Report: 'Future Of Live Music' Forum

RENÉ SCHAEFER reports on a forum that debated the future of live music in Melbourne’s inner-city at Fitzroy Town Hall last night (May 6).

A committee that would address issues surrounding live music in Melbourne’s inner-city was one of the outcomes of a forum at Fitzroy Town Hall last night. An initiative of the City of Yarra, which represents suburbs including Richmond, Collingwood and Fitzroy, the “Future of Live Music” forum featured a panel discussion chaired by former Legal Services commissioner Victoria Marles, which reiterated many of the concerns raised in recent months by political pressure groups such as Fair Go 4 Live Music, SLAM and the recently formed Music Victoria.

From the outset, it was made clear that this was to be merely an exploration of different perspectives, and that the outcome of the meeting would have no formal impact on state government policy or even local government approaches to enforcing the regulations handed down to them.

Moving away from the disproportionate focus on the closure of The Tote, which initially galvanised the public in demanding a fairer approach to laws regulating small venue operators, attention focused on some crucial issues. They included:

• The lack of a real policy concerning live music venue operators at either state or local government level.
• The need to establish clear and consistent rules governing right of first occupancy and amenity issues.
• Streamlining the policing of Liquor Licensing compliance and noise complaints.
• Balancing people’s “right to sleep” with “the right to go out” and see live music.
• Removing the link between live music and alcohol-fuelled violence.
• The need to develop a common sense approach to town planning in inner suburbs, where residential areas abut busy “activity centres”.
• Differentiating noise level measurements in "activity areas" from purely residential areas.

Speakers on these issues included venue operators Jon Perring (Yah Yah’s, Pony, Bar Open), Liam Matthews (The Old Bar) and Tim Northeast (The Corner Hotel); Adrian Basso, general manager of community radio station 3PBS; Music Victoria and APRA representative Kirsty Rivers; and Bruce Phillips, City of Yarra’s director of development.

Old Bar co-owner Matthews articulated the plight of venue licensees by recounting the stress and anxiety he feels every time he finds an official-looking letter pushed under the door of his pub, detailing another noise complaint or breach of his liquor licence, which might mean being shut down at any time.

Phillips talked at length about the notion of “the agent of change”, referring primarily to the shifting nature of residents and businesses within an area that have an impact on shaping council’s approach. Drawn on this topic by Marles, who asked what the council was learning about the area’s residential make-up from analysing complaints, his responses were non-committal. Clearly, he was aware that all this was going down on a public record and that to express an opinion of any kind would instantly compromise him as a public servant.

Perring made the pertinent point that good town planning could easily reduce a lot of noise and amenity issues. He cited Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley as an example of where a local government had successfully accepted a certain level of raucousness that potential residents had to put up with if they wanted to live in the area.

Questioned on the role that the fledgling Music Victoria would play in this ongoing debate, Rivers explained that while the group was still in the process of formulating its business plan and structure, they were committed to advocating on behalf of Victoria’s music community. She said they would lobby the state government to remove “high risk” conditions on live music venues.

Approaching the topic in a slightly more fundamental manner, Perring invoked the internationally recognised Human Rights Charter, which guarantees the right for people to participate in their own culture and the right to assemble freely. He might have been stretching the point a bit, but he certainly summed up the feeling of oppression experienced by many music venue licensees.

As Matthews stated in a conversation prior to the forum, the only reason he wanted to run a venue was to put on music and facilitate people’s creative expression. This might sound overly idealistic, but it is not far removed from the notion expressed by Paul Kelly at the recent SLAM rally that our small music venues are the equivalent of universities for local musicians.

Despite a late showing by some disgruntled residents, concerned about “discotheques” which allegedly kept their windows open “to attract customers”, the outcome of this forum was largely positive.

It remains to be seen if the aforementioned committee will successfully represent the interests of Melbourne’s music community, but at least council indicated that they are taking these issues seriously enough to try to gain a picture of what is actually going on in their community. As City of Yarra Mayor Jane Garrett stated repeatedly, it is necessary to nurture and celebrate live music culture in a municipality with an international reputation as Melbourne, if not Australia’s, music hub.

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