Venue Manager Supports Leichhardt Law Change: 'Gives Live Music A Kick'

19 October 2015 | 12:41 pm | Staff Writer

Inner west set for big revamp.

Last week Sydney’s Leichhardt Council announced plans to implement change in the inner west in an attempt to boost the suburb’s nightlife and speaking to theMusic today, manager of popular live music venue The Bald Faced Stag, Luke Reimann, said that the proposed changes will do wonders for area.

Commenting on the Council’s plans to encourage an increase of small bars in the area, Reimann said that more competition will give Leichhardt the boost that it has been missing in recent times.

"By promoting both sides, new venues to be opening up and new small bars, as well as giving live music a kick around this area, is what’s going to actually going to start giving the entire scene a bit of a revamp," Reimann said.

"We need competition. We need more venues out here doing similar things to actually start creating more of a scene."

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Reimann believes that the area’s biggest struggle has been the fact that Sydney’s nightlife is generally more spread out and people are less inclined to head into the inner west for a night out.

"The reality is that we’re just not dragging enough of the city-goers into this area, although Newtown has done a fair bit," Reimann said.

"It’s always in people’s mind that there’s not a destination area. You’re hedging your bets and saying that ‘I'm going to have to go to this one area’ and if it’s not firing there, it’s not as though you can cross the road and head to the next one."

"We want other places where perhaps, they’re having dinner with us, then having a few drinks somewhere else and coming back for a show later on, or vice versa. It all goes hand-in-hand, we need to nurture that. Instead, unfortunately we’re having more and more venues close down."

Reimann called the Council’s plans a “great advantage and a great opportunity” to solidify Leichhardt as a leading area in Sydney’s nightlife and echoed Mayor Darcy Byrne’s comments that it will help boost the local economy and create an area for people to check out, rather than one specific bar or live music venue.

"With our pub specifically we look at more of a rock, metal, heavy metal genre. It hasn’t been loved for that group out there for a long time and if that starts to spread and push into this area even more that could be a huge advantage."