I don’t think it was that long ago that I used to be able to check out a gig guide and find a litany of upcoming fairly major Australian, and sometimes international acts. We’d get enough that my disappointment was generally around an inability to go to all of them. January/February was always a particularly good time as we got the remnants of acts who were doing the festival circuits.
I’ve spent the last 2 months waiting for these gigs to appear… And this year, they never did.
What happened to music in this city? When did it become the case that the only time I can see good, “name” acts is at our bogan, university-based, pay-$130-so-you-can-pass-out-by-3pm festivals?
Of course, we lack good venues – the theatre is lame for any rock or indy act. Transit is tiny, and ANU and UC’s venues are full of the same crowd as the aforementioned festivals – but with less crowd control.
But it didn’t stop hundreds of people going. Apart from a couple of failed festivals, most of the gigs with well-known artists are full.
So again, what happened?
There’s only so many times I can go to the Phoenix with its, at best, 66% strike rate of crap, and pretend that I’m happy giving these chumps money.
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This Friday there is going to be a great gig at the Hellenic Club in the city (search for the previous post about it re: Tease and Tearways).
This is being put on by a bunch of local girls who want to bring good bands to Canberra…instead of sitting around whinging about how no bands come to Canberra, they went out and booked it themselves! Sure they will probably lose money, but at least they have given it a go and fingers crossed they have a good turnout!
As for International bands, I am sure it just comes down to their schedules and the cost to come inland. Why go out of your way to Canberra when you can play sold out shows in Syd and Melb!
Greedy clubs and pokies.
there is going to be an excellent band playing at Transit tonight – A Place To Bury Strangers from New York. so. it does happen.
Ben_Dover said :
Lay off the brown acid mate. I’ve lived here over a decade, and could count on the fingers of one foot the major acts we’ve had here.
Ben_Dover said :
Agreed… this has always been an issue here… but…
When they actually do come here we get an up close and personal experience that most other cities never get…
i.e. The Prodigy at the old Asylum, Public Enemy random public after-party at the Red Room, UNKLE at Academy, Nirvana at ANU, Faith No More at ANU, etc…
We do get ‘em every now and again, but they’re few and far between.
Cost is THE problem. Big name acts charge through the nose to appear – we simply don’t have the crowd numbers to do it very often here.
I have tickets for the following forthcoming gigs; Dead Can Dance, PIL, Alan Davies, Ross Noble, all in Sydney.
To be fair, Bill Bailley seems to like us, and the Big Yin visited not so long back, (and slagged Canberra off a treat on the rest of his Aus tour dates.)
Who else has played here of late? Didn’t Pink play a while back?
Lady Gaga wasn’t that long ago.
Big enough for you?
I’m going to see Colin Hay in February. Does he count?
Ben_Dover said :
Brian Jonestown Massacre, last year.
Hoodoo Gurus lobbed in for a gig as well.
Mumford & Sons
Nick Cave a couple of years ago (might be more though)
Thumper said :
And that fat guy that once followed a yellow brick road.
Um, what’s his name?
Hey this Friday there’s a Gig with Jimmy Barnes, Guy Sebastian, The Presets and Timomatic.
We get all the big names.
We had the Heatwave concert at the end of 2011. Three of the five members of D12 showed-up. Not Eminem, obviously but still. And Chamillionaire was supposed to be there, but he never showed (apparently his was occupied by a groupie in his hotel room).
Hmmm… I think I’m beginning to see your point…
johnboy said :
You’re being fairly liberal with your interpretation of “music”.
Perhaps I should’ve been more specific – Lady Gaga and Pink are not ‘music’, they’re entertainment. (That’s not to take anything away from them, they’re just not what I’m talking about.) Hoodoo Gurus, Colin Hay and Elton John (who I saw on his previous tour) were music 20 years ago, but are now nostalgia.
The bands that I’m talking about are “Indie” bands – they made their name playing small venues. When Alt-J, Of Monsters and Men or the Yeah Yeah Yeahs play individual shows, they aren’t playing 20,000 seat entertainment centres – they’re playing the Hordern which only holds a couple of thousand people.
The Mumford and Sons gig was what got me expecting it to be a good summer of music. And it’s not like I expect Radiohead or the Chili Peppers to come to Canberra – but if it’s good enough for internationals like Mumford and Suns and Massive Attack, and locals like The Drones and Hilltop Hoods to play in Canberra to huge audiences, why don’t we even have the up and coming Australian acts passing through Canberra?
Is it just that no one’s booking them? Or is it that, even with sell out crowds, you can’t make money from them?
Ok, so who have we had?
Lady Gagme. (s)
Pink.
Brian Jonestown Massacre (w)
Hoodoo Gurus (w)
Mumford & Sons (w)
Nick Cave
Jimmy Barnes (h)
Guy Sebastian (h)(s)
The Presets
Timomatic.(w)
Fat Reg (h)
Three of the five members of D12 (w)
Chamillionaire (w)
Alice Cooper.
When did Nick Cave play here last? I ‘d have paid good money.
But that list is not really convincing me that Canberra has had any major acts here in the last decade.
(w) Who?
(h) Has been
(s) Sh!te.
gungsuperstar said :
I don’t think you can make money out of them because I don’t think the bands you’re talking about would be able to get 3 or 4 thousand Canberrans to buy tickets.
With a limited amount of touring time, I think some of these bands are simply preferring to do the bigger money gigs.
They probably know that the fans that want tickets will be willing to travel to Sydney to see them.
I suspect that the reason we don’t see a stream of big name acts is because Canberra is hard work for promoters. The associated staging/promo costs are equal to (or higher than) other capital cities yet the potential audience is much smaller.
I’ve attended a number of local gigs by national and international artists where the turnout has been embarrassingly low. By comparison any similar gig I’ve been to in Sydney (or even Wollongong) is typically a sell-out.
gungsuperstar said :
If homogeneous indie folk music is your benchmark I’m surprised at your disappointment with the Canberra gig calendar.
Have you headed up to the Abbey? They’ve had some fantastic shows up there in the last 6 months or so. Not all household names or anything but good performers and a top venue with great sound.
Amber Nichols, Ash Grunwald, Diesel, James Blundell & The Sunny Cowgirls
Jeff Martin, Jill Barber, Joe Camilleri and The Black Sorrows, Julia Stone
Lavers, Liam Budge, Mia Dyson, Owen Campbell, Pete Akhurst
Prinnie Stevens, Mahalia Barnes and Fatai V, Pseudo Echo, Ray Beadle
Renee Geyer, Sarah McLeod, The Ruby Revue, The Stage Door Johnnies
Tim Rogers, Wendy Matthews
Friday night for the Psychobilly Freakout should be great. Captain Reckless and the Lost Souls are great.
You all forgot G3 which kick sh*t out of everyone else mentioned!! Yes the music scene isn’t as good as it was back in the 80′s. Remember the concerts at Bruce indoor stadium? We used to get Midnight Oil and INXS roll up every couple of years. These days there just aren’t any Australian bands who are as good as them. Good on The Abbey getting the acts they’ve had.
Don’t get me started on the gigs that Wollongong gets over Canberra…
One of the more frustrating Canberra snubs of recent-ish times was when the Black Keys toured Oz twice in 2008 without coming here, after selling out the Holy Grail in 2005 and tearing the roof off the ANU in 2007.
But some bands can be counted on to head our way regularly – Regurgitator and You Am I swing by Canberra pretty much every time they tour, and the Hard-Ons have been pretty eager to play here despite sometimes making just enough for petrol money back to Sydney. It can only be a good thing if the Greenroom crew finds a permanent home (if that’s still something they’re aiming for)
Oh, and Stephen Malkmus (Pavement) played at Transit in October.
gunslingr said :
Just saw on TV Bryan Adams is doing Wollongong and Newcastle in April. Not Canberra (or Sydney interestingly). Suppose there’s a chance he’ll be a surprise act for Enlighten… bahhahaha.
When Wollongong and RSLs on the coast can get some acts when Canberra doesn’t, makes it hard to say we don’t have the population for it. So what does give?
Ben_Dover said :
I went to that most recent Alice Cooper show (assuming that was in 2010-2011) and I still love him. I liked that concert a lot and I’m not a massive fan of live shows (I’m a bit of a homebody) but I think that was mainly because my lady and I were 2 of maybe only 20 young peeps amongst a sea of relatively relaxed middle-aged folk. But let’s be honest, he needs and (h) next to his name. Legend or not, he only managed to get out about half the lyrics to most of his songs. They had recorded vocals so there weren’t awkward silences when he ran out of breath.
Pearl Jam
Pantera
Groove Armada
I’m with Keijidosha – I’ve been to acts where the turn out was dismal abs thought after all the bitching this is why bands don’t come here.
And The Toot Toot Toots have played three times at Phoenix
Pearl Jam (h)
Pantera (h)
Groove Armada (h)
When did these play? Is there a secret adverting website for these gigs?
All trivia in comparison the news I just heard – we’re going to miss out on the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra!
Ben_Dover said :
Pearl Jam played at EPIC in about 1995(?) it was the only Australian Pearl Jam concert in that your that wasn’t sold out. 30,000(?) Canberrans. I seem to remember people in other cities calling JJJ desperate for a Pearl Jam ticket & being told Canberra still had tix and the callers saying “yeeeaaaahh, but it’s Canberra :/ “
sirocco said :
hmmmmm… not really recent then….
Eddie Vedder was here last year though IIRC