Artists & Industry Call For Greater Govt Support Of Melb Venues: 'It's Really Distressing'

Artists, venue operators and AFL players have gathered in Melbourne this morning to call for greater support for Victorian music venues. 

Grinspoon's Phil Jamieson and solo artist G-Flip were joined by the Corner Hotel and Northcote Social Club general manager Rod Smith, Whole Lotta Love's Sasha Janssen, and former AFL players Matthew Richardson and Bob Murphy at the Corner Hotel this morning to support Save Our Scene and voice their concerns with the state's current COVID restrictions for venues. 

The calls come following days of confusion around the state's restriction announcement which comes into effect this evening, saying that "additional people will also be allowed in indoor non-seated entertainment venues with an increase from 50 per cent to 75 per cent capacity however, the limit of 1000 people per space remains. Dancefloors will move to the same density limit of the venue and the 50 patron cap will also be removed" while "density limits in venues still operating under more restrictive settings – like casinos, karaoke venues and nightclubs – will move from 1 person per 4sqm to 1 person per 2sqm" in line with cafes, pubs and restaurants".

According to venues though, this has little to no impact on their current trading practices and many are facing the reality of closing their doors permanently. 

"The recent announcement from the Victorian State Government that indoor entertainment venues can trade at 75% is grossly misleading," said Smith today. 

"The fact is we are currently bound by the 1 person per 2 square metres density quotient which effectively means we’re running at about a third of our capacity, which is wholly unsustainable. Until now, we’ve been bungling along on a lot of good will and the welcome support of JobKeeper but that’s all coming to an end next week, as well as that rent relief is also coming to an end, and with our fixed cost remaining static we’re in trouble basically and we need help. 

"I guess the reality is that if it keeps going venues are going to close, people are going to lose their jobs, artists are going to lose spaces to play and hone their craft, and the knock-on effect from that is that Melbourne’s reputation as being ‘the live music capital of Australia’ and indeed the world is going to be under great threat."

"What we’re calling for is for the Victorian State Government to give us a clear roadmap out of this. As I’ve said, the recent announcements made no material change to our ability to trade. We don’t know when any changes are going to occur, and we don't even really know what kind of COVID metric needs to be met for that change to occur..." 

Operating under these density quotients means that a venue like Richmond's Corner Hotel can only have around 280 people in its usual 750 bandroom at any time. For smaller spaces like Janssen's Whole Lotta Love, the reality is that from 6pm tonight, Victorian residents can legally have more people in their homes than she can have in her venue (100 people in a private residence to Whole Lotta Love's 45 people). 

"It’s really tough. We are the smaller sized venue, so I am one of those venues where you can have a bigger house party than I can put on a regulated gig. It’s really distressing," she said. 

"I was crushed, absolutely crushed. We’ve been working so hard since we’ve been allowed to reopen to meet every single regulation that’s been put out there and we’ve done it without argument and put our best foot forward and now all of a sudden, you can have 100 people without the contact tracing, without sanitisation and cleaning and all that sort of thing, yet I still have to do that for less than half that amount of people. It’s absolutely distressing." 

READ MORE: Industry Calls For Clarity Around Vic Venue Restrictions - ‘Confusion Reigns Supreme’

Currently, the city's MCG is able to operate with a capacity of 75,000 attendees for AFL games - 75% of its usual capacity - but it's something that even former player Richardson believes is unfair in contrast to the restrictions surrounding live music venues. 

"Melbourne’s getting its culture back, its vibrancy back, but it won’t be complete until we get our live music back so I think it's time that they were afforded the same luxuries that we have in our industry..." he shared. 

"Obviously the AFL is a massive industry and has the support of the big end of town and I feel like live music has been neglected a little bit." 

The impact on artists is clear too. 

"If only we could gamble on music, it would be great, right?" said Jamieson. 

"I’m playing up the road tonight in a limited capacity venue, solo, and have been doing that over the last year or so, sometimes playing three shows in one night because of the capacity and trying to spin my wheels in some way. But it seems incongruous that… we’ve got so many people celebrating sport which is awesome and a great entertainment but we can’t see somebody play a guitar, it seems really weird." 

"We started playing at the Arthouse many, many moons ago, a tiny venue, without that we wouldn't have been able to even go to the Punter’s Club back then... It was the little stepping stones that helped us as a young band. We are missing out a lot." 

"For me, it’s really important that we have a somewhat fairer playing field than what is happening at the moment. The reality of it is that there’s rent to pay, and bills to pay, and employees to pay at these venues and over there [gesturing to the city's football precinct] there’s a lot going on and these guys are suffering here, it’s unfair." 

"I think it’s very hard and I feel for the small venues. Small venues are definitely the stepping stone for any musician’s career, it’s the launching pad," added G-Flip.

"It’s like the first two steps of a staircase; if they’re gone, how are you going to get up the stairs? I’m feeling for the same venues definitely." 

"I don’t want to see them go. They’re part of the live music scene… The Melbourne music scene is so thriving, probably the best in Australia, so we don’t want that to go. We need it around for the new artists that are coming up, they need to go up that staircase and they need those two steps." 

Find out more about Save Our Scene and their work here.