the year at the WAM awards, is currently on tour behind single Why Don't You Stay.

Australia is the only territory outside North America to get a live telecast of the 50th Academy of Country Music’s awards. CMC screens it on Monday April 20 from 10am.

After a five-year hiatus, Sydney’s Youth Group return to the stage in June toplay in entirety their Skeleton Jar album, which is being re-released on vinyl.

Auckland’ label Flying Out Records celebrates Record Store Day by opening its own physical record store to supplement its online store.

Violinist and filmmaker Christopher Latham, former Artistic Director of the Canberra International Music Festival, received an honorary doctorate from the University of Canberra.

Heavily pregnant Brooke Fraser continues to perform in NZ in June, when the kid’s due. She hopes she won’t be the first to give birth on stage. If it does, she warns tongue firmly in cheek, “the ticket prices will automatically double."

Darwin radio presenter Charlie King ended up in hospital with a neck brace after he crashed his high-speed bike into four men sleeping on the footpath.

Sony Music has two acts doing promo in May. Kelly Clarkson is here behind the Piece By Piece album (she does a showcase at The Star in Sydney on Friday May 8 presented by Nova) while Paul Potts returns behind his Home.

Ten’s hip hop Empire series continues to fail to repeat its US success: this week it managed just 120,000 viewers.

Three strikes doom and gloom? 100,000 Australians illegally downloaded the new series of Game of Thrones.