A quick post to give Brisvegas readers, or readers visiting our great town, the heads up about some fabbo bands. I wandered off to Rics tonight to see the always excellent Peachfish (Brisbane’s answer to Ani DiFranco and P J Harvey), and was also mighty pleased with the set by Kate Bradley and her band, whom I hadn’t seen play before.
The full band version of Peachfish, Brindle, are off to Canada with a few other Brisbands to showcase Brisbane music, including the wonderful Women in Docs, which is fab, and Kate is touring Australia in 06, so look out for dates.
You can listen to some mp3 samples via those links. I don’t know what the distribution of their respective cds are like, but if you can find them, you wouldn’t go wrong. Vegas readers can of course visit Rocking Horse for all their musicy goodness needs.
One interesting comment Kate made during her set was about her unwonted use of acoustic guitar. Noise restrictions - enforced by State legislation - meant that only the bass could be amplified. Along with the controversial 3 am lockout policy, what this shows is that the rhetoric from the Labor state government and Lib/Lab Council about the Valley being an “entertainment precinct” (bureaucratic/media speak for inner city area with a vibrant music scene!) is just that. It’s good that urban renewal has brought people back into the Valley to live. It’s not good if the complaints of a noisy few diminish the reason why people were attracted to the Valley in the first place - the atmosphere, and the music! If Labor Deputy Mayor Cr David Hinchliffe wants to run with slogans like “Valley, loud and proud” he should put his regulations where his mouth is…
Peachfish are indeed fab, and I’ve just had a listen to Kate - wow! And she looks a bit of a hottie!
May I just point out, on the issue of the lockout and noise restrictions, Mark’s link points to an e-petition to the Qld Parliament - I gather it’s the most signed petition in history.
But Beattie prefers to let policy be driven by Sunday Mail moral panics about stoushes and (OMG!) women getting pissed out as well as men!
Shame!
Hinchliffe should know better.
I wanna rock and roll to 3:00am and party some of the day.
On the Central Coast the main venues have instigated a 12:00am lockout. This was in response to drunken behaviour which is a problem.
In Sydney we have had similar issues where people move into an area that is close to a venue that has bands, someone makes a complaint and then the venue if forced to respond to that complaint often by closing. The Three Weeds in Rozelle was a great little pub for music but closed as a music venue because of a few complaints from neighbours. Ridiculous.
Good luck to the Docs and Brindle in Canadialand. I had the good fortune of supporting both these acts when I was a Brismuso, and they’re all grouse. Particularly the Doc chicks, who rock. See them if you get a chance.
Sad to hear about the 3 Weeds. This was the site of the only Sydney gigs I ever did.
And boy, did we ROCK those 7 or 8 punters.
Melbourne has suffered from those who move into the inner and near urban areas near pubs, presumably for the diversity, colour and inner city vibe and then complain about noise from bands, drunks, street people and even garbage collection trucks. [We also have the flip side. Those who move to my leafy suburb for the cal bungalow weatherboard ambiance and trees, and then build a neo georgian concrete block, after chopping down all the trees.]
Melbourne pubs have fought back a bit via organisations like the Fair Go 4 Live Music lobby group. The Fitzroy Residents Association has joined the fray looking for a bit of balance. The AGE has a few articles about the effects on the live scene in Melbourne and some comparisions with a funny old place called siddey or somefink.
oops I’ve either been censored or I forgot to put this in.
All this resulted in a Live Music Taskforce and Live Music Way Forward. Hey it’s Bracksies Vic here. The reports are here.
As long as you rocked ‘em LE. That is all that matter, not how many were there. I remembering playing to barstaff only at the odd gig. Now that was depressing.
L.E. & Shaun - it’s better to clear the room than to start with it empty !!!
This kind of change is pretty usual in the inner-city; the boho types move to the slum because its cheap, they start with their art galleries, cafes, and music venues, then after a while, it makes it the place to be seen; soon after the yuppies arrive to soak up the boho atmosphere and then the complaints about social behaviour start. But the real killer will be the real estate prices. Paddington & Balmain in the 1960s & 70s, Darlinghurst & Surry Hills in the 80s and 90s, Newtown in the 90s and continuing, I see the process in New Farm & West End, and obviously already happened to Paddington Brisso.
I don’t have any solutions except legislative. Yeah the council should do something especially if that was some of the councillor’s platforms. But really the only decent small venues I’ve seen down there are Rics, The Depot and The Troubadour. From what I hear Rics and The Depot are being hassled by the council over fire regulations (same excuse as in Sydney). There was that place called something like 610 in Anne St but the owner has managed to shut it down.
Yes, it’s the fire regulations at Rics, T Rex.
Perhaps worth noting that the Troub is a relatively new venue… as was 610. But I think something has opened up where it was.
True Rex - as a result, Gen Xers like me have an odd sense of continuity (though Ive now moved south). Mark’s probably the same - Lived in West End/ New Farm as students, when it was slummy, and now have jobs which allow us to stay as it gentrifies.
But nothing shits me like yuppies coming in, with full knowledge, and then seeking to shut venues down. To bad I say! And developers have to take some of the blame. Soundproofing, you cheap bastards!
Rics is great fun to play - if you dont mind not having foldback. I love the Zoo, but i note its not in your list. Dont know the other new ones. The Capitol used to a good medium sized venue - now a strip club!
I was going for a wander around Glebe Point Road yesterday, Lefty E, and it struck me that it’s changed much less over a similar time period than West End.
Mmm, interesting. Not much of a Sydney guy myself, but I gather the real estate values are pretty crazy - maybe the same bohemians are still there, but all millionaires on paper. Another false sense of continuity…?
Im in Canberra at the moment - so will check out the groovy inner-city suburb longitudinal change situation and report back.
….
OK - just had a squiz. Nothing remotely groovy.
Lefty E, the rents aren’t too much more in Glebe or Newtown than in West End or New Farm - although with the caveat that a room in a share terrace house is usually a lot smaller than a room in a share Queenslander!