Adelaide making noise to cement its reputation as Australia’s live music city
As Adelaide gears up for yet another festival — Umbrella: Winter City Sounds — it seems the city has cemented its reputation as No 1 music venue. Reporter Simeon Thomas-Wilson finds out if there is more we can do to support our live music scene.
WHEN it comes to international travel there is arguably no greater authority than Lonely Planet. It sells millions of guides telling keen travellers the hottest places in the world, those off the beaten track or those that are just under our noses.
So when Lonely Planet attaches a label to a place, it means something no matter how surprising it may be.
Last year the organisation made what was considered a pretty bold statement when to the horror of those on the eastern seaboard it dubbed Adelaide as “Australia’s live music city”.
The stunning WOMADelaide Festival was described as a “wild world-music extravaganza”, while Adelaide’s status as either the birthplace or founding ground for iconic acts such as AC/DC, Cold Chisel, The Angels, The Hilltop Hoods and Sia had Lonely Planet enthusiastically saying Mad March was “just the tip of the iceberg” when it came to the city’s music scene.
This was just the latest feather Adelaide can put in its cap when it comes to music, after being designated by UNESCO as a City of Music in December 2015.
Adelaide’s musical pedigree is set to go up to 11 this month as Umbrella: Winter City Sounds — a jam-packed festival featuring 375 live music events in 149 venues in the city and suburbs over a two-week period.
But what of the live-music scene when these massive festivals aren’t on? Is Adelaide actually Australia’s live music city and deserving of a UNESCO label ahead of other locations?
If you look at the statistics, then Adelaide has a good claim to this title.
Music SA’s most recent annual live music census says there are over 1100 live music gigs a month — 275 a week — in licensed venues across Adelaide.
Music SA general manager Lisa Bishop said the figures exclude the large number of events and festivals the city also plays host to.
“These figures compare favourably to Glasgow, another UNESCO City of Music, which hosts 130 gigs a week,” she told The City.
“And the regions don’t miss out. During the month of May 2018 there were 275 gigs across 107 regional licensed venues.”
The year that Adelaide was designated as a City of Music, the SA music scene contributed $375 million to the economy and generated employment for 6300 people.
Ms Bishop said while stories of doom and gloom were defining the music scenes of other cities, Adelaide’s was going from strength to strength.
“It’s really important to remember that in comparison to what we’ve seen recently interstate with lock out laws, Adelaide is well and truly open for business and has a rich tradition of live music with venues having existed across generations of punters,” she said.
“For example the Grace Emily, Jive, The Wheatsheaf, Arkaba, The Jade, Warradale Hotel, The Metro, etc.
“In fact The Gov won the Lifetime Achievement Award at last year’s SA Music Awards presented by Music SA.
“For emerging musicians there’s a great live music career pathway in Adelaide from smaller to larger venues.”
It is these fringe venues, where the beer is generally cheap and the music loud, where a new generation of music guns are making their mark.
Bad//Dreems and West Thebarton are doing their best to revive the pub rock movement.
Melissa Tonkin, whose family has owned The Gov since 1993, said Adelaide has an extremely rich music scene.
“It is home to many world class musos and creative songwriters who are generous with their collaborations and support of each other,” she said.
“There are lots of venues of different sizes and types offering something for every audience.
“Many, like The Gov, have dedicated themselves to live performance.
“Our audiences are curious and adventurous and are used to challenging themselves thanks to the strong arts culture in the state.”
She said while Mad March, and Umbrella get a lot of attention, there’s always something going on each week when it comes to Adelaide’s music scene.
“Adelaide’s music lovers really do get out of the house regularly to support local and touring artists throughout the year,” she said.
“I think if we can do more work now to develop an appreciation of music in children of primary school age, the more music lovers and dedicated audiences we will have in the future.”
But the music offering in Adelaide could be better. Amazingly for a UNESCO City of Music there is no dedicated concert hall, which could be the permanent home for the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.
There is also a lack of venues to cater for crowds between the Adelaide Oval and the Entertainment Centre and slow ticket sales from the Adelaide public means the city does get passed over when it comes to international touring acts. But venues are many, and becoming more and more creative at the grassroots level.
Amelie Bottrill of Frank Loves Joan will play at the Estonian Hall in North Adelaide as part of Umbrella in Sconefest which involves music accompanied by scones made by the Country Women’s Association on July 22.
She said ensuring local acts had platforms for their music, either through live music or radio — a Adelaide-focused station by former Radio Adelaide host Luke Penman was launched earlier this year — was key.
“Just providing us with a platform to be able to get our work out there is massive,” she said.
“It can be financially hard being a musician so if we can have more opportunities … that would be great.”
