Industrial Strength: March 22

The Living End return after five-year break

The Living End return after a five-year break, announcing this week news of a single, album and national tour. The album is called Shift, out on Dew Process / Universal Music Australia on May 13.

A new single Keep On Running, which they describe as one of the most powerful in their career, is a deeply personal song for guitarist and frontman Chris Cheney. He wrote it with his friends Dylan Berry and Stefan Litrownik during an emotionally turbulent period in his life. “We all have moments where life is getting the better of us, but that’s when you draw strength and come out the other side stronger,” Cheney says.

A national tour of five theatres to promote the album starts on June 10 at the Tivoli, Brisbane, and takes in the Enmore in Sydney (June 11), The Astor in Perth (June 16), The Forum in Melbourne (June 24) and The Gov in Adelaide on June 25. Opening are Bad // Dreems and 131’s.

SA arts sector steeling for budget cuts

Adelaide’s recognition last year as a UNESCO city of music had the arts sector excited enough to push for more initiatives to brand it as a thriving arts and music center. These included more purpose-built venues to stage more shows, greater ties with Asia and for the major festivals to work together to come up with initiatives to draw younger crowds.

But in recent weeks the sector has been steeling itself after Arts Minister Jack Snelling confirmed it would get reduced State Government funding in the 2016/17 budget. Already Adelaide Festival’s incoming Directors Rachel Healy and Neil Armfield have been advised it is facing a cut of $1 million. On the weekend, veteran arts administrator Rainer Jozeps, former chief of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, warned that the cuts could be as high as $8.5 million.

Gold Coast venues intensify legal action against lockouts…

While Queensland’s venue operators still consider options before the state’s lockout laws kick in on July 1, a number of Gold Coast operators have moved ahead.

Lead by high profile promoters Craig Duffy and Jamie Pickering, they intend to initiate legal action by next month – and have a slush fund of $1million to fund it, according to the Gold Coast Bulletin. They have already spent $17,000 for a detailed opinion from a Queen’s Counsel.

… SBS to host Sydney lockout laws debate …

SBS current affairs program The Feed is tonight (March 22) at 7.30 pm airing a debate on the lockouts. Significantly held in a Kings Cross pub with an audience of 50, the debate will cover if the lockouts are working, lives versus jobs, and if Sydney can be a vibrant international tourist destination if our streets aren’t safe.

On the panel are Keep Sydney Open rally organiser Tyson Koh, Michael Christie whose 18-year-old son Daniel was killed after an attack, St Vincents Hospital surgeon Tony Grabs, Senator David Leyonhjelm of the Liberal Democratic Party, Helen Crossing of the Kings Cross Residents’ Association and Anthony Lynham, Queensland Minister for State Development and facial reconstructive surgeon.

… Protesters hang shit on casino

The Reclaim The Streets rallies in Sydney have been symbolically Mardi-Gras fun events with live bands and mobile sound systems recreating the dance floors that the lock-outs have affected. But last weekend’s walk from the Town Hall to Star Casino ended with a more symbolic gesture: a giant fiberglass turd was delivered to the lock-outs exempt casino and placed atop its roof neon sign.

Radio Adelaide workers, volunteers, form association

Concerned by the fact they’ve been left out of discussions over the future of Radio Adelaide, a group of the community radio station’s workers and volunteers have formed themselves into the RadAd Station Workers Association (RASWA) under Chairperson Nicky Page to keep the public informed and to be involved in the transfer process.

Its first statement since the University of Adelaide went into an agreement with dance station Fresh 92.7 for an undisclosed fee while it shifted its ownership of the station. RASWA said Radio Adelaide is going strong despite the “alarming experiences” of recent months. With “great care and continued support it may survive the shock.”

RASWA was critical that the university didn’t give the station full independence – “as called for by thousands of supporters during the Save Radio Adelaide campaign in December”— and querying what happens if the ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority) refuses to accept the Fresh deal. In the meantime, Fresh has appointed Musitec GM David Grice as Transition Manager while Radio Adelaide moves in, and RASWA says it’s looking forward to liaising with him. Meantime, a new board will be formed to manage the new Radio Adelaide.

Brisbane preps for Rock’n’Roll Writers Festival

Brisbane is getting prepped to host Australia’s first Rock’n’Roll Writers Festival, is held on April 2 and 3 at the Brightside. “The nucleus of the idea was to create an event for fans of songwriting, music writing and fiction influenced by music,” said artist manager and educator Leanne DeSouza who hosts the event with music entrepreneur Joe Woolley. “The event is for the fanboy/girl in all of us.”

Names include by-line heroes Clinton Walker, Jenny Valentish, Chris Salewicz, Andrew McMillen, Ritchie Yorke, Andrew Stafford, Noel Mengel, Samuel J Fell and Sean Sennett as well as artists as Dave Faulkner, Deborah Conway and Keir Nuttall.

The Newport, Bridge, Devilles, re-open

Three long time music showcasing venues are back in action after renovations.

Justin Hemmes’ Merivale re-opens the Newport Hotel in this Friday (March 25), unveiling the first of its revamp. It bought the property from Bayfield Hotel Group a year ago for a reported $50 million. Live music features heavily, with its Sunday Sundown program kicking off with Saskwatch on Easter Sunday, followed by Gypsy & The Cat (April 3), Tasmanian singer-songwriter Asta (April 10), and Mansionair (April 17).

The Bridge Hotel in Castlemaine, 1½ hours out of Melbourne, intends to remain a significant music venue under new owners Mace Williams and Catherine Fletcher. It has appointed Skye Byrd of The Little Bird Agency to handle band bookings.

Perth’s Devilles Pad, which closed last March, is returning as Badlands Bar. The 400-capacity Aberdeen Road establishment sees more attuned to live music, with a green room, a stage that is twice the size, and a new sound system.

More venue updates: closures, delays, new home dramas

* The Bodalla Arms Hotel in NSW, which re-opened in January 2015, has been told to pull the plug on amplified music for the time being. Liquor and Gaming NSW told it to install a noise limiter and wait for an acoustic report it had complied with regulations. This followed complaints by police and residents. Offensive descriptions of the complainants on the venue’s Facebook didn’t exactly calm things down. Licensee Michelle Coric was concerned about costs: it’ll cost nearly $5000 to get the report, and sound proofing could be expensive given the building’s heritage listing.

* Sydney gets the Goodgod Small Club back, even if it’s only for four days. The club in Chinatown was sold last year and became Plan B Small Club under its new owners. But as part of Vivid LIVE, Goodgod operates its clubbing program at the Opera House on Friday May 27, Saturday May 28, Friday June 3 and Saturday June 4.

* The construction of a new 9000-capacity multipurpose facility on the site of the old Sydney Entertainment Centre (which closed last December) had its first drama. Part of the roof collapsed, missing a worker. The Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) complained this was a result of the State Government taking “short cuts” in the rebuilding.

* The upgrade of Port Macquarie’s indoor stadium is being affected due to supply of structural steel being delayed.

* New Zealand is losing two venues. The 300-capacity Dux Live in Christchurch is closing because it couldn’t attract crowds. Owner Richard Sinke claims many bands have split since the earthquakes, and a drift by patrons to DJs.

Dunedin’s Chick’s Hotel, a mecca for alt-music lovers, also went dark on the weekend. It went out with a bang: the final show by The Clean was a sell-out.

* Canberra jazz venue The Gods Cafe & Bar may have to find a new home. Its current building, ANU Arts Centre, may be demolished as part of an extensive redevelopment by the Australian National University. The proposal will be discussed at a council meeting on April 1. The Centre also houses the cabaret club Teatro Vivaldi and two theatres. All bookings have been stopped for the time being.

* A company is calling out for musicians and bands for paid gigs “to be a part of an exciting new entertainment program across Brisbane’s premier venues.” Deadline is April 1, their website is http://new-entertainment.squarespace.com/

Music Tasmania board nominations close

Nominations for five board members for Music Tasmania in 2016/17have closed. CEO Laura Harper was looking for volunteers who are “thinkers and doers and passionate about Tassie music” who ensuring Music Tasmania “can continue to support the music community at a time of funding uncertainty and scarce resources.”

AMIN podcasts on setting up a label

The Australian Music Industry Network (AMIN) has released podcasts from its RELEASE business sustainability program for independent record labels held last year in Hepburn Springs. The speakers on the podcasts are Terry McBride who heads Canada’s largest indie label Nettwerk, New Zealand artist manager Craig-Pearce and business consultant Dr. Chris Stevens on dealing with stress in business, links between mental and physical health and success, perseverance and error recognition.

Public memorial for Jon English

Jon English’s family agreed to a public memorial to celebrate his life. It is on Monday April 4 at the Capitol Theatre – where in 1972 his career launched when he played Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar. It is 4.30 pm for a 5 pm start. Stephen Found made the Capitol available, with Paul Dellit and English’s producer Simon Gallaher handling the production.

Madonna shoots DVD in Sydney

Madonna marked the end of her seven-month Rebel Heart world tour on the weekend in Sydney by shooting the last two shows at Allphones Arena for a full length DVD. Her long time collaborators Danny B. Tull and Nathan Rissman directed the live video which will be part of a larger project to be released at a later date.

The first of the Sydney shows saw Game Of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie joining her onstage as her Unapologetic Bitch for the night. She sly set the record for media reports she was drinking onstage by sipping on a glass and mock exclaiming, “Oh my God, this water is insane!’. She also quipped, “You don’t need to know all of my personal business, I don’t want to be accused of having a meltdown.”

Sydney was also where Madonna filmed The Girlie Show: Live Down Under in November 1993. It was first beamed as a HBO special and then issued as a DVD through Warner Music Vision.

Vivid Ideas to discuss community radio

Festival of light, music and ideas Vivid Sydney puts community radio as part of Vivid Ideas. To be discussed is its role in unlocking creativity in Australian communities by sharing diverse voices, and connecting and engaging the community. On the panel are Queensland University of Technology’s Senior Lecturer in Journalism, Media and Communication Christina Spurgeon, community radio producer Maddy Macfarlane of Melbourne’s PBS FM and ABC Regional’s Manager of Audience Content and Partnerships Scott Gamble. It is held on June 7 from 6 pm at UTS Sydney’s Chau Auditorium.

Report: Periscope users watch 40 years of content a day

During a South By Southwest panel, Twitter’s Australian Head of Music Jennie Sager revealed that after a year, its live-streaming app Periscope (which is used within its app) streams more than 40 years of content per day. The service, released March 26, 2015, was downloaded 1 million times within the first ten days. It is used by musicians to generate a more intimate dialogue with their concert attendees and record buyers, and accused in some quarters as piracy-prone

“When Periscope first came out the reaction was, ’This is gonna be really bad for the music industry,’” Sager said during the Music and Tech: Why Can’t We Be Friends? panel. “We never intended it to [be used to] live stream shows. Artists are using it to broadcast the moment before they go on stage, or what’s happening on the tour bus. It’s a different way for artists to communicate with fans on a different level.”

Music initiative addresses gender imbalance

Women currently make up only 20% of composers registered with the Australian Music Centre, which promotes and supports those who create contemporary classical, improvised jazz, experimental music and sound art. To address this gender imbalance, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music launched Australia’s first national women composers’ development program.

Four emerging composers were chosen to take part in a two-year development program at the University of Sydney’s music faculty. They will develop technical skills in working with artists and ensembles, and network. At the end of the two years, each ensemble will also pick one composer to commission a new work for a public performance.

Blog Avenues officially launches in Australia

After a soft launch late last year, Sydney based influencer marketing platform Blog Avenues has officially launched. It creates a black book of influential bloggers so businesses can source them and build campaigns to effectively hit their targeted audience. Founded by marketing duo Lisa Johnston and Rachael Ballard, so far the platform has drawn 370 influencer registrations, with a combined reach of over 16 million followers across all the major social media channels. Bloggers and influencers with a minimum of 5,000 followers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube or Pinterest can sign-up for their specific categories at www.blogavenues.com.

NZ jazz awards finalists announced

Finalists are announced for Jazz Tui (best album music award) and APRA Best Jazz Composition in New Zealand. Up for the 2016 Best Jazz Album of the Year are Michael Houstoun & The Rodger Fox Big Band for Concerti, Phil Broadhurst for Panacea and Kevin Field for The A List.

Recorded Music New Zealand Chief Executive Damian Vaughan said, “These artists are well known and well respected jazz musicians and this year’s albums are truly testament as to why they are firmly placed as living icons of New Zealand jazz music.”

Finalists for the inaugural APRA Best Jazz Composition are Callum Allardice for his near-10 minute Sons Of Thunder, Norman Meehan for Dreams, Yellow Lions (featuring lyrics from a poem by NZ poet Alistair Campbell), and Phil Broadhurst for Flaubert’s Dance.

“We couldn’t be more pleased with how the introduction of the award for best composition has been received by the Jazz community,” says Anthony Healey, head of NZ Operations for APRA AMCOS, adding, “We received an overwhelming number of entries.”

The winners of both awards are announced at the New Zealand Jazz Awards Concert on Saturday March 26 at Baycourt Community and Arts Centre in Tauranga,

Festivals Update: new events, new homes, new funding?

* This week’s Coloursound in Glebe, Sydney (March 24 to 27), is hosted by the suburb’s craft beer maker Staves Brewery. It includes live music (Blackie & Keish, A-Rock Newman, Peter Miller Robinson, Oli Statham, Scruffamudda) alongside comedy and lagers and ales, along with an attempted world record for most people drinking from tankards at once on Easter Sunday.

* A meeting was being held last night by Dubbo City Council’s Finance and Policy Committee to decide if the DREAM festival gets the $40,000 to stage in 2016. The decision goes before the March Ordinary Meeting next week. The festival put forward a proposal of $40,000 annually for three years. It argues that it injects $379,000 into the Dubbo economy, citing that of the 13,000 attendees, 2831 were out of towners.

* The deadline for applications to workshops held at Groovin’ the Moo is March 31. The regional festival teamed with Heaps Decent, which encourages opportunities for the creativity of underprivileged and indigenous. The one-hour workshops are for producers, MCs, beatmakers and songwriters aged 15-24. These are held backstage before each show. See gtm.net.au/competitions.

* Townsville Cultural Festival now has a permanent home. James Cook University has offered a large block of vacant bushland at its Douglas campus. It provides a larger capacity when it stages in August.

* Caloundra, Sunshine Coast’s new monthly street festival, Lamkin Lane Live, has brought more than 1000 people to the laneway destination in the $3.2 million Paisley Park Project since it began last December. The next one is held this Friday, held by PPP with the Sunshine Coast Creative Alliance, to showcases live music, local arts and culture.

* The inaugural Auckland City Limits, a NZ version of America’s Austin City Limits, was a huge success on the weekend. It drew 25,000 to Western Springs Stadium, well over what promoters expected. The bill was headlined by Kendrick Lamar.

Hayu SVOD launches today

Australia’s latest SVOD Hayu launched today (March 22). Aimed at the female demographic and streaming reality TV content, it is the initiative of US studio NBC Universal. Integrated with social media, it has 3,000 episodes of shows including Keeping Up With The Kardashians, The Real Housewives and Top Chef franchises and Made in Chelsea.

Highway To Health

A NSW Health and the Arts Taskforce has been developed to help create a NSW framework to guide the use of the Arts to promote health and wellbeing. The Taskforce has conducted consultation workshops to encourage ideas and discussion, one of these at the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre (CPAC) is a cultural facility of Liverpool City Council.

The CPAC is partnering with South Western Sydney Local Health District (SWSLHD) to establish a South West Sydney Health & Arts Reference Group. From next month, it will commence monthly meetings. Expressions of Interests are being called for any artists or arts practitioners interested in forming part of the group. Email reception@casulapowerhouse.com by March 31 for more info.

Vale

Melbourne mandolin, tin and harmonica player Andrew Carswell emerged in My Friend The Chocolate Cake, recording their debut and Brood albums. He left in July 2010 to join his childhood friend John Bartholomeusz in The Stetson Family which is receiving notice from America’s bluegrass sector. The Stetsons paid tribute to his “blistering sense of humour” who was “intelligent and compassionate” and “one of nature’s true gentlemen who always was smiling.” Carswell passed away after a three-year battle with liver cancer.

Joe Sands had an illustrious radio career before moving into marketing and advertising. He was Program Director of Sea FM Gold Coast and an announcer at B105 Brisbane, Wave FM Wollongong and 4MK Mackay. In 2000 he found his own marketing/ ad agency, merging with SMART in 2007 to become SmartSands. When it was bought by IPG and became part of McCann Worldgroup, Sands served as Queensland Managing Director. He passed on the Gold Coast after a battle with cancer.

Richard Bowly was a publican in Toowoomba whose Southern Hotel, which he took over in 1986, provided gigs for musicians while it built up its reputation as a dining destination. He won Hotelier of the Year at the Queensland Hotel Association’s (QHA) awards in 2014, saying, “I didn’t even know I was nominated!” A board member of the QHA, he also helped build up South Toowoomba as a dining and cultural hub. Bowly was 81 when he passed.

Number Crunching

95,000 official attendance count for WOMADelaide (March 10 to 13) over four days, a record.

60% of those going to Amphlett Lane in Melbourne (named after The Divinyl’s Chrissie) are out of towners while one-in-three visitors to AC/DC Lane are international tourists, according to The Melbourne’s Music Laneways report.

427,000 viewers turned into Nine’s Michael Jackson’s Journey From Motown To Off the Wall last Sunday.

$1 billion mark hit by Wicked on Broadway, joining only The Lion King and The Phantom of the Opera to hit that mark, but it reached it faster than the other two.

And A Few Other Things …

The list of singers wanting to take over Brian Johnson’s spot in AC/DC for their postponed US shows continues to grow. The latest round includes Pelle Almqvist of The Hives, Krokus’ Marc Storace (one of those whom the band approached to replace Bon Scott) and singer/actor Rob Liotti who plays him in the upcoming Bon Scott biopic.

Dr. Jamie McKew, founder and Artistic Director of the Port Fairy Folk Festival in Victoria, had a good send off after he retired after 40 years. Over 30,000 attended and contributed $12 million to the local economy, the festival’s artist of the year Marcia Howard performed Bob Dylan’s Forever Young in his honour, and the festival’s committee presented him with a woodskin drum.

Iggy Azalea postponed her wedding in late 2016 to basketball player Nick Young because she has to go out on tour. They have to wait until the end of the next basketball season.

Meantime New Zealand music legend Chris Knox (Toy Love, Tall Dwarfs) is marrying his care-giver and poet Raewyn Alexander. She’s looked after him since his severe stroke in 2009.

Madonna wasn’t hanging around in Australia after her world tour finished off in Sydney on the weekend. She was high-tailing it off to the UK to hold peace talks with her teen son Rocco and ex-husband Guy Ritchie, and apparently plans to move to London to be close to him while he completes his education.

Adelaide’s longest running CD store If Pigs Could is throwing a Harlem Rent party at its Vaughan Place premises on March to raise $10,000. It needs the dough to keep up with its $3000 monthly rent or face closure, as times have been financially tough.

Meantime some DVD stores in Tasmania reported a rise in sales. As a consequence of the Basslink cable going down, those who normally would have spent their money streaming returned to traditional entertainment mediums.

The duck pond that separates the audience and the stage at WOMAD New Zealand in New Plymouth’s Brooklands Park is taking on a life of its own as far as visiting musicians are concerned. Last year Sinead O’Connor laughingly lost it when a duck started quacking at her during Nothing Compares. This year a devoted fan got so excited by De La Soul’s set that he swam across the pond to get to the stage. De La Soul gave him a towel and told the audience, “Make some noise for water man!”

After a year off the road for 12 months after losing their singer in 2014, Adelaide heavy rock outfit Loaded Billy tapped Rino Crescitelli as their new addition. He’ll join them in the studio to cut their debut album. During their absence, their Creatures Of The Night reached #1 in the hard rock and metal Number One Music charts, while Boys Run Wild topped ReverbNation’s metal chart.

Noiseworks have been previewing four tracks off their next album during their Red Hot Summer Tour dates. Singer Jon Stevens says the record is complete, and they’re currently looking for a distributor. Their last studio album, Love Versus Money, came out in 1991.

Channel 10’s The Project apologised to Sudan-born Melbourne-based rapper Ror Da Poet aka Ror Akot for using a shot of him from a 2013 documentary (digitally altered but the 19-year old recognised himself) to illustrate a video report on gang violence in Melbourne last Monday night. “So this is what I get for being a young Blackman working hard trying to succeed?” Akot posted on Facebook. “I’m here putting my soul into success every day trying to prove myself, not to anyone but just to me and my family.”