Report: Adelaide Live Gigs Exceed Pre-COVID Numbers
There are more live gigs being presented in Adelaide than before the COVID-19 restrictions. According to City of Adelaide’s Live Music Census, 129 businesses presented live music between May 1 and May 31, 2025, hosting a total of 1,099 performances.
A conservative estimate translated this to over 12,000 performances a year.
Director of City Community, Jo Podoliak, said gigs in venues “significantly increased compared to activity recorded by MusicSA across 2015 to 2019.
“(There was) a 122% increase in performances since 2019 and a 70% increase in the number of venues hosting live music in the Adelaide CBD and North Adelaide.”
The West End remains the main entertainment precinct, with 57 venues presenting 547 gigs. The East End has 33 venues with 327 gigs.
Most active during the census period was the Festival Centre with 105 events showcased at a number of festivals. With 31 each were high profile music venue Crown & Anchor, and Nepalese restaurant Khukuri run by musician and chef Bibash Karki who books Nepali, Hindi, and English language musicians.
The City partnered with the Live Music Office to deliver Live & Local, which included a live music industry forum, a grassroots micro-festival, pro development workshops, a music advisory working group and the census.
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The City of Adelaide’s Make Music Day event is returning in 2026 for a second year (Saturday June 20) with expressions of interest for artists and venues now open.
The inaugural event in June 2025 saw over 220 musicians paid to perform across 40 venues, contributing to an increased city visitation of +18,553 compared to the previous year.
More Concerts For GC’s People First Stadium
More concerts are set at the People First Stadium on the Gold Coast, signalled Stadium Queensland, which takes over management of the venue from the AFL on March 1.
It becomes the ninth venue for Stadium Queensland, alongside Cbus Stadium, Brisbane Entertainment Centre and The Qld Country Bank Stadium.
CEO Todd Harris said, “People First Stadium is an important part of Queensland’s major event network, and this shift will help drive stronger, more streamlined operations across the State’s venues on the pathway to Brisbane 2032.”
The sports and entertainment stadium currently holds 27,000 with plans to increase that to 40,000 in the future. Home ground of the Gold Coast SUNS AFL and AFLW teams, the stadium is pitching to host major concerts and festivals.
Foos For AFL Grand Final?
Frontier Touring announced Foo Fighters’ national tour will take place from November. But rumours from Melbourne radio talkback 3AW is that the band is also locked in for another Aussie one-off – this time playing the AFL Grand Final at the MCG on September 26.
Two Canberra Venues Enter Liquidation
Two Canberra hotspots went into liquidation within two weeks of each other.
Fenway Public House which initially claimed to close for the weekend for renovations, was found by Region Canberra via ASIC to have gone into liquidation on February 2. It opened in 2019 in Woden’s $21 million Bradley Street Dining precinct.
ASIC also confirmed that Gungahlin’s Sirens went into liquidation on February 11 with Aaron Torline appointed to oversee.
Sirens opened in 2011 by Dan Gaul, and took off with live entertainment, themed nights and experimental cocktails, and won an award for its dining.
Good News On Insurance Front
An insurance underwriter focussed on small to medium sized music venues is returning to these shores. This is to be announced as early as this week.
“We believe that will bring savings into the industry,” Australian Live Music Business Council (ALMBC) board member Andrew Bassingthwaighte said at last week’s State Of Play – National Live Music Industry Forum in Hobart.
Bassingthwaighte, Queensland-based business process and insurance industry entrepreneur and CEO of Xcelerate Group, works on reforms with the Insurance Council of Australia on behalf of the music industry, which is currently served by three underwriters. He is “making a list for insurance companies to come back into the market place”, adding, “More competition means lesser premiums.”
Meanwhile the ALMBC is trialling two apps which allows venues and festivals to help themselves in insurance management and infrastructure. The idea is “to show the insurance industry we are a mature industry which cares about risks.”
Among updates, a survey by Creative Workplaces ends on February 23. It looks at paying conditions, bullying and discrimination in artforms of every kind around the country. “The results of this survey will inform national policy,” said the association’s Patrick McCarthy.
Green Music Australia is compiling a directory of “green” venues to advise touring acts.
Trocadero Room, The Magpie, Restructuring
Sydney Inner West space The Trocadero Room and the next door sports bar The Magpie are in the process of being restructured. ASIC was advised last week that owners Feels Right Pty Ltd have appointed restructuring practitioner Thyge Trafford-Jones.
The venues will continue to trade as normal, although The Trocadero Room’s programming mix will be changed down the track, and The Magpie’s operations will be expanded.
Both launched in the autumn of 2023 to take advantage of the Enmore Road Special Entertainment Precinct. The company was helmed by Pasan Wijesena of Earl’s Juke Joint, his team from Jacoby’s Tiki Bar, and Russell Martin of The Cliff Dive.
Musical Chairs
After coming up on ten years at Michael Chugg & Andrew Stone’s Chugg Music, Mark Muggeridge is leaving to pursue “new adventures”, he said in a statement.
Starting out as an actor in Adelaide, he moved to Sydney as a 21-year-old working in staging. He joined Chugg Music in 2017, first as a digital marketing specialist, moving onto Label Manager, Accounts Manager, and, from five years ago, Head of Touring.
Roger Field, one time President of Live Nation's Asia Pacific before setting up Further Afield to help businesses navigate the entertainment business, has joined the Board of Trustees of the Kardinia Park Stadium Trust in Geelong, Victoria.
It administers, promotes and manages GMHBA Stadium, among other venues. Field earlier also held various roles at the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Trust and Ticketek.
Added to the Country Music Association of Australia nine-member board are multi-award winning singer Lyn Bowtell and artist manager Rebecca Gracie. The latter served for eight years before bowing out to focus on her family.
Adelaide’s Woolshed Winds Up This Weekend
Adelaide’s Woolshed is closing its doors this weekend. The Royal Park space took to social media to encourage patrons to catch bands Sisters Doll and Nakatomi Plaza on Friday and Saturday and return for a “proper send-off” on Sunday with drinks poured “until the bar runs dry”.
It was founded by Micheal Gangnuss four years ago as a place to find emerging acts and top craft beer.
Cairns Promoter Sentenced
The Cairns Post reported that William Graham Johnston, 48, promoter of the Kuranda Roots Festival, was sentenced to 180 hours’ community service and two-and-half-years jail with immediate parole after he pleaded guilty to drug possession.
Police raided his Koah property two weeks after the festival, and told the court they found more than 65 grams of MDMA in a flask with a false bottom on a bookshelf, and 425 tabs of LSD on four pieces of cardboard in the freezer alongside 54 grams of THC “moulded into four cigar shaped sticks” and 84 coca plants in a “greenhouse type” set-up, and ground dried coca leaf in a caravan.
There were also about eight people living on the property who’d apparently worked freelance on the festival. The judge told Johnston “Whether you like it or not, you’ve got to lose the druggies that hang around your premises.”
Golden Vine Hosting Harcourt Bushfire Benefit
The Golden Vine on King Street in Bendigo, Victoria, is where musicians are coming together on Sunday afternoon March 15 to raise funds for the victims of the Harcourt bushfires last month which destroyed 60 homes. Mat Underwood’s Studio U was also destroyed in the fires.
Performing are Melbourne prog-rockers Souls Of Ambience, Horizon with John Farnham alumni Brett Garsed and Angus Burchall with Lee Bradshaw; and former Men At Work drummer Jerry Speiser, a local who plays with his band Questionable Gentlemen. All recorded at Studio U.
Strong Numbers For Summer Festivals
Over the summer, Woodford Folk (December) got 100,000 while Tamworth Country Music (January) had an aggregated 300,000 over ten days. The EDM get-togethers Dreamstate sold out in Melbourne and Sydney, while Hardcore Til I Die at Sydney Showgrounds, had 20,000.
Laneway celebrated its 21st anniversary with its best numbers, winding up on the weekend with a total tally of 210,000. A further 40,000 attended individual artist sideshows.
The 2026 run started out in Auckland with 35,000 at Western Springs Stadium (its biggest NZ numbers), and then to Sydney where 45,000 packed Centennial Park.
The move to the Gold Coast hit 36,000 capacity at Southport Sharks, leading President Dean Bowtell acclaiming it as a good start for the venue’s plans to expand its precinct and introduce more concerts.
Melbourne sold out with 50,000 at Flemington Park. Organisers staged an activation celebrating the festival’s early humble beginnings at Caledonian Lane, recreating the thoroughfare with murals painted by local artists. The trek ended with near-sellouts at Adelaide’s Showgrounds and Perth’s Arena Joondalup.
Tasmania’s 13-year old Party In The Paddock set a new attendance record with 14,000 at Quercus Park checking out 180 acts – 50% of which were Taswegians—over four days.
Tourism and Hospitality Minister Jane Howlett said 10% of attendees were from interstate and overseas. The final day on Sunday saw 6mm of rain fall in the four hours after 9 am. The festival started 13 years ago as a backyard birthday party with 480 guests.
New Prince Of Wales Owner Revealed
The mystery of who bought the Prince of Wales in Melbourne’s St Kilda for $28.85 million is solved. He is identified as Grant Cohen, an heir to the Godfreys vacuum cleaner fortune. The Cohens paid $64 million for another legendary music venue, The Esplanade Hotel five minutes away, in late 2022.
Chappell Roan’s Agent Selling Business After Epstein Files Link
First Chappell Roan, in the country for Laneway, cut ties with her US agent Wasserman Agency after CEO Casey Wasserman’s name was linked to the Epstein files (though no criminal wrongdoing was suggested). She was followed by Best Coast, Odesza, Weyes Blood, Beach Bunny, Sleigh Bells, Dropkick Murphys, and Gigi Perez.
Things took a turn on the weekend when Wasserman announced he would sell the agency and the wider Wasserman Media Group, so his 4,000-strong staff could keep working without the “distractions” his presence caused.
He remains Chair of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. It said that his relationship with Epstein and jailed accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell started 23 years ago – “before Mr. Wasserman or the public knew of Epstein and Maxwell’s deplorable crimes” – when he and his wife went on a humanitarian mission to Africa on Epstein’s plane at the invitation of the Clinton Foundation.
After that “We found Mr. Wasserman’s relationship with Epstein and Maxwell did not go beyond what has been publicly documented.”
Beardwood Upgrading Launceston’s Silverdome
The $12 million upgrade of Launceston’s Silverdome has started, with Northern Tasmanian building firm Beardwood getting the deal to finish by the end of 2026. Changes include an expansion of current seating for 5,000 which could see more music events, more food and beverage facilities and a new sports floor.
Next On Showcasing Them & I At Brisbane’s Outpost
Live Nation made an addition to Next On, a new initiative designed to champion developing talent with access to stages of venues it operates, marketing and production, industry support, and keeping 100% of ticket and merch revenue.
Playing the Outpost in Brisbane on Thursday May 7 is 21-year old Melbourne singer songwriter Them & I (aka Jake Edwards) on the road behind his debut album Lay Me Down Here.
Since releasing his debut single in November 2023, Them & I amassed over 200 million streams alongside more than 5 billion views and 1 million creates on TikTok. Off the back of a sold-out national headline tour in 2025, he opened for Tom Odell nationally earlier this year.
Other venues and acts announced so far for Next On are Melbourne indie-rock band Peach Fuzz at the Palais (Tuesday March 10), country-rock act Robert Mortimer at Anita’s Theatre in Thirroul NSW (Friday March 27), and Maori new-soulster MOHI at The Tuning Fork, Auckland on Friday April 10.
Tassie Gov’t Intervenes In Theatre Royal Financials
The Tasmanian Government has been forced to intervene in the finances of Hobart’s Theatre Royal. The 189-year-old building was renovated in 2021 to the tune of $110 million and aligned with The Hedberg performing arts complex.
Unexpected costs such as insurance, maintenance costs and rates saw the theatre posting a $485,950 deficit in 2023, a $119,081 deficit in 2024 and its board asking for a government bailout to address a projected $347,000 budget risk in 2025. Two CEOs went in two years.
The Government is spending $137,660 assigning a review of the board to Tony Grybowski and Associates Pty Ltd to look at such things as the theatre’s operating model, broader sustainability and its role within the wider Tasmanian performing arts ecosystem.
Eurovision Cans First Live Tour
A month after announcing its first live tour, Eurovision Song Contest has canned the planned undertaking citing "unforeseen challenges.” It was to celebrate the competition’s 70th anniversary playing 10 European cities, starting with London in June and ending in Stockholm, Sweden in July.
It was expected to be broadcast worldwide including presumably Australia. Among the 35 to to perform were past contestants as Australia’s Guy Sebastian and Katrina Leskanich from the UK, who won in 1997 with Katrina & The Waves of Walking On Sunshine fame.
Geelong’s Beav’s Bar Wins OneMusic Package
Beav’s Bar in Geelong, Victoria, won OneMusic Australia’s inaugural $5,000 Live Music Package. It was chosen as the best live music venue over 400 around the country. As a result, the 22-year old business hosts a free show this Sunday (February 22) with Lisa Mitchell and Luke Biscan. RSVPs are essential.
The package includes audio-visual gear, travel, accommodation, and associated costs for the performer/s and crew needed to stage the show.
Waiting For The Weekend
How busy can weekends in February get? Promoter TEG revealed it drew 200,000 fans at live events across Australia and NZ last weekend. Including wrestling, a Formula 1 exhibition, comedy and military tattoo, the music events were Laneway in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth; Hilltop Hoods in Hobart; and Michael Learns Rock in Melbourne.
In the meantime, for the first time ever, all seven venues operated by the Government-run Venues NSW had a major event over the February 14/15 weekend.
The eleven mostly sporting events drew 286,000 fans to Sydney generating $185 million for the economy. Among them was Ed Sheeran’s three-night stint at Accor Stadium, before crowds he reckoned were “the loudest so far” on his Loop world tour.
Queensland Tightens Events Rules, Ups Scalper Penalties
In a bid to attract more major events to the state, the Queensland Government passed The Major Sports Facilities and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025.
Key takeaways:
Increasing penalties for ticket scalping, from $3000 to $22,531 for individuals and $17,000 to $113,492 for corporations, “bringing Queensland in line with other states and helping to protect consumers.”
Removing fines for purchasing tickets more than 10% above the original price to encourage reporting of ticket scalping.
Giving its venue operator Stadiums Queensland the power to set special events rules at its facilities, including People First Stadium and Cbus Super Stadium, to allow concerts to finish at the industry standard time of 10:30pm, in line with Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.
New measures to stop unauthorised advertising, including the use of drones at major events to protect legitimate paid sponsorships.
Amending the Major Events Act 2014 “so regulations are easier to understand and apply across large, complex events held over multiple sites or days, will help event organisers navigate requirements with greater confidence.”
Gympie Muster Chooses 2026 Charity Partner
The Gympie Muster announced Get Yourself Checked as its 2026 charity partner. It pushes for greater prostate cancer awareness, early detection and improved outcomes for men in rural and regional Australia.
It was set up last year by Mark Tobin from Followmont Transport, who has a strong family history of cancer, with Brett “Knuckles” Hanly from Country Trucker Caps.
Funds will go to prostate cancer awareness, research and equipment.
Gympie Music Muster CEO Greg Cavanagh said the charity stood out during a competitive selection process.
“It was a tough decision because we had some great applications, but unfortunately, we had to choose one. This is a new charity and it’s a good one to get behind. Knuckles and Mark are go-getters and we like that.”
Four Meltdowns!
Good Company Bar Group’s The Emerson nightclub in South Yarra, Melbourne, had to close for a week after it was damaged in an arson and ram raid at 1.30 one morning.
A Cairns woman was jailed for two years (suspended) after pleading guilty to possessing and supplying of MDMA to an 18-year-old woman at Gilligan’s nightclub in December 2024. The Cairns Supreme Court was told she chased the woman through the club trying to “force ecstasy down her throat…to make a quick buck.”
The Henchman Miami on the Gold Coast was slammed on social media for a video it posted calling a patron a “penguin looking douche bag” for accepting a $250 dinner from a waitress which she had not ordered.
A 35-year-old Townsville drunk woman was jailed for three months (suspended for nine months) after an incident outside Flynn’s Irish Bar. A 22-year-old stranger had commented, “Wow, this is a nice breeze here.” She thought he’d touched her butt (not true according to CCTV), slapped him, and hurled a homophobic slur.
This piece of content has been assisted by the Australian Government through Music Australia and Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body
