The Rocks Village Bizarre

I have come across an interesting event, which I did not know existed. It isn’t something that is held at a particular venue however it does still utilise the same idea of blending many different forms of art and performance into one night.

The Rocks Village Bizarre is an event held every Friday night from the 2^nd of November until the 21^st of December. The official program for this year will not be announce until October 11^th, however people can choose their own adventure as they wonder through secret alleys and hidden rooms at The Rocks. There is a multitude of activities to enjoy including lane-way performances, puppetry, poetry, interactive art as well as dance and hula hoop lessons to take part in. You will also find a pedal-powered cinema and a silent disco.

Silent Disco

Though this is a small deviation from my usual blog content, the concept used at this event is very valid as it stands in line with our vision and therefore is certainly worth a mention. I will definitely be checking this event out, as I am certain that there will be no chance of boredom with the vast range of activities going on. Furthermore, I feel that due to it’s content this event will be sure to draw a crowd, so I am curious to see for myself whether in fact that will be the case.

Performers in the Alley

/by N.E

Vaudeville

Perhaps to understand the movement of the live entertainment scene today as well as the possible direction it is headed in, it may be helpful to examine how it was trending in the past. The merging of different art styles and live performance into the one night is not a new idea. In fact, variety entertainment first started to become popular around the 1850’s, so lets take a look at the past and rewind back to 19^th century show business.

It is 1880, post civil war in America and Vaudeville is the new big thing to hit the streets. With an influx of immigrants, the American population was rapidly growing and numerous Vaudeville theatres were opening up around the country.

Running for several hours at a time, each Vaudeville performance was made up of twelve or more unrelated acts. These included musicians, dancers, actors, comedians, singers, ventriloquists, acrobats, animal trainers and anyone else who could hold an audience’s interest for more than three minutes. Not only was Vaudeville the first entertainment of its kind to allow a mixed-gender audience, but was also the first exposure to different cultures that Americans had encountered.

Hosting more than 25 000 performers over its lifetime, Vaudeville was the most popular form of entertainment in America until the 1920’s. It catered for multiple economic classes with shows that ranged from small-town stages to New York’s Palace Theatre. Regardless of the size of the theatre, Vaudeville was an integral part of every American community. However, like all good things this form of variety entertainment was slowly fazed out as newer forms of entertainment began to appear. As cinema, radio and television began to dominate, many Vaudeville performers made the transition to these new forms of entertainment and with this the impressive era of Vaudeville was over.

Palace Theater New York at the time of Vaudeville

Jumping back to live entertainment today, different forms of performance and art styles tend to stick with their own kind, for example, a night out would mean either just seeing live bands, or just seeing an art exhibition. This can sometimes mean that certain art forms have a hard time surviving and attracting a crowd on their own, especially since there are so many new modes of entertainment constantly emerging. These art forms and live performance styles could perhaps benefit more, in terms of popularity, from a 21^st century Vaudeville style of entertaining.

/by N.E

NightFusion – the game changer.

Picture this scene. You’re at the bar waiting on a drink. In the main room of the venue there’s a band smashing out some originals and the small but dedicated crowd they’ve brought with them is rocking out. In the back half of the room, there’s a couple of artists hosting an exhibition. The group of mates they’ve invited to check out their pieces is not the typical rock crowd, but a bunch of them are tapping their feet and nodding along to the music. A couple have wondered over to the stage area for a closer look. In the next room, there’s cabaret group performing a mix of burlesque and stand-up comedy. Later there’ll be another band, a couple of DJ’s, and a breakdance posse. This is NightFusion – a simultaneous combination many different performance styles in the one regular event.  

Last night my band played a gig at the Cat and Fiddle in Balmain. We managed to bring a fairly respectable number of people, and because of the kind of music we played (a rock/dance/funk covers set) it wasn’t hard to get the crowd dancing. People knew the songs. The band that played after us who headlined the night played an style of classic rock with some Pink Floyd-esque influences. Musically, they were very talented, the singer’s vocal range was absolutely phenomenal. Within about 10 minutes, about two thirds of the people at the gig had left and the rest stayed resolutely in their seat, despite the frontman’s calls to get up and dance. 

What went wrong?

What happened last night is an issue that I think is a recurring problem for many live music nights where multiple bands are playing, which happens the vast majority of the time with originals gigs. A band will (hopefully) bring a bunch of people to the show, and those they actually manage to convince to come will rock up as close to the start of their set as possible, neglecting any previous bands. After the band plays, their mates (and often the band themselves) will leave too, meaning the bands playing later are left with a rapidly diminishing crowd.

But why does this happen? As I mentioned in my last post, unless a band has an incredible live performance, it’s hard for an audience to get into their performance if they don’t know their songs. The band who headlined last night didn’t bring so many people and those that came for my band or the previous band quickly got bored and left. I only stayed for about half the set too, because despite liking their music, eventually I got bored of sitting there with nothing to do. It’s clear that we need a change of strategy to get people involved and excited about music. 

NightFusion is a game-changer for the different art scenes in Sydney. Because there are multiple attractions occurring at a venue simultaneously, an audience is free to move between them, experiencing new music or art. If a band or performance isn’t someone’s cup of tea, they can move to the next room and check out the art display or comedian. There is something to do in the meantime before the headline act or whatever is happening later. The reasons this combination has the potential to attract (and keep) a larger crowd are twofold. Firstly it removes the uncertainty that has previously come hand in hand with so much amateur live performance. It gives people options within a venue, meaning the event has far greater appeal to prospective audiences. Secondly, while individually it may be hard to get a crowd to come to your gig or art exhibition, by combining the pulling power of each art form, it is quite easy to draw a far larger crowd than any of these communities could individually. 

/by J.G

You Can’t Play Nice when the Competition is Fierce

Lets face it; we live in a world where there are so many options for everything we could possibly want, creating a huge amount of competition especially in attracting the attention of a mass audience. Entertainment, live or otherwise is no exception and certainly falls into this classification. As Jeremy discussed in the previous blog post, Sydney’s nightlife is now very different to the way it was in the 70’s or 80’s. People back then did not have the endless variety of venues and forms of entertainment that we have today. Therefore they were much more inclined to visit their local live music venue for a good night out.

Today, people don’t have to look much further than the Internet on their laptops, or the numerous amount of talent related reality television shows to stay entertained for the whole weekend. Therefore, in order for people to make the effort of physically going out to a specific venue that hosts live entertainment, there really needs to be something extra about that venue to lure people out in the first place. This means that with all the competition around, live music venues really need to have something different going on that people are not accustomed to, in order to stand out and draw a consistent crowd.

Although the nightclub scene is very different to the live entertainment venues that our cause is focused on, it can still be used as a good example of what works and what doesn’t in drawing a crowd. There are a huge number of nightclubs in Sydney, so naturally the competition is fierce, but some clubs still attract a larger crowd than others. Clubs such as Rock Lily and Marquee at The Star, are beginning to integrate different forms of entertainment and attractions at their venues, as a tactic to stand out and draw a large crowd. On weekends, Marquee incorporates podium dancers to compliment the DJ in the ‘Main Room’ featuring a 30-foot projection stage, as well as a ballet dancer to compliment the spectacular city view through the glass walls. Do not despair if you are the type of guest that is more inclined to entertain than observe, as the second room known as the ‘Boombox’ which hosts a separate DJ, has a podium area specifically designed for guests to dance on. In addition to this, you will find a themed display that exhibits a live model which works to bring the scene to life.

Main Room at Marquee

As well as the more intimate lounge known as the ‘Library’ and the outdoor patio, at Marquee you will also find a section called the ‘Dressing Room’. This area is set up as a high-class beauty salon and is permanently host to the house hairstylists from Zolf as well as make-up artists. Here, guests can wonder in, take a seat at a mirror adorned with lights and be pampered for free whilst taking time out from the crowded rooms of the club. This area is also home to the Zolf professional photographer who will take snaps of the freshly pampered guests and upload them to the Zolf Facebook page the next day for guests to find, tag and share. If this all wasn’t enough variety of attractions in the one club, perhaps the additional cabaret show held on various weeknights or the masquerade themed nights are more your cup of tea.

Zolf crew at the ‘Dressing Room’ at Marquee

Obviously, live music venues have a different vibe and target audience to nightclubs and cannot really be compared as each would need to host completely different art forms and live performances to suit their type of venue. However, live music venues can certainly take on board the general idea of what clubs such as Marquee are doing in the way of combining numerous different forms of entertainment, as an example of what works to attract a large crowd. With so much to do at the one venue, a guest can not possibly be bored and so I feel this tactic could really help to increase the popularity of live music venues in Sydney.

/by N.E

A Blast From the Cabaret Past

In a time long, long ago, before reality television or social networking existed, live performances were a popular form of socializing and entertainment. During the 1950’s, cabaret was one of the most popular choices for a night out. Audiences would enjoy the show from the comfort of their own table at the venue, where they would also be served dinner. Chequers, a leading Sydney cabaret venue of this time, gained a reputation for being one of the best in its field for international performers, as it imported top acts from all around the world. The venue ran for 20 years until the late 1970’s at its Gouldburn st location in Sydney city, hosting an impressive lineup of international cabaret acts including Dionne Warwick, Sammy Davis Jr., Liza Minnelli, Peter Allen, Matt Monroe, Shirley Bassey, Ginger Rogers and Nelson Eddy.

Cabaret originated in 19^th century Paris at Le Chat Noir, where poets and musicians performed in a casual atmosphere while audiences felt free to eat and drink at the same time. Today ‘Slide’, a glamorous and sophisticated 1920’s art deco style venue located at Oxford st Darlinghurst, is Sydney’s most famous cabaret venue. It offers dinner and a show in an intimate space from Tuesday to Saturday nights.

Slide Venue Setting

The venue works on the principal of submissions, where performers are invited to put forward their cabaret show for selection. Although cabaret still proves to be a popular form of entertainment, especially at Slide with their weekly sell out show EL’CIRCO, unfortunately there are only a handful of venues in Sydney that host such shows, leaving performers with little opportunity to get their show on stage.

/by N.E