The Sydney live music scene is one that has been on a downward slide for years as a combined result of government legislature in the form of alcohol and music licensing, venues’ failure to adapt to a changing social landscape, an increasing amount of pokies machines in pubs (often at the expense of band rooms) and, probably most importantly, a lack of support from punters. All these complaints have been heard before, and despite countless blogs and articles in street press magazines being released begging, cajoling, challenging people to rock up and see a band play every once in a while, nothing has worked. As unfortunate as it is, the inescapable fact is that the 80’s and 90’s era of going to a pub and seeing live music as the standard Friday and Saturday night entertainment is over.
The Hopetoun Hotel, another live music venue recently closed. http://polaroidsofandroids.com/articles/the-hopetoun-hotel-closed-down-and-the-sydney-live/4235.html
Although the decline of the music scene is the most oft-lamented and widely publicised story of Sydney’s art communities, musicians are far from the only struggling artists trying to get a gig. As Nicole discussed in her recent post, dancers have just as much, if not more, difficulty finding a creative and lucrative means of performing. Similarly, in the visual art world, a recent flurry of private galleries closing, such as McGrath’s in North Sydney, Salmon Galleries at McMahons point and Marianne Newman Gallery in Crows Nest have made hosting exhibitions even more difficult for emerging artists.
While each of these communities face their own set of problems, lack of patronage, both of venues and audiences, is a common issue. So what if each of these art communities could work together in establishing a regular event hosted by a local venue, featuring a broad variety of performance styles and combining each of the respective audiences? Over the next weeks, we’ll discuss in greater depth the reasons why the various art communities in Sydney are struggling, and how these issues can be solved through a fresh take on our live performance scene.
/by J.G
NightFusion 