Last week I happened across a blog written by Brendan Maclean regarding the closing of the Sandringham Hotel in Newtown (you can find it here), and was subsequently lead to the response from the Sando and one of Sydney's most prominent, long-lasting venues, the Annandale Hotel (and you can find THEM here)
So where do I sit on the whole issue? Don't you just crave the meaningless opinion of someone without a venue to own or a couple of thousand Twitter followers? I'll tell you soon... but first - what makes me feel even remotely qualified to talk on this issue?
I've been playing live music for not one, not two, but ELEVEN years. From playing all ages gigs in youth centers back in the day to supporting nationally-successful bands at sold out shows to playing to 3 people, my experiences have been vast and varied. Some have been great, some have been absolutely horrible. I think you'll find 99.98% of musicians with a list of similar experiences.
As mentioned, my live performance experience really started with AA shows in front of kids because, well, we were kids. I feel that I was particularly blessed to play in the scene we did (Penrith - shut up you elitist), there was a great network of bands who all knew each other personally and in many cases went to school together. Attending school provides you with a great means of promotion to a whole bunch of other people who haven't got anything else to do on weekends, and as such we played often and to consistently large crowds. As a metal band things got pretty crazy at times, with mosh-pits, barriers coming down, people being taken to hospital... it was fucking rock and roll.
I wanted to take things further, wanted to be famous, so I spent two years studying for an Advanced Diploma in International Music Business down at the CMC under the tutelage of incredible people like Geoff Weule and Jo Hansch, and I learned alot. I applied this to my band, got our EP recorded, presented, sold, launched to a massive crowd before we went on to support bands like The Butterfly Effect and Frankenbok. Things were going well until our Drummer and Bass Player left (as they do) and just like that it was all over, if only temporarily. What we had learned towards the end of our band-life, as we moved into pubs and over-18's venues, was that it was a new ball-game, alot harder, and with most of our fanbase still in their teen years converting our previous success into the pub scene was going to be difficult.
After that band it wasn't until a while later I returned. The new band was a 3-piece funk ensemble with some truly original music but the unfortunate condition of little-to-no-fanbase. We played alot of good gigs, but we also played alot of bad ones. This was my first real exposure to the pub-scene and it was a different world. Eventually that band disappeared as well and I now play in another metal band where we've had some decent success playing to consistent turnouts throughout Sydney. I literally have hundreds of gigs under my belt and an industry accreditation (that I admittedly haven't utilised for a long time), and hence I feel like my opinion is not completely futile. Here are MY thoughts...
First and foremost, I have played at the Sando, about 4 or 5 times in my life - to both big crowds and small. In his article Maclean states that he was threatened with a $300 fine if he couldn't pull 120 heads on a Friday. Steep? Certainly, but its portrayed like the Sando was the only venue that does this. I could give a list of at least 3 or 4 other venues that have said exactly the same thing to me in the past, one of them has been closed for a long time. It's their way of sorting through the pretenders. If you can't bring a decent amount of people on a Friday (and if not then, when can you?) why should a venue waste time and money on you? It's harsh, but it helps the artist seriously consider their profitability and effectiveness before wasting anyone's time, including their own. I've had demands placed on Thursday shows for crying out loud. You also find that the guys at the Sando aren't going to sit there counting each individual person and fine you if you're one short. A good night all round, with profitability downstairs as well, and while you might not get paid that much you're not in any debt. Many venues are like this - the notion of a fine, if anything, serves as motivation to guarantee you're doing YOUR best to make sure you bring people.
I remember when the Sando used to do its 'Sandpit reviews'. Once or twice a week there would be shows by a plethora of unknown bands at the venue, and they would have reviewers from the Drum Media (street press) there to do write ups of the gigs every week. It was a great way to promote the venue, and the bands themselves - and it was provided by the Sando. From recollection this was not conditional on the heads you brought, because it was on weekday nights. Turnouts were still good and it was in our review that my drumming was called 'incredibly tight' by the reviewer. These weren't all biased, positive reviews either. They were honest, which merely added to my surprise. I've played to an empty Sando, I've played to a full one, and I have never for a moment considered the Sando to be any different to the majority of pub venues in Sydney - but this is just my personal experience. I've played at the Bald-Faced Stag with shit sound on a house kit that fell apart as I played. I've played there again with good sound and a good crowd.
The Sound guy issue is another thing. Many times the venue will have an in-house tech, and sometimes they just get in outsiders to come in and sort it out. In the many gigs I've played I'd be lying if I said they all had perfect sound. I've played with the same sound guy for two different bands - one he mixed brilliantly and the other not so well - but these bands had different set ups, one requiring DI's and.. well.. other stuff that maybe won't make sense to some of you, but yes. Every venue is different. There are certainly some truly shit sound guys out there, and in some cases there'll be decent ones that are truly having a shit night. Bad sound CAN kill a gig, but I could say the same thing about much of last years Homebake - and they're completely different levels.
What everyone needs to sit back and realise is that there are two big problems in this state, and neither of them are the artists or the venues;
The crowds in Sydney are some of the least supportive for live music nationwide. You can promote the shit out of a show but when people have to work and consider themselves 'poor' its hard to motivate them to come, unless you're playing down the road. People in Sydney would more often than not rather go to a club and dance to shit music buying $8 drinks than pay $10 to see a band and enjoy some live music (surely many people remember the insult last year when many BDO bands organised sideshows in Brisbane and Melbourne but not Sydney). This is a true fact of the matter - if you've done anything at grass roots as opposed to already-established then you can identify with this. Mobilising audiences in this state is not impossible, but seemingly more difficult here than somewhere like Perth. This can, once again, be rectified but it requires a redefinition of the city and the scene. To many people, apart from the rare amount of live-venue owners still trying to make it work here, live music just doesn't matter anymore. I agree that it's entirely disheartening but there are still places here that we need to help survive.
So whats the other problem? The bane of my existence, one of my biggest annoyances in life is POKER MACHINES. NSW has more Poker machines than any other state in the Country, and more than many other states in the world. Our pubs are filled with them and multiple venues have already closed down the live music aspect in favour of the instant revenue attainable from Pokies. These are the common enemy of musicians. They've tainted the scene to leave us in the state we're currently in.
Let's compare. For many years now some of the best bands, or at least most successful in this country have come out of Perth and WA. There are acts from other places, and new things such as Triple J's unearthed are great for bands from all over the country but before this started it was obvious that Perth and the rest of WA had alot of strength musically. Why? I'm sure there are many reasons but the biggest one that shocked me when I played there was that poker machines are banned, outside of Burswood Casino. The strength and depth of the live music scene over there is to be envied, but in many ways you can say the same thing about Melbourne. Great venues and a supportive scene have helped it bloom, and we now end up with Sydney in a very sorry state compared to the rest of the country, let alone the world.
So who's side am I on? No-ones. This should never be about picking sides because we all need to realise, musicians and venues alike, that we're in this together. The Sando wouldn't have lasted as long as it did if it provided an experience similar to the one Brendan had, all the time. I've been to other venues and had worse experiences. Comparing the OAF and the Sando in terms of what they provide, given that they're worlds apart in stature and audience, is unnecessary, and I don't think that a Green Room (or lack thereof) is really worth the mention. If it truly is then motives must be questioned, and it's points like that which I think led to Maclean receiving threats and which unfortunately detracted from some of the key points he made, such as unreal venue expectations and the need for collaboration between venues and artists. If the Sando is the worst venue that he played then he should consider himself somewhat lucky, and I mean no condescension when I say that. There is something horribly wrong in Sydney. The cost of living is higher than anywhere else in the nation, the poker machines are rife, and the majority of people really just don't seem to care. The important thing, as constantly reiterated, is that we're all in this together, and we have to be. Both Maclean and the 'Dale make brilliant points, and in many ways they're both shining beacons for the future of the Sydney music scene.
The two blogs resulted in a meeting and discussion between the two, and this is the silver lining to this cloud. What the Sydney scene really lacks is a sense of community, not unlike the one I had as a teenager playing out West. If that can be recreated then Sydney CAN be saved, and if that's what we all want, we need to work together.
The venues have a responsibility to the artists and patrons alike, but the artists have a responsibility too - what will we do without venues? While Macleans personal experiences don't speak for me or (I think) many unsuccessful musicians out there, they are exactly that. I know that when writing an op-ed piece you have to speak from personal experience and I think that's something many people missed. Sure he could have used more neutral terminology but then we wouldn't be having the discourse we are now. I've played the Sando a couple of times and its collapse is both a surprise and a loss, as it was when the Kelts and the long history of venues in Sydney closed, but I agree with the former owners. No matter how bad a venue may get at times, the loss of another place to play is certainly not something to be welcomed.
I like Brendan Maclean, I follow him on Twitter and he is highly entertaining and opinionated, like I consider myself to be... at times, and I get where he's coming from though I think he could have done so a bit better. I love the Annandale as well, I've played there (with sound problems, funnily enough) and been a patron at many gigs there. I was so glad when the 'For Sale' sign went down. By working together we can all work out some of the kinks that currently affect the artist-venue relationship and then refocus our efforts on the people that should matter most - the patrons - but the onus is on you, too! Support live music, support local music - you might enjoy it more than you think, because there are thousands of talented musicians out there all trying to make it. It's good to see this discussion is up and running - but it will all be in vain if the music still has no one to listen to it.
The Annandale Hotel - Go and see a gig!
Fasterlouder - Go and find even more to see!
Brendan Maclean - follow him on Twitter!
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