Industrial Strength: May 24

Image: Sydney’sHillsong United win second Billboard award

Report: Sydney has largest Night Time Economy revenue

The Sydney central business district has the largest core Night Time Economy in the country, according to a new report. The Australian Night Time Economy Report 2009-2014 valued the national sector at $3.526 billion in 2014, growing 24% in revenue (a rise of $683 million) since 2009.

Second is Melbourne with $2.721 billion, with food sales the highest at $524 million in additional sales since 2009. Brisbane’s grew by 25.2% in that period, from $4.977 billion to $6.231 billion. Brisbane City Council economic development chairman Krista Adams said that could change from July 1 when the first of the Queensland lock-out laws kick in. She told the Brisbane Times, “The jury is still out on whether lockout laws will indeed offer any safety benefit. The lockout laws do, however, present a risk to the continued success of our night-time economy.”

Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Newcastle, Port Philip, Sydney and Byron all exceeded the 13% revenue growth, which approximates to measured inflation in the same period whilst Hobart and Parramatta equalled it. The research was commissioned by the Council of Capital City Lord Mayors and conducted by the National Local Government Drug and Alcohol Committee. The report is at http://lordmayors.org

Sia announces first tour in five years

Following her acclaimed Coachella sets last month, Sia goes on tour in North America from September to November. The Nostalgic For The Present tour takes in 20 shows, supported by Miguel and Alunageorge. Over the Northern summer, she also makes 13 festival appearances in North America, Europe and Israel.

The Adelaide-born singer songwriter is riding off January’s This Is Acting, made up of songs she wrote for, but were rejected by, the likes of Beyoncé, Adele, Rihanna, Demi Lovato and Katy Perry. It peaked at #4 in the US and #3 in the UK. Meantime, a song she’s just penned for the next Blondie album has been described as “amazing” by Deborah Harry.

BGT returns to 708,000 viewers, The Voice slip

The return of Nine’s Britain’s Got Talent drew 708,000 metro viewers. It was the 12^th popular show of the night, fending off Seven Year Switch and MasterChef.

In the meantime, Nine’s The Voice was toppled from top spot on Sunday night. It drew 1.224 million metro viewers, down on last week’s 1.361 million metro viewers, while Seven News was top rater. The Voice was still the biggest show for the 25-54 age group.

Hillsong United wins second Billboard award

Sydney-based Hillsong United won Top Christian Act at the Billboard Awards in Las Vegas for a second year. Formed in 1998 as a spin-off of the Hillsong Church, its tours through the US saw all its five albums top the Billboard Christian charts. The last two Zion (2013) and Empires (2015) went Top 5 in the broader pop chart. The act is currently in the US for three months, winding up a tour in Chicago on July 30.

Perth-born Troye Sivan performed his song Youth at the awards.

Radio Adelaide looking for new GM

Community radio station Radio Adelaide is getting prepared to leave Adelaide University. It will initially share premises with Fresh FM although that has been delayed by a few weeks due to the construction process facing “structural issues”. The relaunch is expected in late July with programming to be automated for three weeks in the run-up.

In the meantime, the station is advertising for a General Manager, more details from Radio Adelaide Transition Manager David Grice at admin@​musitec.​com or call 08 7320 3309 by May 27. Former SA Liberal politician Iain Evans has been appointed Chairman of the station’s board to spearhead the search for new revenues. He resigned from politics in 2014 after 21 years, during which he held ministerial position and led the party for a time.

Paul Kelly honoured for charity work

The Australian music industry honoured Paul Kelly at a Support Act lunch for his support of 20 charities a year. Kelly finished off the three-hour event at the Ivy in Sydney with a live set. But also performing his songs were Caitlin Park, Urthboy cradling his baby daughter Jetta through They Thought I Was Asleep, Julia Stone with a small choir and Thelma Plum with a string section, and admitting Kelly was such an inspiration that she didn’t cast her eyes his way.

Holly Ransom for CBAA conference

Holly Ransom is the first speaker announced for the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) conference in Melbourne in November. Ransom will address positive change: what it will look like, who is leading it and who is holding it back.

She will draw on her wealth of experience as the CEO of Emergent, one of the AFR’s 100 Most Influential Australian Women, Young Western Australian of the Year and Young Volunteer of the Year, the Chairperson of the G20 Youth Summit, Co-Chair of the UN’s Global Coalition of Young Women Entrepreneurs and the youngest ever female Director of an Australian Football League (AFL) Club (Port Adelaide Football Club).

Parlour Gigs introduces online booking platform

Melbourne-based national initiative Parlour Gigs has introduced an online booking platform. It began early last year as a way to increase gigs for emerging acts, where music fans would host a gig in their homes for friends. It has done 150 gigs around Australia, having hosted shows for names as Harry James Angus, Dan Kelly, Mia Dyson, Oh Mercy, Tinpan Orange and Lisa Mitchell. Parlour artists take 78% of ticket sales, with a minimum of $300 a gig and an average of $550 for a 45-60 minute set. A recent show at a regional church saw a band leave with $2,500.

The new purpose-built booking platform allows hosts to create a new gig in minutes, complete with electronic ticketing and the choice of recommended local artists from curated lists based on location and genre specification.

Quickflix given six-month stay of execution

Troubled streaming video on demand (SVOD) service Quickflix is given a six-month stay of execution. The company, Australia’s first SVOD, went into voluntary administration last month while a buyer was sourced. Quickflix is in a trading halt with a market capitalisation of $2.22 million and cash of $659,000.

Quickflix had asked for an extension of time from the Supreme Court of Western Australia to October 21 to go through proposals from prospective buyers and call a second creditor’s meeting. But administrator Richard Hughes says that it is expected that everything should be wrapped up well before then. Quickflix went into administration after it rejected rival Stan’s conditions to buying a share in the firm. Stan wanted either $4 million, or $1.25 million and the transfer of the 900,000 names on its streaming database.

SCA Digital has set up a new division, the AdLab, to offer ad solutions to clients and agencies through mobile. Nielsen Market Intelligence ranks SCA Digital as Australia’s 9^th biggest mobile digital publisher. SCA’s Director of Digital Sales & Operations, Steve Brown, said AdLab would work with sales, operations and studio teams, “Specialising in HTML5, we continue to create cross screen ads with impact. Adlab adds to SCA’s significant reach in radio, TV, digital and social, affording our partners another level of engagement and storytelling.”

Splendour wants you to be an Unf*cker

As part of its annual initiative to make its patrons more environmentally-psyched, Byron Bay’s Splendour In The Grass this year teams with environmental group Be An Unf*cker. Suggestions and initiatives which include using the festival’s waste program, the annual planting of trees (1000 last year), the three year old Camp Little Foot (print dedicated to campers committed to behaving in an environmentally responsible way, be prepared to be arrested by the Eco Cops for any environmental faux pas’ you make, and get advice from the new Waste Warriors on all things waste.

Two Aussies for CMA World GlobaLive!

Troy Cassar-Daley and Caitlin Shadbolt join country music acts from Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom to play the CMA (Country Music Association) World GlobaLive!, The international showcase, set up in 2004 as the CMA expanded country music’s presence through the globe.

Record crowd for Blues On Broadbeach?

Final figures are still being tallied, but the word from organiser Peta Jane Habner is that last weekend’s free Blues On Broadbeach in Queensland could have matched or exceeded last year’s 127,000. Twice as much merchandising was sold. Habner put this year’s success to a strong bill, great weather, and more interstate visitors coming each year.

Strong turn-outs came for Eric Burdon & The Animals, Diesel, Cookin’ On 3 Burners with Tex Perkins, The Bamboos and Back In Blue where 8 Ball Aitken, Geoff Achison, Lachy Doley, Shaun Kirk, Lloyd Speigel, Genevieve Chadwick, Chase The Sun, Marshall Okell and PlaySkool did an all-star tribute to AC/DC. Gail Page, still remembered for her rendition of Strange Fruit on The Voice, earlier launched this year’s festival with a set before VIPs and guests at Jupiters. The SA desert living sister of surfer Robbie Page played a set with her own band on Sunday.

The festival was just one of a few major events held in Broadbeach. Two major marine and boating exhibitions drew 60,000 while 11,500 attended the Gold Coast Suns vs Adelaide Crows AFL game at Metricon Stadium. The blues festival has from the start been scheduled to be held during football games to encourage an interchange of fans. Some of the blues acts as 8 Ball Aitken also performed at the Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show.

More Festivals Updates: ply guitars, revivals, cancellations

* As part of its marketing and promotion, the Ballina Coastal Country Music Festival (June 10-12) in NSW is getting a 3m-high plywood guitar done. Six members of the Richmond Valley Woodcrafters are working on it at their workshop at a local farm.

* After a 33-year break, promoter Adrian Buckley is reviving Narara Music next year. It was first held in 1983 with INXS, Men at Work, Cold Chisel, The Angels, The Church and Australian Crawl, and in 1984 with Simple Minds, The Pretenders, Talking Heads, Hoodoo Gurus, The Models, Eurythmics, Def Leppard, Sunnyboys and Mondo Rock

Buckley intends to keep the original spirit intact, to the point it will only feature blues, rock and psychedelia. No doof doof, alt-country or folk. He says the music alone will create the festival’s energy, so there’s no need for workshops or yoga classes or sunrise welcome sessions. Also, all the 2017 bands have to end their sets with two covers by the acts from the original shows. It is staged on Saturday, May 6 at the Central Coast’s Forest Of Tranquillity, in Ourimbah – where incidentally Australia’s first ever rock festival was held, in January 1970.

* Wollongong’s Queer And Now monthly music night has been growing to such a rate since launched last September that organisers Jess Corcoran and Chelsey Sanderson created a festival version on the weekend for the LGBTIQA community. Melbourne’s punk trio Camp Cope used their headlining slot to launch their debut album. An EDM version is set for later this year.

* That Sound Agency announced that two of its acts, Melbourne ‘bounce’ star Brynny and the duo Teddy Cream, are booked on Creamfields in Liverpool, England in August with Armin van Buuren, Andy C, Jamie Jones, Four Tet, Laidback Luke and Pete Tong. In the past 12 months, both the Australian acts toured Asia and the UK for the first time; and both released bootlegs, which cracked over a million plays on SoundCloud.

* Performer applications opened for Katoomba’s 22^nd Blue Mountains Music (March 17, 18, 19). Deadline is August 31, at http://www.bmff.org.au.

* Surfing The Coldstream in Yamba (Saturday October 15) announced that among headliners are Melbourne new jack swing nine piece Sex On Toast, Sydney’s reggae-dub Declan Kelly & The Rising Sun and Sunshine Coast rockabilly and soul 20-year old Sahara Beck.

* After calling time after 20 years on the Great Southern Blues Festival in Narooma last August, promoter Neil Mumme planned to create a mini-festival within the Narooma Oyster Festival in October. However due to “some complications out of our control that are yet to be resolved”, he’s opted to launch it the same time in 2017 while the Oyster fest goes on as planned on October 2. He’s “extremely optimistic” that 2017 will happen.

Last print version of X-Press

The current issue of Perth street paper X-Press is the last print version. After 30 years, it’s now digital, which Managing Editor Bob Gordon was an “inevitable step forward” due to the Facebook-effect on entertainment advertising, printing costs. Publisher Joe Cipriani last month put it for sale with a co-ownership option. It will release an app next year and also work on one-off specials.

Inception Digital liquidated

Rebekah Horne and Jade Harley’s media agency Inception Digital has been liquidated after five years, reported Mumbrella. It had some big clients but two of them, The Guardian Australia and Mashable Australia, went in-house last year. After stints at DMG Radio and Ten Network, Horne is Head of Digital for the National Rugby League. It is not known who many staff are affected. One of their clients told Mumbrella, “I guess the ‘network’ model doesn’t work anymore with the advance of DSPs and a shift to content. Perhaps they didn’t transition their business fast enough.”

Josh Pyke preps live album with Sydney Symphony Orchestra

Josh Pyke’s two shows last year with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra will be released on June as Live At The Sydney Opera House. The ARIA award-winning singer songwriter showcased his talents alongside conductor Christopher Dragon. The album features 16 tracks from Pyke’s four albums, giving songs as Middle Of The Hill, Leeward Side and The Lighthouse Song a whole new beam. Pyke begins a 30-date on May 26, beginning at the Darwin Entertainment Centre and winding up at the Milton Theatre in Milton, NSW, on Saturday August 13.

Anti-lockout doco releases trailer

While Sydney band Ruckus and Playbook Productions prepare the release of their independent Vibe City documentary – about the effect of the Sydney lock-outs and a wider look at how its community can play a greater role in shaping the city’s communal culture – a trailer has been released. The trailer brings up to speed the story of the legislation through news footage, with musician Lucius Borich and politician Jenny Leong offering suggestions of solutions.

Aussie guitar shop named among the world’s best 100

The USA’s National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) named Port Mac Guitars in Port Macquarie, NSW, among its Top 100 nominees for its Dealer awards. These are held in Nashville on June 4. Port Mac (17 Short St), the only Australian nominee, was chosen for its “commitment to providing an excellent retail experience for their customers, helping people of all ages discover the joys and benefits of making music, and to fostering a positive musical experience for their community at large,” says NAMM President and CEO Joe Lamond. The store is up for Best In Category Award and Dealer of the Year Award.

“Being recognised for doing what we consider our day to day duty to our customers is amazing,” says Port Mac Guitars founder and CEO Rob Mestric. NAMM’s mission is to strengthen the US$17 billion music products industry and promote the pleasures and benefits of making music. It has 10,300 member companies in 87 countries including Australia.

Pictures at an exhibition: Wendy Saddington remembered in Canberra …

The late ‘60s blues singer and cult figure Wendy Saddington is being honoured with a Canberra Museum and Gallery exhibition which runs until June 19. Afro’d , gypsy bejewelled and wide-eyed, Saddington fronted Chain, The Revolution and James Taylor Move before going solo. However her fierce independence and refusal to “play the game” prevented the mass acceptance some of her peers gained. She died in 2013. The Wendy Saddington: Underground Icon photographs, posters, sound recordings, reviews, interviews, film clips, paintings, and personal memorabilia are from the archives of Canberra artist Peter Maloney, an avid fan who became a close friend.

… and Touched By Voice opening in Melbourne

The Touched By Voice exhibition by Melbourne music photographer Wayne O’Farrell opens tomorrow (Wed) until June 12 at 69 Smith Street Gallery. There are 60 images from the 1980s to 2000s including Bruce Springsteen, Bob Marley, Paul Kelly, Rose Tattoo, Iggy Pop, Kylie and The Cramps.

Rock The Boat 7 announces acts

Rock The Boat 7 will be on luxury Royal Caribbean cruise liner Radiance of the Seas from October 16 to 23 covering New Caledonia island paradises Mare and Noumea. Acts will be Status Quo (doing a non-electric Aquostic Live show on their first ever cruise), Baby Animals, Jon Stevens, Mark Gable from The Choirboys, Jack Jones, Angry Anderson, The Radiators and Zep Boys.

Albany WA radio ratings

In the radio ratings for Albany, WA, conducted by Xtra Research, ABC Local lead with a 27.1% share. It was followed by HOT FM with 20.6% and topping the 25-39 and 18-39 demos, triple j with 14.1% and RadioWest at 7.3%.

Opportunities in NT

Arts NT has quick response grants of up to $1500 each for professional development opportunities n the Northern Territory. They cover development of NT artists or arts workers, increased arts participation and success and employment of NT artists and arts workers.

Arts NT advertised for a Darwin-based Administrative Officer 6 for six months.

Perth venue Badlands begins petition

Perth’s recently arrived Badlands Bar’s owner and booker Mark Partridge is calling on punters to join a petition so it can expand. It wants them to urge Racing Gaming and Liquor and the City of Perth to extend trading hours to 3 am on weekends so it can stage bands and DJs from later in the evenings, extend the beer garden so it is available to punters for free, and to lift the restriction on the sale of draught beer to cut down on its use of glass and aluminium.

More Venue Updates: fire, sale, gongs, ban furore

* The live music showcasing GPO Hotel in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley entertainment precinct has been sold by Lantern Hotel Group for $5.25 million. It is leased until 2019. Its new owner is a Sydney publican and industry figure who did not want to be identified. Also sold to the mysterious identity was the Bowral Hotel in the NSW Southern Highlands for $6.35 million.

* A number of live music venues getting gongs at the Time Out Melbourne Pub Awards. The Bendigo Hotel got Best Live Music Pub with The Wesley Anne highly commended in the category. The Palace Hotel in South Melbourne won Pub of the Year. Kieran Yewdall and Michael Shaughnessy of the Catfish in Fitzroy took Publican(s) of the Year for a second time. The Grosvenor in St. Kilda trumped People’s Choice. The Retreat in Brunswick was awarded Legend status for its long time commitment to live music and welcoming atmosphere.

* A row broke out in Darwin after Shenanigans refused entry to award-winning musician Djolpa McKenzie of Wild Water. He popped in for a drink after he arrived in town with the band for their appearance at the Garrmalang Festival. The venue’s GM says he was stopped because he was a “trouble maker”. McKenzie denies this, and says he was told he couldn’t come in by a security man because he only had $15 in his wallet. He plans to make a formal written complaint to the pub and the anti-discrimination commission.

* A police officer faces will face Wollongong Local Court on June 28 after she tried to re-enter a licenced venue after being removed once while being off-duty.

* While police deem the burning of Melbourne’s Club nightclub suspicious, as reported in TMN yesterday, on the other side of the country another venue that also got burned down in suspicious circumstances is set to make a comeback. The Guildford in Perth, destroyed in 2008, has been revamped by new owner The Publican Group and reopens this Thursday (May 26).

ACCELERATE deadline looms

The deadline for applications for ACCELERATE is Friday June 3. It is for all Indigenous Australian arts professionals (including music) with five years’ experience in the creative industries with the skills and networks to generate, take up and excel in leadership positions. These will be developed with skills and networks in the UK creative industries.

ACCELERATE is presented by the British Council and the Australia Council for the Arts in partnership with Arts NSW, Arts Queensland, Creative Victoria, Department of Culture and the Arts WA, with additional support from SBS NITV.

Number Crunching

$10,000 presented to the losing contestant of America’s reality TV show Survivor by Sia. A long fan of the show and friend of host Jeff Probst, she turned up unexpectedly on set and gave fan-favourite contestant (and avid animal lover) Tai Trang $5000 for her and $5000 for her choice animal charity.

$1.8 million in federal funding cuts for South Australia’s performing arts companies, according to Live Performance Australia.

$10 billion made by Marvel Studios for their movies since 2008.

7348 signatures currently in petition to Keep Canberra Open

$1 million a month to rent Beyonce and Jay Z’s 12-bedroom summer house. Set in 11.5 acres of land, it comes with 12 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, a two-lane bowling alley, tennis courts, gym, spa, live performance area, rock climbing wall and a 60-feet heated pool with underwater sound system.

And A Few Other Things…

Jordi Davieson from San Cisco is set to have surgery on an injured vocal chord, which has prevented the band from touring although that hasn’t stopped him from being involved in writing sessions for the next album.

Expect two Auckland musicians to be hobbling around for a bit. Bloodnut had to pull out of last Friday’s show at the Ding Dong Lounge in Melbourne when their drummer injured his ankle. They were replaced by fellow NZ band Helgorithms, whose bassist broke his leg three songs in when an onstage stunt went awry.

Courtney Barnett made her debut on Saturday Night Live, performing Nobody Really Cares If You Don’t Go To The Party and Pedestrian At Best, and then taught the cast the Strine accent.

What started as a ban by Byron Bay’s Splendour In The Grass on Wicked Campers and their obscene and sexist slogans, extended to some other festivals, councils and associations in NSW, Tasmania and New Zealand. Byron Shire Council has sent letters to the Australian Human Rights Commission, the Local Area Commander of NSW Police and the premiers of Queensland and NSW.

Now a call has begun in Queensland by vehicle roadside assistant, insurance and loans company RACQ. It has called on the Queensland Government, on behalf of 1.5 million customers, to tighten the loop in the law which allows the vans to continue having “vile slogans “, according to its Executive General Manager Advocacy, Paul Turner. “This company is registered in Queensland, it’s our job to help clean up this mess,” he added.

The Queensland Attorney General Yvette D’Ath says she’s looking into changing the law. But she is not making any public statements as she has no intention of giving Wicked Campers “any free publicity.”

It took two years for Darwin rappers Demo Gubbz and Muxy to make a video for their track Million. In 2014, when St. Louis rapper Chingy was in the Top End, he collaborated with the two on the track. But he didn’t have time to shoot a video: that was done recently when Ching returned to tour.

Lucky Ent. reckons their new signing, 17-year-old Melbourne EDM DJ and producer Tyron Hapi is the youngest Australian to get into the Beatport Electro House Top 10 chart. His track Oceans by the self-taught pianist and drummer, last week hit #5 in that chart, and was also #14 on the overall Beatport Top 100.

About 300 members of the Australian country music sector – including Beccy Cole who drove from South Australia and Troy Cassar-Daley who sent a video message – farewelled bush balladeer Brian Young in Tamworth. He was remembered as an every day person who was idolised by the indigenous communities. Cole said he taught her the importance of having everything “just right” at each show.

Nine Entertainment has signed up close to 1.2 million viewers to its 9Now live streaming and catch-up TV service.

Adelaide soul singer Jay Power and her band are heading next month for their debut UK dates. She was invited by UK a capella group The Sons Of Pitches to join their sold-out tour after they heard her debut album The Missing. A finalist for South Australian female singer of 2015, Power and band will do eight club shows from June 22, winding up at the Sisters of Blues & Soul Festival on July 7.

Neville Fitzsimmons, who ten years ago owned 22 Civic Video stores, was hit hard by online competition. The Cairns Post reported that former staff members chasing up unpaid wages and superannuation after their outlets were sold (11 in the past 18 months), were informed by Fitzsimmons that he’s had to sell all the houses, cars, jewellery and a motorboat with “nothing left except some clothes”, a set of golf clubs and his dog, Butchy. He still owes tax and waiting for the ATO to wind things up, he said.