Plus c'est le meme chose...

Warning! Strong opinions and broad, sweeping statements ahead.

When I wrote a week ago about my sadness and bittersweet hopes for Sydney's live music scene I was yet to re-integrate myself into the sweaty, noisy melange of pub music. In my head the schooners were fresh(ish) and the crowd were noisy, enthusiastic, maybe even dancing. On Sunday I checked out a gig that got me rethinking my whole approach and reinforcing that you get what you pay for.

Firstly I'm going to plug the muso, because although the afternoon was a shambles Donavon Frankenreiter put in a solid performance and it was through no fault of his that... you know what we'll get to my rant all in good time.

The deal was simple: free gig as brought to you by popular beer company seeking cachet in a sympathetic demographic. Couldn't be simpler and I was sold on the price but if I'd stopped and thought about it for a minute I might have come up with this...

Where's the incentives for everyone in this whole deal?

The venue is looking to the crowd; they garner an international headliner who is sure to draw the punters at little to no cost. It's a one off drawcard for an already popular Sunday arvo. Throw in the drinks, as put on by the sponsor and why try harder? Chances are (if I'd thought about it) the place will be too crowded, with local gronks and poorly ventilated. It's in the venues interest to get as many in as they possibly can.

The promotor is looking at their product. For a lot of gigs that's the music but here the music was just the gateway to 'where you'd rather be'. Once the crowd were in the mission statement was to sell them some beer. That means drinks promotions, giveaways and plenty of time to get to the bar. Chances are they'll spend more money putting up point of sale material than making sure the sound system is adequate and they're not going to care if the gig starts late; that's just more time to drink.

Now the crowd were the wildcard. They had it all put on for them: great show, cheap drinks, beachside location, all they had to do was turn up. It was too easy! When you give away something for free though it's very difficult to expect people to value it highly.

When I buy tickets to a gig I'm usually shelling out fifty to one hundred dollars, even a local club gig can cost twenty dollars on the door. Inside everyone is excited about the music; they've come out, paid big, a hush falls as the band comes out then everybody cheers! People are there coz want to listen to some music.

A free gig? People might listen if they get bored but otherwise they've got their mates to catch up with. One girl found her friends at the tab in front of us, turned her back to the band and at one point I think she said something like "who's the rude guy playing his guitar over our conversation"!

So if I'd thought about it I might have guessed that the room would be crowded and stuffy, the gig would start late, the sound would be crap with everyone talking over the music. And it was.

Take home message: pay for the music you care about. People don't care about free stuff, they throw it in the top drawer and forget about it. With free, or almost free, music becoming ubiquitous through the 'net its value as a primary (not background) source of entertainment is diminishing. Spending even a few dollars at the door is your guarantee that the people you are listening with care about the band.

I hope free gigs continue in pubs across Sydney and I hope some of the local bands out there get even half the crowd I saw on Sunday. When I head out though I'm going to remember my free gig lesson and be far more willing to shell out at the door for a night with fellow fans...

Plus ça change?

Walking down King st, Newtown last night I saw that the Sando has closed! I wasn't heading there anyway, so no harm done, but it was sad to see the doors closed on the faded, peeling deco facade; the emptiness where formerly smokers loitered chatting through windows, schooners perched on the sill. The street felt strangely quiet without the strains of punk, blues, folk wafting through the main bar.

I'd heard about the Sando going into receivership while on the road and had hoped it would recover it's equilibrium and continue serving up cheap beers and local tunes. Things got in the way though and I didn't follow the fate that inevitably felled the iconic venue. It's not all bad news I hear as like the proverbial phoenix the Newtown Social Club will emerge from the Sando's ashes.

The Annandale Hotel has also gone into receivership; only a few days ago I hear. Two amazing live music venues facing uncertain futures and with them the larger question of Sydney's live music scene. It's been discussed at length, by people more astute than myself, that Sydney has a crisis of priorities when it comes to entertainment. Culture has given way to profitability and in so many venues poker machines and flat screen televisions tuned to sport are ubiquitous.

I've heard the arguments for this shift; that publicans are providing the service their patrons demand and given the preponderance of males, that is sport. The pokies themselves, the logic supposedly goes, are a necessary evil without which the indulgence of live music could not be afforded. These arguments have a beautiful, circular logic as the public eat what they are being force fed and told to like it.

My sadness got me thinking about the way we face change, or perhaps more appropriately the way we romantically hold on to old notions. Hotels that have moved their 'business model' away from live music claim that they cannot be profitable without change. They aim to build profit and grow their business and hence they focus on products that bring in cash: drinks, food & pokies. Punters that long for the days of crowded band rooms see this as a sell out, perhaps even a form of exploitation as the pokies hypnotise the crowd in their thrall.

I'm of the more romantic view myself, but I can't help but notice the venues have the power here. With the relative restriction of liquor licenses in Sydney the number of pub/venues is already capped. The flaw I see in the 'business growth' argument is that venues are brainwashing their patrons into a fairly narrow mindset. Effectively they are losing the diversity that a wide entertainment roster brings to their business. That's why a lot of pubs are the stereotypical boys club, particularly on a weekend. This crowd may have deep pockets for a time but can any business survive with such a limited demographic.

For the fans the solution is to support the music where you find it, but I might suggest an addendum to that adage; reject the venues where you don't find it. It's one thing to complain about the change but if we meekly accept it we reinforce the behaviour. That's a hard call to make and I doubt I'll live up to my ideal at all times, but it's worth registering a protest at your local if they never have a band.

Challenge yourself to check out new music as well. It's not all doom and gloom out there with heaps of awesome venues around Sydney; like the Brass Monkey in Cronulla, the Red Rattler in Marrickville or 505 in Surry Hills running the gamut of styles and theatrics. New bands never get old if no one listens and even Dylan took a few shaky steps when he went electric so give them a chance! Couldn't be worse than pub muzak...