Aussie Live Sector Reboots With 1,000 Gigs In November; Sydney Lifts Nightclub, License Freeze

The Aussie live sector is rebooting with a new initiative called Great Southern Nights which will stage 1,000 COVID-safe gigs in Sydney and New South Wales (NSW) throughout the month of November.

A partnership between the NSW government and the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), minister for jobs, investment, tourism in Western Sydney Stuart Ayres said: “This celebration of outstanding Australian artists and incredible live music venues across NSW gives us all something to look forward to, from event-goers to industry.”

The shows will run up to the ARIA awards in Sydney, with venues and acts invited to register their interest on a dedicated website.

The first 20 headliners were announced June 13, and the list included Jimmy Barnes, Paul Kelly, Missy Higgins, Amy Shark, Tash Sultana, Thelma Plum, Tones & I, The Veronicas, Birds of Tokyo, The Teskey Brothers, The Jungle Giants, and The Presets.

A day before, multi-platinum 20 million-streaming country siblings trio The McClymonts announced a 25-date return to the road from Sept. 4 to Jan. 30, stating they would be “guinea pigs for the post-COVID-19 era.”

Their new album Mayhem To Madness through Universal Music launched June 13 with a five-song acoustic Facebook livestream.

In a greater boost, prime minister Scott Morrison relaxed restrictions June 12 for live music venues and smaller outdoor festivals from July. The cap on 100 persons is replaced by a four square-meter rule. Stadiums which draw under 40,000 get seated ticketing at 25% capacity.

Nightclubs will stay closed: “We’ve seen overseas, nightclubs is one area of failures,” he said.

The move was applauded by the Live Entertainment Industry Forum (LEIF), the newly formed coalition of promoters and associations representing venues and festivals.

“This is a great first step to bring back fans and bring back jobs to an industry that has been on its knees for more than three months,” said its chairman James Sutherland.

LEIF is working with the federal and state governments (the latter’s moves depend on number of pandemic cases), to ensure the entertainment and sports industries can guarantee safety measures for workers, performers and crowd members.

“More than 50 organisations have contributed experts to LEIF’s working groups,” Sutherland said.

In a move towards the NSW government’s rebranding of Sydney as a 24-hour global city after pandemic restrictions are lifted, from Jun 1 onward new nightclubs and music venues in Sydney’s Kings Cross and CBD entertainment precincts will no longer have to get a liquor license only by transferring from an existing one.

They can now apply directly to the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority. The freeze on licenses was introduced eleven years ago to control the number of licensed  premises springing up in some areas and possibly contributing to negative social issues.

Minister for customer service Victor Dominello said “These changes will kick-start a new era in Sydney’s 24-hour economy, giving new venues a start, and allowing existing pubs, clubs, hotels and bottle shops a chance to adjust their offerings to meet changing customer demand.”