The day the music died...
For my friends who love music, but don't live near a copy of the Canberra Times ...
For Tilley's, it's the sounds of silence
There's no business like show business, they say - but with news that the popular Tilley's Devine Cafe in Lyneham venue will pull out of regular music nights, showbiz in Canberra seems to be just a grind.
In an interview with music writer Seth Jordan, published in Times 2 today, Tilley's owner Paulie Higgisson said she would concentrate on the restaurant side of things from now on, with only the occasional special music event, like one she had scheduled for the National Multicultural Festival in February.
Citing the financial risks of live performance, increased staff costs, government restrictions on venues, workers' compensation, superannuation, penalty rates, advertising, and copyright, Ms Higgisson said that after 21 years of presenting top Australian and international artists, with regular performances three or four nights a week, she'd had enough.
The last regular music act would take place on October 30 with blues singer Pat Thompson and the Ragtag Jazz Band, but the restaurant would still operate from 9am seven days a week and the stage and production area would not be dismantled.
Tilley's Devine Cafe, named with feminist flair after Sydney notorious 1920s underworld figure Tilly Devine, has been a Canberra institution since it opened its doors in January, 1984, with just 60 seats. Initially designed to create a safe and agreeable environment for women, it raised eyebrows when groups of men were banned from drinking inside Tilley's unless they had at least one woman with them.
"I just didn't want a room full of blokes," Higgisson told The Canberra Times in 2003. It was the first licensed outdoor venue in Australia and the first bar to ban indoor smoking. The formula, soon joined by music, proved successful before its time.
Tilley's has now taken over the entire block on the corner of Wattle and Brigalow streets in Lyneham.
Ms Higgisson has claimed that over the past 18 years she never had to call a musician to ask them to play. The extraordinary range of performers all came to her. Among them have been guitarists Jose Feliciano, Slava Grigoryan and Karin Schaupp, Canned Heat, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, legendary acts like the Animals, and songwriters like Jimmy Webb.
Ms Higgisson voiced fears that around the country live venues were closing because of concerns similar to hers.
She need have gone no further than Canberra. Last year the National Press Club pulled out it of its apparently successful cabaret headline series featuring stage luminaries like Todd McKenney and Geraldine Turner, citing financial concerns.
The Canberra Southern Cross Club recently cancelled the Canberra Jazz Club's Sunday of Jazz at short notice leading to fears in the jazz community that after 25 years it was easing out of jazz. Entertainment officer at the club Lynda Wade said yesterday that any doubts about the financial viability of jazz had been dispelled by a recent successful series but that the profitability of Jazz at the Cross would continue to be monitored.
Helen Musa
Arts Editor
Tuesday, 9 August 2005
Canberra Times
For Tilley's, it's the sounds of silence
There's no business like show business, they say - but with news that the popular Tilley's Devine Cafe in Lyneham venue will pull out of regular music nights, showbiz in Canberra seems to be just a grind.
In an interview with music writer Seth Jordan, published in Times 2 today, Tilley's owner Paulie Higgisson said she would concentrate on the restaurant side of things from now on, with only the occasional special music event, like one she had scheduled for the National Multicultural Festival in February.
Citing the financial risks of live performance, increased staff costs, government restrictions on venues, workers' compensation, superannuation, penalty rates, advertising, and copyright, Ms Higgisson said that after 21 years of presenting top Australian and international artists, with regular performances three or four nights a week, she'd had enough.
The last regular music act would take place on October 30 with blues singer Pat Thompson and the Ragtag Jazz Band, but the restaurant would still operate from 9am seven days a week and the stage and production area would not be dismantled.
Tilley's Devine Cafe, named with feminist flair after Sydney notorious 1920s underworld figure Tilly Devine, has been a Canberra institution since it opened its doors in January, 1984, with just 60 seats. Initially designed to create a safe and agreeable environment for women, it raised eyebrows when groups of men were banned from drinking inside Tilley's unless they had at least one woman with them.
"I just didn't want a room full of blokes," Higgisson told The Canberra Times in 2003. It was the first licensed outdoor venue in Australia and the first bar to ban indoor smoking. The formula, soon joined by music, proved successful before its time.
Tilley's has now taken over the entire block on the corner of Wattle and Brigalow streets in Lyneham.
Ms Higgisson has claimed that over the past 18 years she never had to call a musician to ask them to play. The extraordinary range of performers all came to her. Among them have been guitarists Jose Feliciano, Slava Grigoryan and Karin Schaupp, Canned Heat, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, legendary acts like the Animals, and songwriters like Jimmy Webb.
Ms Higgisson voiced fears that around the country live venues were closing because of concerns similar to hers.
She need have gone no further than Canberra. Last year the National Press Club pulled out it of its apparently successful cabaret headline series featuring stage luminaries like Todd McKenney and Geraldine Turner, citing financial concerns.
The Canberra Southern Cross Club recently cancelled the Canberra Jazz Club's Sunday of Jazz at short notice leading to fears in the jazz community that after 25 years it was easing out of jazz. Entertainment officer at the club Lynda Wade said yesterday that any doubts about the financial viability of jazz had been dispelled by a recent successful series but that the profitability of Jazz at the Cross would continue to be monitored.
Helen Musa
Arts Editor
Tuesday, 9 August 2005
Canberra Times