It’s a match made in hell – Sydneysiders and trying to ruin great music venues with noise complaints. The latest victim is Marrickville favourite The Great Club, which is in need of urgent help.
Since opening two years ago, The Great Club has become a go-to spot for live music in Inner Sydney, attracting artists like The Middle Kids, SPEED, and Hottest 100 chart-topper MAY-A; in the coming weeks, Neil Murray, Urthboy, and The Sheepdogs will continue the venue’s commitment to hosting the best live music.
The Great Club has also worked with the likes of Young Henrys and Heaps Normal to put on excellent community events. They even put a huge Hottest 100 block part earlier this year.
So far, so good? When local neighbourhoods like Marrickville are filled with busybodies who stupidly think they can live an inner city life with a rural village atmosphere, no venue is safe.
A fundraising page has been set up for The Great Club as “a small but vocal few” Marrickville residents have “repeatedly” complained to authorities that the venue is “unsafe for the Marrickville community.”
“They are on a mission and want to shut us down completely or, at the very least, have restrictions imposed that would mean we couldn’t run successful and safe events in a way our community deserves,” the fundraising pages explains.
“This is the voice of an unreasonable minority, some of whom even recently relocated next to our club, which has, in various capacities, been operating here since the 1950’s.”
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As a result of these complaints, The Great Club has lost vast income due to “forced reduced operating hours, incurred costly legal fees, are facing potential fines, criminal proceedings, unnecessary and unaffordable sound proofing amendments.”
That’s why The Great Club has set up the fundraising page, which at the time of writing has raised over $2,400 of a target of $50,000. The page breaks down the venue’s upcoming expenses, including potential cash fines of more than $10K. It’s grim out there, folks.
“We are asking you – the fun one – for your financial help so we can continue fighting the good fight. We may be on the ropes, but we are not giving in!” the fundraising page concludes. “Your generous donations will help us get through what we hope will be the most important stage of our battle.”
If you frequent The Great Club, or you simply care about the continuing health of Australia’s live music scene, you can donate here. You can also check out the venue’s upcoming gig lineup here.
For more on this topic, follow the Live Music Observer.
