Fans get on right track to rock out
THE expansion of the Gold Coast’s light rail system could be a lifesaver for the region’s moribund live music scene.
While the Gold Coast City Council ponders recommendations from the music task force, the owners of Helensvale’s NightQuarter markets have found a simple recipe for making a success of live music. Pay for people to come. According to NightQuarter owner Michelle Christoe, the markets have found that offering people free public transport through TransLink to get to and from events has increased the popularity of the venue.
Added to this, she said the venue’s positioning at the end of the light rail line gave it an easy marketing tool for people happy to catch a tram.
“We’re one of the only live venues on the Gold Coast to offer free public transport when people buy a ticket to one of our events,” she said.
“We teamed up with TransLink to offer customers an easy way to travel on the Gold Coast. We find that 30 per cent of people coming to the venue are tourists and our ticketed events are attracting 20 per cent of the audience from outside the Gold Coast.”
She said the venue was attracting tourists from across Australia, including West Australia and Tasmania, and many of them were more used to using public transport to get to major venues than locals.
“We also update hotels on our events and they keep their guests informed of what’s on.”
It’s a move that allows Ms Christoe and business partner Ian Van Der Woude to incubate local music talent.
It has also turned NightQuarter into one of the most prominent live music venues on the Gold Coast.
Since opening in 2015, the venue has hosted over 50 concerts with major touring acts.
From RUFUS, SAFIA, UB40, Ministry of Sound, The Angels through to Amy Shark and The Cat Empire, the venue has become a destination for live music.
NightQuarter is one of the few venues that offers entertainment for the whole of the family, bringing culture to the Gold Coast every weekend.
The venue has sold 55,000 tickets and attracted some 1.5 million to it since opening.
“Traditionally regional areas don’t attract touring bands but we are starting to attract touring bands and people in the music industry have identified us as a venue for tours,” Ms Christoe said. “That attracts bands that won’t normally come to the Gold Coast.”
In 2018, the venue was a finalist in the Queensland Music Awards for the Regional Venue of the Year and won the Gold Coast Music Awards’ Venue of the Year in 2016 and was a finalist in 2017 and 2018.
Ms Christoe said the venue was also able to generate a festival vibe, which helped make it popular with touring bands.
“The live music space is eclectic, with astroturf floors and shipping container walls, it has a vibrant and creative feel that suits artists who are wanting to connect with their fans in a unique environment,” she said.
“We have more than 100 food, drink and market stall vendors within the precinct so customers can experience a mini-festival every weekend without leaving the Gold Coast suburbs.”