Call For Government Assistance To Aid Perth Venue Crisis

In the wake of another Perth venue announcing its closure – this time the all inclusive arts-based venue Deville's Pad – some 250 people attended an emergency meeting last night.

Following a huge online outcry, the crisis meeting took place at one of Perth's other closing venues, The Bakery, with the aim of discussing what action should be taken to prevent further setbacks and set the foundation for a stronger future for local culture and arts, with a specific focus on music.

Over the course of the evening, the panel — which included Sweet Mate Productions' Luke Rinaldi; local artist Abbe May; Cool Perth Nights' Andrew Ryan; CEO of WAM Mike Harris; RTRFM's General Manager Jason Cleary; X-Press Managing Editor Bob Gordon; and Life Is Noise Director Dave Cutbush — aimed to answer questions from the many in attendance (including the likes of local artist Mathas).

May intially criticised the attitude many current and potential live music venues had toward the concept, “[Venues like the defunct Hyde Park] are important and... government assistance needs to support the industry on an artistic level so that musicians can learn to play in front of people, not so that promoters can fill the 600 capacity room.”

“We've seen venues come and go and we'll continue to see venues come and go, so to me, there's no sense of crisis.” Ryan said. He wasn't a big advocate of government-assisted locations, expressing that “the amount of government and corporate resources that go into PIAF and Fringe [cause commercial venues] to lose money over those months. Having a government funded venue all year 'round, I fear what that would do to the commercial sector.”

Audience development was a key issue brought up later in the meeting, with crowd members voicing their concern about the lack of under age venues and the hostility of some venues to allow bands in certain genres to perform. One attendee opined: “The only consistent venue I saw [growing up] was HQ, which catered to the hardcore music scene, which isn't for everyone. Knowing a lot of people just coming out of high school, they're all going clubbing and it's... because they don't know any local venues... There needs to be a foundation [for young people] now otherwise there'll be no future for younger audiences.”

The importance of keeping existing venues up to standard proved to be just as important as recognising those that have fallen. “We definitely want to diversify the music and the people that we get there because it's an important part of building our audiences for the next generations,” HQ Leederville Manager Erika Jellis said, “But we need money too – the place hasn't been renovated for ten years, it is disgusting, none of you would want to play there, and young people who don't listen to metal or punk want to come.”

Another audience member noted: “We're talking about this idea of culture and all this sort of thing, but I've actually been met with, especially by some inner city venues, direct hostility toward the idea of even engaging with any number of left-of-field genres, acts, or however you want to look at it. We're not just looking at original vs. covers, but even within the venues that are monopolising the market, there's flavours that are being intentionally left out.” 

All in all, the consensus was that capital costs for new and existing venues were too high; the planning regime is not flexible enough to work with the arts industry, particularly in regards to legal obligations noise complaints; and finally, liquor licensing needs to be addressed, and most probably loosened.