Your Guide To The 2021 QMAs Regional Venue Of The Year Nominees
Have your say!
EMPIRE THEATRE
Image: Stu Larsen @ Empire Theatre. Pic by Jarrad Seng
Best venue memory?
"Being able to welcome people back into the venue – albeit under tight restrictions – after a four-month closure was very special. Staff, patrons, volunteers and artists alike felt the importance of the soft re-opening as it opened the pathway back to normality and the restarting of the live music/event industry. Being able to start that journey with Project 62 and the debut of their single Mutuggerah was especially poignant."
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NIGHTQUARTER
Image: NightQuarter Live Stage. Pic by Lisa Pearl
Best venue memory?
"Our Opening Night was on Friday 6 November 2020. As the gates to the venue opened for the first time, Sarah McLeod played a grand piano elevated five metres above the crowd on a platform created from scaffolding. The scaffolding had been repurposed after being used in the construction of the site, laying dormant for six months after construction shut down during lockdown. Representing ‘taking music to new heights', it was the start of a new era for music on the Sunshine Coast. The jam-packed night of entertainment featured exclusively Queensland acts, and was the culmination of a five-year journey since the venue originally opened on the Gold Coast in 2015. As (socially distanced) crowds of people came into the venue for opening night, seeing the surprise and delight on faces being graced by local live music from the absolute legend Sarah McLeod after an eight-month hiatus is something we won't forget."
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OTHERWISE BAR
Image: Alex Lahey @ Otherwise Bar. Pic by Luke Mcleod
Best venue memory?
"It’s hard to name one but so far our opening night. It was always a gamble opening a live music venue in a regional centre, and we weren’t 100% sure how it would go. We ended up selling out two weeks in advance and hundreds of punters packed in to catch an all Qld lineup. It felt amazing to see everyone smiling ear to ear that night!"
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SANDSTONE POINT HOTEL
Image: PNAU @ Sandstone Point Hotel. Pic by Curdin
Best venue memory?
"Personally, I have so many incredible memories at the venue. Some of the highlights include seeing Bryan Adams sing Summer Of 69, a song that brings so many memories flooding to mind. More recently, I also really loved seeing up and comer Eves Karydas on stage after she had taken out #22 for Complicated on the triple j Hottest 100 not long before. Her vocals reminded me of Lana Del Ray, and for someone so fresh on the scene, I did not expect a performance so exceptional. It is always really nice to be surprised by an artist I may not be as familiar with. Xavier Rudd also left me speechless recently, playing multiple instruments simultaneously to perfection."
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SOLBAR
Image: The Dreggs @ Solbar. Pic by Hayden Cervi
Best venue memory?
"After 10 years, there are so many! So let us stick to the most recent. After collaborating with some local community members, Solbar gained the opportunity to sponsor a Xavier Rudd fundraising show in March 2020. The event saw nearly $37,000 raised for the Queensland Koala Crusaders to help in disaster relief after the devastating 2020 bushfires. The show started with a beautiful Welcome To Country by local Gabi Gabi elder Lyndon Davis, he was then joined by two more Gabi Gabi men, and a display of traditional dancing. Xavier Rudd then took 450 fans (and all the staff!) through the most amazing and intimate show of music and stories. I've never heard the room so quiet as to when Xavier took to his storytelling. An amazing night, and an even better outcome."
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THE EVENTS CENTRE, CALOUNDRA
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Image: Adrian Eagle @ The Events Centre. Pic by QMusic
Best venue memory?
"Re-opening the venue back up following approx. five months of closure without shows… that first night when the lights went down, and the artists came onto the stage with thunderous applause from an audience that hadn’t seen live music in many months… that was just an incredible and magic moment!!!"
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