Breathing new life back into live music

It has been a tough two years for musicians, venues, and live music lovers.

The good news is that, with restrictions now lifted and life slowly returning to normal; pubs and other venues are alive again to the sound of music.

This means that local venue, “Blind Pig” bar-owner, John Vandenberg; couldn’t be happier.

“When the restrictions were on, someone's favourite song would come on. They'd want to get up and dance, and I’d have to pull the ‘ogre stick’ out and say, ‘sit down, you're not allowed to dance’, which I absolutely hated!” John recalls.

“Because our place is particularly about getting up and singing and dancing and having a great time.”

Two years ago, John transformed the Blind Pig from what was then a combination of cafe, restaurant and bar, to a venue focused around live entertainment.

While his bottom line took a hit during the COVID restrictions, it is a decision he hasn’t regretted.

“I decided to just drop the cafe and restaurant side out of it and, ever since then, I've put all my energy and all my money and attention into live music and it's paid off,” he said.

“It has taken a while — you can't just have one or two goes of these things, you have to persist with it, and we've done that with the live music scene and it has finally paid off!

“The place is doing okay financially even with the struggles we did have with COVID — we were down 38 per cent for all of January and part of February, but we still did alright, we didn't really make money but we didn't really lose money, thank goodness. 

“But now the restrictions have eased, immediately I saw a big increase in numbers and everybody had an absolute ball and the dancefloor and stage were completely full! 

Hopefully, it will be the end of restrictions for a while.”

Coming out of lockdowns and restrictions, there appears to be an appetite for live music, says Arts OutWest music industry support officer, Patrick Coomey.

“Orange has quite a growing music scene, despite COVID,” said Patrick. “When music has been able to be performed without restrictions, we have seen almost a return to full capacity at the venues that are doing music.”

But navigating the pandemic has been a bumpy road for venues and musicians. As a bit of a shot-in-the-arm for the Central West’s live music industry, Arts OutWest has been funding venues to put on local artists, with a particular focus on playing original music.

Their “Live and Kicking” program is funded by the Australian government’s “Live Music Australia” and past gigs at the Blind Pig and Agrestic Grocer have been strongly-supported, showing there is an audience seeking live original music, said Patrick.

“That is part of the reason ‘4 on the 4loor’ (a monthly showcase of musical acts in Orange) is part of that ‘Live and Kicking’ program; ‘4 on the 4loor’ at the Vic Hotel is an Orange music institution, all about growing original live music and giving people a chance.”

After 20 cancelled gigs in the past two years, the “4 on the 4loor” event returned to the Victoria Hotel on Saturday night with their first line-up for 2022.

For 24 years now, the monthly music showcase has been giving bands the opportunity to, not only get stage time, but play their own original music, something founder Jon Carter has a particular passion for.

“The focus has always been on original music. I just didn't want to have cover bands as such, it is alright to play a cover song, but I prefer original music,” said Jon.

“It started as I realised I knew a lot of people who could play, but didn't fit the format of playing in a pub, because they couldn't play for four hours, which is what had to happen. So I came up with the format of a smorgasbord of music, anywhere from three to four, five, six, seven acts just playing short sets. It allows people who otherwise wouldn't have got on the stage the ability to get on the stage.

“And the Vic, I think, is one of the only places that have original bands, most of the pubs might have duos, but the Vic has it covered as far as bands go — and rock music, there's no rock except at the 4loor!”

“4 on the 4loor” actually celebrated its 300th show in December and there will be plenty more to come, said Jon.

“I keep threatening to quit. When we did 301, I thought, ‘that's a good number, I'll stop now’. But no, I have no plans to stop. I'll probably drop dead setting it up one day in the middle of summer!”

Not-for-profit community organisation, JAM Orange have also expanded their music offerings now that venue restrictions have been lifted.

Building on their monthly “Open Mic” nights, in February, they launched their first “Jam Sampler”, a curated showcase gig for local musicians.

“The ‘Jam Sampler’ gives the bands that come through the open mic program, the opportunity to play longer sets and, hopefully, impress the venues and get more work,” said musician and JAM Orange committeemen Mark Welch, who featured on the first Jam Sampler line-up with “The Dougies”.

“The venue gets to see the band and the crowd get to see the band play a longer set. I suppose it’s a step between an open mic and a fully-fledged gig.”

The response to the first “Jam Sampler” was very positive, said Mark and he sees good things ahead for music in Orange.

“We had a great crowd and the venue immediately at the end of it said, ‘Yep, let's do it again!’” said Mark.

“It's good. I think at the moment, all of the venues are very keen and I think people have missed what has always been taken for granted, so when gigs come along there are more people keen to get out and watch as well and musicians keen to play,” he concluded.