It was recently declared by a Griffith University study that Brisbane’s live music hub, Fortitude Valley, was the “envy of a nation,” and so proud of their scene are they, that Lord Mayor Graham Quirk has decided that the entertainment precinct’s centrepiece, Brunswick Street Mall, will undergo a $4 million renovation to clean up it’s “shabby image,” according to the Brisbane Times.
News that follows closely after the recent announcement that southern capitals such as Sydney and Adelaide may create their very own version of The City Sounds, a Brisbane City Council funded program that began in 2012 and provides live music to punters in the capital’s Queen Street Mall.
Firstly, the 150 metre-long Brunswick Street Mall, established in 1990, will be maintained, but with specific and apparently major changes to be announced on June 12th as part of the Lord Mayor’s budget. Targets of the forthcoming makeover include the stage, which never gets used,” according to Robin Maini, president of the Valley Chamber of Commerce and co-chair of the Fortitude Valley Economic Development Board.
The Brunswick Mall stage will be demolished, alongside trees and lights which will be removed or heavily modified. Mr Maini also said plainly that, “we are trying to make it a more clear, like a a clearway, a pedestrian-path clearway.” He proceeded to confirm tersely that, “the plan is conducive to a couple of major developers who have shown high interest in developing some of the buildings right there in the vicinity,” and that it is a process of removing the “clutter” from the history-lathered strip.
But the subject of most concern, perhaps predictably, are the bronze plaques honouring Brisbane’s musical legends, including The Saints, Regurgitator, Powderfinger, and The Go-Betweens, after whom Brisbane’s major toll bridge was also named in 2010. But fear not, for the plaques will be returned once the renovations have been completed, though it’s likely the strip will look considerably different to how the bands immortalised in bronze remember them. “The City Sounds initiative helps give young bands the voice to be heard and more established acts a chance to play in venues and situations that they probably haven’t encountered before.” – Bernard Fanning
Speaking of Powderfinger, their former frontman turned solo artist, Bernard Fanning (who is about to embark on his own extended national tour ) recently praised The City Sounds initiative in a Brisbane Times article. “It’s a great initiative where everybody wins,” said Fanning, who regards the paying of award-rates to musicians – a generally uncommon occurrence for free gigs in the music industry -as the program’s primary triumph.
“This type of initiative helps give young bands the voice to be heard and more established acts a chance to play in venues and situations that they probably haven’t encountered before,” Fanning said at The City Sounds launch this year.
Lord Mayor Quirk shared the singer’s enthusiasm, quoted as praising The City Sounds as the longest running, free music program in Australia but apparently recognises the value of the “grungey” image shake off, saying recently, “I want to generate more business for Brisbane’s economy and improving opportunities for day time businesses in the Valley is an important part of that.”
Considering its success, Sydney and Adelaide are looking to emulate the success of The City Sounds, which receives $300,000 funding from local council and Brisbane Marketing, allowing the festival to run for 155 days over nine locations around Brisbane’s CBD, and has presented over 2,300 performances and 750 shows, as Brisbane Times also reports
Megan Barron, the director of city retail and strategic development for Brisbane Marketing, also shed light on why replications of the program are so desirable, saying “there have been studies done throughout Australia about the benefit of live music to a city’s economy and society.” “There have been studies done throughout Australia about the benefit of live music to a city’s economy and society.” Megan Barron, Brisbane Marketing
Barron has been directly contacted by Adelaide City Council’s Rundle Mall Management Authority and the City of Sydney about ways to mimic the program for their own populous cities, indicating genuine interest from the southern states, as well as a glowing testament to the Queensland program’s success.
As previously reported, the study that praised Fortitude Valley as “the envy of a nation”, put together by Griffith Urban Researcher Matthew Burke and Town Planner Amy Schmidt, claimed that the local live music hub has successfully managed to incorporate the interests of both live music venues and residential developers, to create a balanced and thriving social infrastructure that is unmatched by any other states.
The researchers claim that in comparing the overall success of Fortitude Valley with that of live music precincts in Melbourne and Sydney, they “examined the effectiveness of the designated precinct as a means of protecting the live music scene, while encouraging residential development.”
Come September this year, Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley will also play host to BIGSOUND 2013, the annual conference widely recognised as the biggest and most important gathering of the music industry in Australia.
With keynote speeches from Billy Bragg and Amanda Palmer already announced, punters can also expect to see the likes of Xavier Rudd, Megan Washington, The John Steel Singers, Stonefield, Bleeding Knees Club, The Jungle Giants, Spit Syndicate, Dune Rats, Clubfeet, Thelma Plum, Citizen Kay and Little Bastard play as part of BIGSOUND Live. These are just a handful of names set to feature at the conference from both Australia and abroad, with more additions to the program to be announced in the near future.
