Finally a bit of good news:

Petersham Bowlo to continue with live music:

http://inner-west-courier.whereilive.com.au/news/story/passion-lifts-petersham-bowlos-spirits/

are you on the board goldy?

No. Nothing to do with it at all. I've only ever been to one show their but I really like the vibe.

They've had The Ups and Downs and Smudge do secret shows there recently.

what's the vibe?

Old school bowling club. Very casual.

can you get a counter meal ?

Yeah, really really good chow. They also do barefoot bowls on Sunday arvos.

any riders just begging to be ''shared''?

i dj'ed there for a 21st once. worst dj gig ever. even worse than that twestival thing i played at for free

And stuff that's been covered in other theads:

Annandale - not looking good
Excellsior - pretty much confirmed they won't continue with live music
Spectrum - Still a couple of months before it will be re-opened as a live venue
Raval - gone
Hoey - I haven't talked to anone who believes that it will be coming back as a live venue
The Factory - Undergoing rennos. Live room is unaffected. I think they're putting in a cafe downstairs and they've been talking about doing something with their outdoor space for years.

Petersham Bowlo is nice, and I don't love every bowlo space that's emerged. It's very casual, and not very well supplied with sound or lighting equipment, but it has a good vibe.

didn't someone say they may be putting in bands at the Beresford?

i had dinner on the top floor of the forbes hotel last night - that's a great shabby & unrenovated old space kinda begging for someone to do something awesome with it - although would people actually come to the city to watch (non-international) live music anymore?

Also:

• The FBi Social launches their live music night at The Kings Cross Hotel this weekend

• New owners at The Vanguard took over about 6 months back and are slowly moving away from tribute night and heritage acts. It seems to be working with a younger crowd in there when I've been in lately.

And:

A new dedicated live music venue opening at the casino. I believe the capacity is around 200-300 people and they will be focusing on bands playing original material. Open 5 nights a week.

apparently the good people behind mojo's record store will be openning a venue/record store in the later half of 2011. sydney is not completely fucked.

not to mention The Gate going strong having branched out to 2 different offerings.

What's The Gate?

http://www.thegatepresents.com/

I can't believe someone on M+N hasn't heard of The Gate - I'll have to post more frequently about it!

it's ok guys, I'm kidding. put that rock down, etc

I'm glad they did. I was talking to the NSC manager about how stupid the previous owners were to operate that way when they had a viable staircase WITHIN the main building. I wonder how they've opened it up.

This was my post in the Red Rattler thread but I guess it could as easily go here

SO! This...

http://www.pozible.com/project/20998

I wonder what all of the haterz of the Annandale's brick campaign will make of this.

The Red Rattler are asking for donations to buy a 40% share in the building. Their base goal is $40, 000. That's a lot of money...

The confusing aspect for me is what really IS the difference between this - as a community run not-for-profit - and the Annandale as a private business that serves a wider social purpose? The drinks are a bit cheaper at the Rattler? More welcoming to marginalized groups? Currently it seems like wanting to see loud music with decent production values late at night is a marginalized group of its own.

I mean I definitely don't want to denigrate the effort of those involved and their hard work. I've been to the Rattler a few times and thought it was awesome. But donations to this cause are donations in the same way that donations to the Annandale's bricks are; it's altruism in the hope that a venue with high associated costs will survive so you can see the types of shows that only a venue of this type can put on. There is no ''ownership'' or buying in from this donation. You get a Tshirt or if you really pay a night in your honour. You DON'T get any say in the way the place runs despite basically being a shareholder. I guess having two fifths of the company acting as a shareholding block would be messy for voting purposes.

I'll be donating. I think they're a great venue and I really want them to continue. I guess I'm just disappointed that the shining light of the council-legit DIY scene doesn't seem to have a more sustainable model of business than anyone else. Though I could have this wrong.

I think the line is getting a bit blurry on the customer/stakeholder/contributor front. And given the state of things that could be good a debate to actually have now.

I mean at the Union I've thought about asking for all bands within a set month to donate part of their pay to buy a small piano to roll out for some shows if I donated my booking fees and the pub contributed a matching amount. I shelved the idea because it seemed dodgy and I didn't think I'd get the support from people.
It's taken me 2 years to convince the venue to take out a 2SER ad campaign. There are a lot of things I want to do to make the place a better venue but the cost vs profit explanation of these things is not at all clear or objective to a business owner.

Maybe I should tithe musicians for it or pass a bucket around the crowd as I often do for interstate bands? That seems to be what we're getting to is what I mean.

At what point is the business's financial support for live music investment in their own profits and at what point is it a social service?

When I started out and got to the point I convinced the hotel to buy a PA rather than rent of from a operator I had to start charging bands for a sound person. I got a fair bit of flack and some more polite advice that the venue should pay. I also got flack over what I paid the mixer - not enough in many people's opinion. My response was always ''yeh I could do the right thing, or I could still be putting music on in 3 months time.'' What I learned was everyone in the field of live music has a philosophical and ideological reason why them getting paid more is good for the scene and good for the venue in the long run. But it really isn't a case I can take convincingly to the owner of the business.

Repressed next to NSC is a grand idea.

i remember putting on a little music festival at hermann's, negotiating advertising funds was like pulling teeth. though at hermann's it is worse as they don't give a shit about making more money as everything they make just goes to the union... and then very slowly, like a tortoise, ever so often, i get a bit of cream scooped into my open palms like a grovelling oliver

I'm always concerned when I see a funding drive just to keep your org's head above water. Sure this will keep you afloat for now, but what will it do to improve your situation so we're not doing the same thing in twelve months (re: annandale)?

Everyone's so concerned with taking a bigger slice from their existing customers while it would be better to enlarge the customer base. Better in the long-term anyway, and perhaps there's the rub.

But there's nothing saying that red rattler isn't self sustaining, if the 2 buyers didn't want to leave, I'd assume nothing would change? Its not the day to day that's the problem, its this one off payment that's required?

I hope so, but I guess I'm thinking of the Annandale & 505s funding drives which both seemed to be more about day to day needs.

''But there's nothing saying that red rattler isn't self sustaining''

There's nothing clear about the statement at all. It says 40,000 is the minimum they need, more to do needed renos and stay on top of costs. Feasibly if they don't make the money to buy out the other investors they'd have to sell!

Yes it says three fifths of the owners want to move on - Who wouldn't? Who has a cheeky 20 thousand or so to let lay in a not-for-profit business indefinitely? Obviously they have not turned, or intended to turn, profits sufficient to buy out the initial investors. The public now has to buy in but without any formal contract. What if other partners want to cash out their investment in future years? Another charity drive? I still think this is exactly the same thing as the Brick scheme and I'd love to hear the haterz of that tell my how this is different.

Without further information I think it's fair to question the sustainability of a model that requires investors to leave money in a business without making interest or being able to take the initial capital out after 4 years without a charity drive. Anyway I went the Tshirt pledge option. It won't fit I bet but it was the most realistic donation I could make at this point.

Laura Imbruglia seemed to raise 10 or maybe it was 15 grand without breaking a sweat so theoretically this should be easy for a venue that hosts hundreds of bands a year. I hope it is and it's over and done with in a month. I do think it raises an interesting question - as pointed out above - about what is a customer and what is a stakeholder or contributor to a live music enterprise. I'll definitely keep shaking my donations bucket at punters when I think the bar trade doesn't match the love in the room for an act on stage.

Newtown Social Club on Facebook:

The signage is up and guess what... we open downstairs NEXT WEEK!

Stay tuned to this page and our email newsletter for details on how you can win tickets to the launch party.

http://newtownsocialclub.com/

Actually Newtown SC stealth opened last night, downstairs only. It's good, they played like three Rolling Stones albums in a row. 9'' pizzas for $8 are tasty. Back half of the bar will smell of ciggie smoke though -- the beer garden is pretty much indoors.

The entire indoor area is one level and easily accessible to wheelchairs.

Hmmm. That's a looot of unused space upstairs.

opening later with music venue..

I thought it was a sweet space. Can't wait to see a band there though. Plenty of sweet spaces in Sydney but seeing some decent mid level touring bands without having to go to Oxf st. will be damn nice.

Union put it's PA in place properly last week. Stage looks sweet from the floor now. Will probably start having some DJs later at night too being we can open till 2.

Really didnt enjoy paying $30 for a jug however..

them's melbourne prices!

I believe a certain M+Ner is working behind the bar and argued strongly for a more sydney-centric beer price. What beer was $30 a jug? There is a touch less than 3 schooners in a jug so that seems a bit off considering I'm fairly sure they were looking at setting domestic draught beers at $6 a schooner. That would make jugs of carlton 17 a schooner.

post from last week: Notes has been semi-gutted ahead of becoming a Turkish restaurant - workmen in there every day.

I never thought Notes' model was sustainable. Especially with Camelot and Vanguard on the same page, more or less. It was the good old ''let's run a business on 4 hours trading a day model.''

Four hours trading every couple of days. Should have been open as a restaurant all week, yeah.

Shame about Notes - the sound in that place was tops

Twas.