A story bringing attention to the plight of live music venues in Sydney but true enough anyway
LAST week it was the Hopetoun Hotel in Surry Hills. Now another leading live music venue, the Annandale Hotel, is under threat because of mounting costs and council demands.
The hotel's owners, Matthew and Daniel Rule, inherited a few gigs when the Hopetoun closed its doors, but fear they will ultimately face the same fate.
The brothers say they have been fighting Leichhardt Municipal Council for eight years over noise compliance, late trading and development applications to upgrade parts of the hotel.
An ongoing battle in the Land and Environment Court has cost them close to $200,000 and, according to a freedom of information search conducted by the Rules, it has cost the council more than $100,000.
''If we keep getting hit and continue to not get support from the council then this hotel in its form will be no longer,'' Matthew said. ''For years we've been fighting and continually loaning money to defend ourselves. We just can't do it any more.''
Matthew describes a recently submitted development application for an improved hotel plan and refurbished restaurant as ''our last throw of the dice''.
The Annandale, built in the 1930s, became a live music venue in the early 1980s. It has hosted hundreds of artists including Jet, the Living End, the Dandy Warhols, the Hoodoo Gurus, and Sarah Blasko.
In 1998, new owners replaced the bands with poker machines. That was unsuccessful and when the Rule brothers bought the hotel in 2000, they reinstated live music and scaled back the number of pokies to nine.
''If the Annandale closed it wouldn't be the death of the live music scene but it would be something not too far off that,'' said Jono Graham, guitarist for Sydney band Made in Japan, who sold out their EP launch at the Annandale in February.
''For so many bands it has been a transition point from being an unknown to stepping onto a bigger stage. It's one of those monumental places that stands for all that bands are about: good music for cheap and a great venue with great sound.''
Leichhardt's Mayor, Jamie Parker, told the Herald the council is open to negotiating with the hotel on some regulations. ''But when it comes to things like fire safety and patron safety, we can't compromise on that.''
from SMH
melbourne will start suffering the same fate within time. expect some shit to be slung from the councils over the next year.
i guess it's a mix with tightening council regs and limited profit from live music venues. tough crowd
will we see venues popping up away from the city, in more obscure suburbs?
did i tell you about my dream where i went to a local school hall for gigs?
Some venues are already feeling it.
I've had some fun times at that place. Got into an all in brawl about 3 weeks ago.
did you win?
I sooo did
between the council, liquor licensing and the ever rising taxes on booze i think melbourne may be soon out of luck.
Let's all move to Adelaide.
can it be tasmania instead?
No. You are talking Coopers vs. Boags- no contest.
hmmm. good point.
My lament since the Hoey closed has been '' at least we have Dale''...this is getting ridiculous.
poor cascade.
But seriously, this sucks.
fuck this i'm going to the...
This is hardly news, though, is it? I mean, they've been pushing it uphill with the council there (and that neighbour across the street IIRC) for at least three years, with little to no movement.
what about my point? i was serious.
i wouldn't mind going to some obscure suburbs for gigs, if the land/property is cheaper and holy crap! we can have free parking at the venue! if you have a giant grass field out the back, you can have your out door pub-cha AND a weekend outdoor midday gig! awesomes!
the further from the cbd you get the tighter the council rules get. the mindset is that people move away from the cbd for reasons such as quiet, safety, privacy etc. the councils out there need to nuture such things.
i just cant see someone getting a planning permit for it.
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shattered.
let's get a gennie and make it happen!
Where's Tumbalong Park?
Festivals are a strange thing. Not my cuppa. Even Meredith has a high bogan count. Not that it isn't fun. Certainly not the engine room of live music anyway.
middle of darling harbour.
website
sounds like it was a companies promo budget.
its on darling harbour. and yeah this one was not really my cuppa either, though (reposted from FB) there was a whole lotta smaller local bands set to play (alongside blue king brown/spiderbait) like Decoder Ring, Katie Noonan, Old Man River, CODA, Papa vs Pretty, Paul Capsis, Fergus Brown, Barons of Tang, Crooked Fiddle Band, Mojo Juju, Ilythian, Martinez, Declan Kelly and Skipping Girl Vinegar.
aww, the harp!
not that i've been in years and years and years (which is the point, i know), but even i've played on the stage there.
Mo said 1 day ago:
contrary to populist belief i don't use any styling products at all
..i am calling bullshit on this!. When mo played the hoey a few years back he left his pedals bag and a backpack behind...we got a worried phone call from him the next day all hyper ventillating n shit asking about it... we told him to chill and aske him what he was missing as we had found some bags the night before and asked him to confirm what was inside them.. he said a few pedals and stuff but what he was really worried about was his curler and product bag.. we told him not to fret and that we had both... we thought the product bag was a chicks...it also had fishnets, panties and lube along with some anal beads and a dildo inside it plus the hair dryer curler and a load of max factor and vidal sasoon hair care products.. when he picked it up he opened it and went throught it quickly then started pumping his fist in the air saying ''fuck yeah'' and left... he came back the next day to pick up his guitar pedals which he had forgotten again in his excitement. What a weirdo.
Like a gay/ gender identity reversal stereotype or something? How amusing, and certainly worth a long paragraph description. I'm glad I spent time reading about it.
I couldn't agree more with the closing of The Harp. It really has become a shadow of it's former self. They really didn't look after it! Hope the right guys come to pick it back up.
I used to look forward to 2 fun Christmas shows each year.
One was Mick Conway's National Junk Band at the Harp and the other was Camels By Candlelight at the Hoey.
Unless this is sorted , it's looking like a pretty bleak Christmas
For sale: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/pub-rock-in-a-hard-place-at-the-annandale-hotel-going-up-for-sale/story-e6freuy9-1226028994218
''fuck this, i'm selling the annandale''
this really sucks, i hope they find investors on the same wavelength.
I heard a rumour last night that the Annandale sold last week. Anyone able to substantiate this?
someone needs to drive past and see if the sign has a big ''SOLD!'' slapped on it...
As far as I'm aware the worst result at this stage is a sale to a property investor who'll give the venue a 5 year lease.
Don't know anything about a confirmed sale though.
What is this shit.
does that say ''opportunity rocks''?
im going to buy a brick then throw it through the window
good one dickhead