Australia News: Australia, NZ Open Borders, Trademarks, MFTHF, Pill Testing

After being forced to play their own backyards over a year, Australian and New Zealand acts can now journey across the Tasman Sea to play. 

Both governments lift border restrictions April 19. Not having to be in two-week quarantine in a hotel will save a six-piece indie band NZ$18,000 ($12,657) – something most would not be able to recoup from touring.

Promoters and venues agree that after enthusiastically supporting local acts only, an element of fatigue is creeping in.

“At this point, audiences do want some variety,” Live Nation NZ managing director Mark Kneebone told Stuff. “And while New Zealand acts will continue to perform and do really well, the chance to bring over Australian acts and bands is great for the industry.”

He has four or five Australian tours to launch “over the next month.”

70% of venue income comes from international acts, with patrons willing to pay higher door fees and spend more during the show.

Fresh pandemic outbreaks forced Greenstone Entertainment’s Summer Concert Tour 2021 in January to hastily replace Aussie acts The Angels, Pseudo Echo and Mi-Sex with NZ acts.

In March a 25-date visit by The Wiggles only went on after the intervention of prime minister Jacinda Ardern. Bureaucrats were refusing permission even after the band limited its entourage to 12 and estimated it would bring A$4.4 million ($3 million) into the economy.

As a result of the restrictions there may be a jump in music tourism as NZ music festivals have larger capacities. One Love drew 20,000, Rhythm & Vines 30,000 while the March 27 and 28 Wellington street party CubaDupa drew 120,000 on its first day.

The Beths are planning to visit Australia in June. The three shows won’t be a financial windfall by any means, according to singer Elizabeth Stokes but more a morale booster for band and fans.

L.A.B. sold 24,000 tickets for an April tour that was axed due to an Australia outbreak. Rescheduling to October proved fruitful: more dates were added for Melbourne and Gold Coast and Sydney’s show upgraded to a larger venue.

The Rolling Stones fought off a move by Queensland-based “made for bad girls” online fashion label Jagger & Stone to trademark the name, claiming through their Musidor B.V. firm it cashed in on the band’s fame.

Label owners Lucy Jackson and Nikki Westcott argued the company name represented was their nicknames amongst friends. One was Jagger for being aggressive and the other Stone for being grounded. The Registrar of Trademarks noted Instagram posts by the firm depicting models with guitars and amps, which it said were irrelevant to their business, and acted in “bad faith” when applying for the trademark.

In another trademark battle Melbourne’s Corner Hotel, a regular in Pollstar’s Top 100 Global Club Venues list, took Supreme Court action against jazz musician Albert ‘Albare’ Dadon for his jazz-themed accommodation hotel Jazz Corner Hotel which is run alongside the Corner Cafe and the Bird’s Basement jazz club.

The Corner Hotel also has its own restaurant, and operating company Swancom trademarked in 2011 in relation to “provision of food and drink, cocktail lounge, bar, cafe, snack bar and restaurant services; catering services; hospitality services.” Justice Michael O’Bryan found against Swancom, saying there was “little risk” the public would be confused by the similarity of name.

In April 2020, when the live sector shut down, Frontier Touring’s Michael Gudinski used his close relations with the Victorian government and TV networks to pull together in nine days the cream of Australian music to play the virtual Music From The Home Front.

It was to put Aussie music on prime time, pay tribute to war veterans, funded by the Victorian government’s tourism body, held on the veterans’ ANZAC Day public holiday, and with proceeds to music charity Support Act. It drew 1.419 million viewers on the free-to-air Nine Network and yielded a chart-topping album and DVD.

The second installment of MFTHF is at Myer Music Bowl April 24, before a COVID-capped crowd of 2500.  It will be broadcast on Nine, 9Now and streamed globally via YouTube. “It was one of the events he was working on right up until his last day,” reported Mushroom Group CEO Matt Gudinski. 

The first round of 22 acts, dropped April 11, included household names as The Kid Laroi, Jimmy Barnes, Tina Arena, Ben Lee dueting with singer songwriter Gordi (who returned to being a doctor working at hospitals after the pandemic), Vance Joy, Amy Shark, Lime Cordiale, Kasey Chambers with hip hop act Bliss N Eso, Tash Sultana, You Am I and The Rubens.

Meanwhile, Gudinski said “Visiting Hours”, which Ed Sheeran wrote for his father, to premiere at his state memorial at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, will be released as a single. The memorial had 250,000 global views.

The New Zealand’s government’s decision last December to make it legal for drug-checking services like KnowYourStuff to operate at festivals over the summer will now be made permanent, health minister Andrew Little has confirmed. 

New legislation will clarify the current legal grey area of testers and festival promoters.

The decision was made after research by Victoria University showed 68% of patrons changed their drug taking behavior and 87% said they understood more about their harmful effect after speaking to testers.

Customer service and digital minister Victor Dominello said, “Licensing conditions won’t change, but there won’t be enforcement of those for the purposes of this 12-month trial.

“Liquor and Gaming and the police will continue to have a very strong presence on the ground.” 

Any venues that infringed responsibilities would be removed from the trial, he said.

A six-month trial of 21 bars and restaurants from October 2020 had encouraging results. On average, patron counts increased by more than 28%, rostered staff hours increased by more than 35% and turnover by 68.95%.

From September, patrons can enter venues up until closing time, alcohol can be served until 3.30 a.m. and cocktails, neat spirits and shots can begin again to be after 10 p.m.

Rolly de With, president of the Newcastle and Hunter chapter of the Australian Hotels Association confirmed patrons and venue operators would have a zero-tolerance policy on bad behavior. 

“There’s no doubt Newcastle has matured significantly in the last 13 years and we have confidence our patrons will respect this new opportunity to enjoy the same night-time freedoms enjoyed by the rest of NSW,” he said.