LIVE MUSIC: STRIKING A CHORD

Striking a chord

A live music renaissance is taking hold in pubs across Australia and finally seems to have some government support. Seamus May hears how music and performance can amplify a venue’s entertainment offering.

WHEN ODD Culture reopened the Duke of Enmore in October 2020, the picture for live music was uncertain, to say the least. Lockout laws had only been relaxed in January of the same year, while the significant COVID-19 lockdowns of 2021 were still yet to come.

Fast-forward to June 2023, and things are looking rather more upbeat. The Duke is closing in on 700 nights of live music hosted since Odd Culture’s takeover. The venue also hosted a recent event in support of live music, which counted Jenny Leong, State MP for Newtown, and Sydney Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, amongst its attendees.

Moreover, newly elected NSW Premier, Chris Minns, has pledged $103m in funding for the state’s music industry, while indicating his willingness to reform curfew and noise complaint legislation. Nevertheless, there remains work to be done in the hospitality space, as Odd Culture CEO, James Thorpe explains.

“The state of play is that there are just 133 registered live music venues in NSW. Our group is incredibly invested in live music and are committed to changing this startling statistic.”

For Thorpe, live music also represents genuinely good business sense.

“Where we invest in live music, we see a really strong return in trade. People want to go out and experience live music and we are really passionate about providing it for free in our venues.”

A CHANGING CULTURE

Just a few minutes’ walk from the Duke is The Botany View Hotel, a pub that has redoubled its focus on live music in recent years, and reaped significant reward as a result.

Nick Hutt, who books entertainment and acts for the Botany View, explained why and how the pub adapted to better suit musicians and performance.

Jazz sessions give The Botany View Hotel a point of difference

“It’s always been a live music venue, but it had always shared a stage with pub culture and local footy culture,” Hutt says, describing the previous set-up at the Botany View.

“Then when our new owners came in, the Smalls, we kind of got rid of the pub culture as such and focused more on the live music.

“We always had this battle of: footy’s on at eight o’clock, the bands have to wait, the whole room’s full of plasma screens, and so the staff would go up on a ladder and put curtains all around the venue and make a stage. And we had some pretty shoddy PA, and that was kind of the live music offering we had then.

“To make it legitimately a live music venue, we invested a bit of capital, completely overturning the whole main bar to make it a massive stage with stateof-the-art front-of-house, obviously making it quite attractive to local up and coming artists,” Hutt continues.

“We got rid of the live sports element and the old boy kind of attitude and gave it a big facelift for the music.”

Now, the pub has a comprehensive endof-week music offering, with a resident jazz band on Thursday nights, local bands on a Friday night, while Saturday is for local and interstate performers (with a DJ on the pub’s second floor from 4pm to midnight), and Sunday for New Orleans jazz.

The focus on jazz is a key point of difference for the Botany View, and the general manager believes this has allowed the venue to access a particular subculture in the local area.

“There’s always been a big jazz following, and there hasn’t been much support for the jazz community in the Newtown area, it’s more been Surry Hills and Ultimo, so we saw it as an opportunity to start a scene - or not start, but help it grow and help it develop,” Hutt says.

“We have so many Conservatory of Music students come in, this is their home to hang out and watch their teachers and also their jazz idols go on stage and play in front of them.”

FACING THE MUSIC

Given the significant upside, there are doubtless many operators and licensees around Australia that are considering adding live music to their venues. But as Sinead O’Hara, the programming and communications manager at Perth’s Rosemount Hotel explains, the process can be long and demanding, and pub managers should be clear-sighted about what lies ahead.

“The initial outlay is expensive, and running a live music venue involves a huge commitment of time, money and resources,” O’Hara says.

Her venue has made live music a core part of the business, with acts playing between five and seven nights a week across the pub’s main room and Four5Nine, a dedicated space for emerging artists.

Odd Culture Group, musicians and Lord Mayor Clover Moore lobbying for a return of a live music culture to Sydney

Over the years, the Rosemount has hosted the likes of Spacey Jane (who dominated the top 10 of Triple J’s 2023 Hottest 100), Hiatus Kayote and Tones & I. This musical pedigree provides a powerful point of difference for the Rosemount – supported by a strong F&B and loyalty program.

“The culture Rosemount has built around live music is a key component for attracting new customers, but the venue also stands strong as a competitor in the pub industry – serving up competitive weekly food and drink specials all day and night,” O’Hara says.

“We have a very strong, loyal customer base and a ‘VIP’ (Very Important Punter) membership program which helps retain customers by rewarding them for their time spent at the venue through a points system, and exclusive access to VIP events, discounted gig tickets, birthday vouchers and heaps more.”

Nevertheless, it took time for the pub to develop its reputation as a home of live music.

“Rosemount has been doing this for over 10 years and has always been committed to supporting original musicians and touring acts,” the programming manager comments.

It’s a remarkably similar story for Adelaide-based pub, the Gov, a 13-time winner of AHA SA’s Best Entertainment/ Live Music Venue Award.

“The first ten years at The Gov was an enormous challenge,” co-owner Melissa Tonkin says.

“Becoming a successful music venue doesn’t happen because you put a PA in the corner of your bar and book a band, it happens because you put your life into creating a vibrant community of musicians and music lovers, and that takes time to build.”

Now the Gov is one of South Australia’s foremost music venues, making live music a cornerstone of its operations. Tonkin explains how the pub’s design put the centre stage, centre stage.

Live music at The Gov.

Image Credit: AK Photography**

“The Gov’s venue is a purpose-built, 850+ capacity space designed for the ultimate live music performance. The room is wide, with a mezzanine and small bar one side, and a wall-length bar on the other with the stage front and centre.

“The back wall is glass doors leading to our beer garden and deck, so the audience can spill out under the stars and still see the action on stage.

“Live music is the beating heart of our venue. We don’t have poker machines or a bottle shop and if you look really hard you may find a single, small television tucked away, but the whole energy of The Gov is about music,” Tonkins summarises. And the venue’s offering allows the pub to appeal to a wide audience.

“We really see it all. It’s a wild experience to see a young, indie crowd come through for a fresh favourite band, the next night a classic rock band from the 60s bringing the older demographic, followed by a night of thrash metal, or folk, or hip hop,” Tonkin outlines.

Despite the success of their live music programs, the Gov and the Rosemount both face operational challenges in 2023 –impacting the pubs, and the artists booked.

O’Hara described some of the difficulties confronting music venues: “Inflation combined with a highly saturated market and the return of international touring artists.”

“People are being more careful and selective with their money, which is fair enough, but it certainly causes a bit more stress to the artist when they’re not seeing ticket sales growing until a couple of days before the show.”

Tonkin concurs, saying: “Challenges have arisen from external sources over the years, power outages, of course the pandemic, flight delays, the singer losing their voice on show day… Having a backup plan for every eventuality is certainly a must.”

THE BUSINESS OF SHOW BUSINESS

Venues across the board were unequivocal in their belief that pubs have a vital role to play in the nurturing of musical careers in Australia.

“We often see bands form and develop at community events, get gigs on our Gibson stage, gain traction and grow their audience,” Tonkin says.

“Once this happens, we’ve seen them get chosen for support spots in the venue as more prominent national and international bands tour, and then end up commanding headline performances themselves.

“It’s one of the many highlights of being in this business for 30 years, that we’ve seen so many amazing bands grow to the point that they outgrow us.”

Taking such a supportive role in the early career of musicians can pay dividends for venues down the line, which has been the case at The Gov.

“Many of them [successful musicians] come back, preferring to book two nights in a row in their favourite venue than go too big,” Tonkin adds.

While Australia was renowned as a birthing ground of pub rockers, O’Hara states that the scene has since become more mature and varied.

“There is such a wide variety of music acts these days, which is amazing. The venues who support these artists are the building blocks for emerging bands to start growing their audience. There is nothing like live shows and it’s an experience that can’t be replaced,” she continues.

Live music is a core part of the business at Rosemount Hotel

And Hutt agrees with his fellow operators.

“The pub scene is where every Australian band ever has cut their teeth, that’s where we want to provide that environment.”

Ultimately, pubs will do what brings guests through the door and puts money behind the bar. But, as Thorpe suggested, live music venues who get it right enjoy significant upticks in trade.

“Our restaurant caters to the pre-gig dining crowd and can also support invenue dining for cabaret-style events. Our bars are often full to overflowing before and after shows,” Tonkin comments.

In the experience of The Botany View’s general manager, Adam Kovarik, securing a high-quality act tends to be reflected in the bar’s takings.

“It’s always dependent on the calibre of the artist. We’ve had a few times where we put up a band here and the place has been absolutely packed, and you can see that in the revenue for the night is triple what it usually,” he says.

Finally, Hutt had some advice for any publican looking to secure the kind of loyalty from artists that Tonkin describes.

“We also instil in the staff’s minds, in the management’s minds, that the artist is 100 per cent VIP. They get full treatment, they get drinks, they get dinner,” Hutt says.

“And have a good sound system. That’s literally the only advice I can give. If you’re thinking about doing live music, and then not offering substantial sound, you’re not going to make any friends in that industry.”