Industrial Strength: October 3
SYDNEY ALCOHOL LAWS RELAX A LITTLE MORE
The NSW Government made more changes to Sydney lockout rules. From last weekend,small bars (ie, under capacity of 100) in the CBD and Kings Cross were allowed to serve unmixed spirits after midnight.
Keep Sydney Open said on its Facebook page that this came after it had a meetingwith the Minister over the issue. “It seems our efforts are paying off!” it declared.
The law changes came as the Sydney Daily Telegraph reported that Kings Cross is starting to reignite again after three years of lockout laws.
With violence down in the area, more diverse entertainment is springing up.These include dining, theatre, food and small bars, while a 600-capacity nightclub has just opened.
It quoted World Bar owner Steve Ward saying the area was enjoying “the healthiest crowds since the lockout laws. The Cross has never been safer and after a few lean years there are entrepreneurs coming back here and people getting used to the new hours.”
ADELAIDE/ AUSTIN SONG PROJECT COMES ALIVE
The House of Songs Adelaide, A Night of Songs is the first unveiling of asongwriting project of sister cities Adelaide and Austin.
Local writers Taasha Coates and Dan Crannitch worked with Austin writers Chris Hawkes, Graham Wilkinson, Akina Adderley and Miranda Oropeza in Texas on half-written songs, loose lyrics and love letters left behind by the late southern US songwriter Albert E Brumley of ’I’ll Fly Away’ and ’If We Never Meet Again (This Side of Heaven)’ fame.
On Friday October 13, all involved will perform a selection of the new songs at St Paul’s Creative Centre in Adelaide, and share the stories behind the process with MC Troy Sincock of Fresh 927.
The night is free but RSVP essential through Eventbrite as only 100 seats are available to the public.
The House of Songs project was documented by two filmmaking crews – one each from Adelaide and Austin – resulting in two short films which are screening at film festivals in both cities.
Involved in the project are Arts South Australia, The Music Development Office and the City of Adelaide.
DENI MUSTER DRAWS 15,500
The 19th Deni Ute Muster in southern NSW drew 15,500 attendees over two days,organisers reported.
The Ute Count was back this year after last year’s was cancelled due to mud on the site, with 6,313 utes confirmed.
The world record blue singlet attempt with a target of 3,953 fell short, but still drew 1,941 musterers of all ages gathered for the count.
Festival GM Vicky Lowry said “Each year memories are created – for me 2017 wasthe year that the crowd both young and old dressed in their blue singlets at front of main stage joined in true Aussie spirit singing Waltzing Matilda and Advance Australia Fair.”
The celebration of all-things Australia expanded to the acts as well.
The Friday night concluded with a two-hour singalong with Lee Kernaghan,following sets by James Blundell and Brewn, Beccy Cole, The Davidson Brothers, Sara Storer and openers Jetty Road and Hurricane Fall.
Saturday afternoon saw the screening of the AFL Grand Final with followersresplendent in the Tigersand Crows colours.
The music began right after as the sun set at 5.30pm with The Adam EckersleyBand, Caitlyn Shadbolt, The McClymonts, Drew McAlister and Shannon Noll, before The Wolfe Brothers closed the weekend.
NEW ARTS MINISTER FOR TASMANIA
Tasmania has a new Arts Minister, with Speaker Elise Archer promoted after aCabinet reshuffle after the sudden resignation of Matthew Groom.
Minister Archer also takes on the Justice, and Environment & Parks portfolio, and is a member of the Executive Council.
HOSPITAL VISIT FOR MARILYN MANSON OVER STAGE PROPS…
You’re asking for trouble when you title your tour Heaven Upside Down. Marilyn Manson ended up in hospital when two gun-shaped stage props fell on him during a show at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City September 30 while he was in the middle of performing a rendition of Eurythmics’ ’Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)’.
Video footage of the incident doesn’t clarify if Manson was trying to climb theprops or grappling with them when they fell about his ears.
…AND FOR TWO AT DARWIN RIVER RAVE
A 13-year-old girl and 17-year-old boy ended up in Royal Darwin Hospital during the Off Chops bush doof in Darwin River, which drew 800 to 1000.
According to NT News, the girl was assaulted and the boy seemed to have beenpunched but police could not formally interview him until he sobered up.
The allegations were that the rave was unlicensed but police monitored the situation.
AND SOMEONE FORGOT TO CATCH A DUNE RATS DIVER
Dune Rats have been putting in some skull-breaking shows on their currenttour, What better indication than a 20-year old at the Adelaide show who dived from the balcony expecting the crowd – somebody! anybody! – to catch him.
Alas no one did, and the next sound you heard after a sickening THUD! was the sound of an ambulance arriving to take him to hospital.
THIRD ACT FOR SHARESPACE
The third artist announced as one of “The Talent” for Sony Music Entertainment Australia’sonline project The ShareSpace is Hannah Waddell.
The pop/soul singer started her YouTube channel singing Delta Goodrem covers and records all songs in her bedroom
She learned to play keyboard, guitar, violin, trumpet, banjo and the bass by ear.
Like another of her heroes, Lorde, Waddell has synaesthesia.
RITA ORA TO HOST MTV EMAs
MTV confirmed that Rita Ora will host and perform at the 2017 MTV EMAs fromLondon’s SSE Arena, Wembley on Sunday, November 12.
First held in London in 1996, this will mark the sixth time that the UK hashosted the awards, with previous host cities including Edinburgh (2003), Liverpool (2008), Belfast (2011) and Glasgow (2014).
Ora has collected eight nominations over the years including Best Video, Best Look, Best World Stage, Best UK/Ireland Act, Best New Artist and Best Push Artist.
WAMCON ANNOUNCES SECOND ROUND OF SPEAKERS
WamCon (November 3 and 4), the conference component of WAMfest, has announced itssecond round of speakers for its State Theatre Centre of WA meet.
They are Alex Paioff (Pilerats), Blake Williams (Mix 94.5),Caitlin Nienaber (RTRFM), Caleb Williams (UNIFIED), Clive Hodson (Perfect Pitch Publishing), Damian Cunningham (Live Music Office), Eight aka Qi Liu (Unknown Art Productions, China), Elliott Brannen (Tempo Tax & Accounting), Em Burrows (WAM) and Glenn Dickie (Sounds Australia).
Others on the list are Hayley Ayres (360 Artist Logistics), Jef Vreys (New Noise,China), Katie Rynne (Select Music Agency), Maggie Collins (BIGSOUND, triple j),Matt Johnson (Walking Horse Music), Scott Adam (North Metropolitan TAFE),Stefan Emslie (Vita Artists), Susan Cotchin (The IRR Music Company), Vanessa Picken (Comes With Fries), and Will Backler (RTRFM).
A new addition to the WAMCon program are masterclasses and Business EssentialsInfo sessions. Masterclasses announced so far are marketing on a budget and music funding. The one with Stevie Wonder’s long time manager Keith Harris has priority given to music managers.
EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
Hit USrecord industry soapEmpire is joining FOX8 from 8.30pm Saturday October 7 at Season 3.The series was previously with Ten which pulled itafter a few episodes.
MEDIAWEEK GOES DIGITAL-ONLY
After 27 years Australian trade publication Mediaweek is going digital-only,founder James Manning announced. The print version will cease at the end of the year.
Manning says the digital version was preferred by readers and advertisers, and that premium subscription package from next year will be announced soon.
SONY/ATV TEAMS WITH ARTSTS TO CREATE ART INSPIRED BY SONGS
In a bid to highlight how song lyrics have shaped and influenced generations,Sony/ATV Publishing teamed with young UK visual artists including Kate Moross and Guy Field to create a limited collection of silkscreen prints, posters and illustrations artwork inspired by nine classic songs.
The songs are Dusty Springfield’s ’Son of A Preacher Man’, Cyndi Lauper’s ’Girls Just Want To Have Fun’, The Beatles’ ’All You Need Is Love’, Marvin Gaye’s ’What’s Going On’, Indeep’s ’Last Night A DJ Saved My Life’, Madness’ ’Our House’, Motorhead’s ’Ace of Spades’, The Clash’s ’I Fought The Law’, and Rick James’ ’Super Freak’.
They’re for sale at Certificate of Authenticity and are available from the website.
DEALING WITH CREATIVITY AND MENTAL HEALTH
As part of a week of educational events in Victoria for World Mental Health Day, APRA AMCOS, along with Music Victoria, is expanding its well-received discussion series on mental health and the creative mind with events in Geelong (Barwon Club, October 9) and Ballarat (Karova Lounge, October 10).
Speaking are Shihad drummer Tom Larkin, APRA AMCOS’s Jenny Branagan and bookerand band manager Shaun Adams.
Larkin points out, “Building a strong career in music is a journey fraught withpersonal, financial and creative risk.
“From sustaining an enterprise, to self-care and dealing with conflict and uncertainty, artists and their teams can often neglect putting in place an effective, healthy creative process that ensures delivering strong songs and performances.
“Together with APRA AMCOS I want to explore new models for building the kind ofenvironment and the strategies required to be artistically effective for the long term.”
TWO MORE STATIONS HOP ABOARD IHEART
iHeartRadio Australia launched two new radio stations. Planet Oz, the all-Australian music show, which has aired on Sydney’s KIIS 1065 and Melbourne’s KIIS 101.1 since 2014, is now also a 24/7 digital station hosted by Gordie Waters on iHeartRadio.
It follows the recently launched iHeartCountry Australia station, and the iHeartRadio Dance station which features seven Aussie DJs as hosts of their own show.
The new Showdown will provide sports anthems at major sporting events as GrandFinals, State of Origin, Olympics, World Cup, and Commonwealth Games.
SECOND ARTISANS FOR NZ AWARDS
The return of the Artisan categories for a second year as part of the NZ Awardssees four “tuis” (awards) up for grabs.
Recorded Music New Zealand CEO Damian Vaughan says “The Artisan Awards are all about recognising the incredible behind-the-scenes talent.
“Producers and engineers ensure the world-class and technical sound quality ofNew Zealand music while album covers and music videos help to contextualise songs in our heads, long after the music stops playing.”
Finalists are:
Best Producer
Ben Edwards for Preservation (Nadia Reid)
LEISURE for LEISURE (LEISURE)
SmokeyGotBeatz for Stoneyhunga (SWIDT)
Best Engineer
Ben Edwards for Preservation (Nadia Reid)
Chris Chetland for A Place to Stand (REI)
Clint Murphy for Be Like The River (Devilskin)
Best Album Cover
Dean Poole & Tyrone Ohia (Alt Group) for Stars (Shapeshifter)
Henrietta Harris for Otherness (Grayson Gilmour)
Jamie Robertson for String Theory (Fly My Pretties)
Best Music Video
Dan Watkins (Reel Factory) for Her (Shapeshifter)
Joel Kefali for Got It Bad (LEISURE)
Sam Kristofski for Lucky Girl (Fazerdaze)
The Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards are on November 16 and broadcast in NZ onThree.
ADELAIDE FRINGE HANDS OUT GRANTS
In its third year, the Adelaide Fringe’s Artist Fund has distributed a record $85,500 between 15 groups to help cover their travel and accommodation expenses for the February 16—March 18 event.
These included Nexus Multicultural Arts Centre for the Creative Pathways concert and workshops.
The others consisted of five cabaret shows, two each from dance, theatre, interactive and children’s, and one circus/physical.
SAMSUNG’S MILK FINALLY CURDLES
South Korea tech giant Samsung will finally close down its music-streaming app Milk on October 12, and instead provide the services through its updated Samsung Music player.
Milk launched in 2014 to compete with iTunes in Australia, NZ, the US, South Korea, Malaysia and China but failed to gain user traction. It’s been closing service in stages, with Australia losing Milk in April 2016.
KIRK PENGILLY DELAYS GEAR AUCTION
Former INXS guitarist Kirk Pengilly has postponed the auction of 36 guitars to next year, saying, “It all got too crazy”. No new dates are announced.
The Kirk Pengilly Collection was offered for sale at Sotheby’s Australia in Sydney on October 24. Some of his instruments are being saved for an INXS museum in the works.
WA GRANTS CLOSING
Closing deadline for Culture and the Arts (WA)’s Commercial Development annual 15k-Plus round (grants over $15,000) is 4pm AWST October 5.
VALE
British record label exec Mick Clark had stints at Columbia Records, Virgin Records and Higher Ground and ran his own 10 Music Group.
He was called “the godfather of UK black music” after discovering and signing Soul II Soul, Leftfield, Maxi Priest, Loose Ends and Grooverider. Clark died in hospital aged 61.
AND A FEW OTHER THINGS
Angus & Julia Stone’s new LP Snow is doing the business abroad, charting inSwitzerland, France, New Zealand, the UK and some of the US charts including #18 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart.
Who won the battle of the viewers at the weekend’s two Grand Finals? Macklemoreplayed to 80,000 at the NRL event in Sydney’s ANZ Stadium, with 1.37 million tuning in for his set and 2.3 million (overnight metros) for the actual game.
The Killers played to 100,000 at the MCG with 1,049,000 tuning in for the pre-entertainment and 2.8 million for the game, and triumphant Tigers forward Jack Riewoldt even turning up to join frontman Brandon Flowers on’Mr Brightside’. The night before The Killers also lived up to their name with a set at Howler club.
Withall the publicity about Elton John playing the Cazaly Stadium in Cairns,apparently reps from another international act have made inquiries about playing the venue.
Meantime, reports from the Mackay show were that a couple got engaged during ’Tiny Dancer’, while graziers setting out to see the show got delayed when a bullcalf was born, so they called it Sir Elton John.
Among the names appearing on Kimbra’s third album Primal Heart are producer JohnCongleton, Dirty Projectors, Skrillex and Childish Gambino.
Sydney entrepreneur Ron Creevey just returned from New York with fresh fundingand is about to announce global expansion for his revolutionary live/digital media empire, he told Noise 11.
Over 70 breakdancers from the Netherlands, Italy, and France set a new world recordwith simultaneous windmill moves completed in 30 seconds in the village of Kinderdijk in the Netherlands. The windmill is a popular dance move where the legs are lifted high in the air and twisted in a windmill pattern, while the torso and the head stay against the floor. It set the scene for the Red Bull BC One World Final in Amsterdam.
NSW’s Outback Arts received $300,000 in funding to purchase a new building andredevelop it into a creative hub in Coonamble.
Virtual reality took awhile to creak into action. But now that it has, VRheadsets are expected to reach 13.7 million units in 2017, growing to 81.2 million units by 2021, with a compound annual growth rate of 56.1% says IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Augmented and Virtual Reality Headset Tracker.
Sydney party and pizza joint Frankie’s held its first Vintage Tee Market lastSunday. Thousands of items ranged from classic rock, metal, biker, booze and weed-themed were sourced from Storeroom Vintage of Surry Hills and their latest haul from the USA. At the end of the market, Devil Electric, Immigrant Union, Khan, The Desert Sea and Junior Danger plugged in for some nasty rifferamas.
After an online backlash Matt Ward Entertainment scrapped its upcomingQueensland production of The Heights. The Tony-winning musical is based in the Hispanic-American neighbourhood of Washington Heights in NYC but the casting didn’t reflect this, with white actors playing Latino and black roles.
Perth police are hunting a man who allegedly stabbed a security guard in theribs and arm outside a nightclub after he was refused entry.
The Townsville Bulletin reported that local drummer Benjamin James Sandford,31, pleaded guilty in Townsville Magistrates Court to public nuisance and possessing dangerous drugs. The court was told that during The Wee Johnnys’ set at Molly Malone’s, Sandford got highly pissed and wanted to fight band members and patrons, and then went over to a venue across the road and started his antics there too. Magistrate Ross Mack fined him $500 and banned him from the CBD, telling him, “You sound like a goose on the night.”