Small music venues’ plight
Two live music venues in Golden Bay have joined a crowdfunding campaign to save not just their venues, but the industry.
The Mussel Inn at Onekaka and Roots Bar in Takaka are working together as part of the national #saveourvenues campaign, to shine a light on the plight of small, live music venues around the country.
The artist-led campaign aims to help save the music industry, which has taken a hit following the Covid-19 lockdown.
Nearly 30 national and international gigs were cancelled at both the Mussel Inn and Roots Bar during the lockdown.
They now have until June 18 to reach a target of $16,000, which will be shared between them. On Tuesday, they had raised $7290.
Roots Bar owner Holly Osmond said the campaign was aimed at regaining lost revenue, so they could continue booking future gigs. Without that, music gigs in Golden Bay, especially acts from out-of-town or overseas, might be a thing of the past.
Donations would go into the pockets of musicians, and also help to maintain and upgrade music equipment, she said.
‘‘It’s easy to book local DJs, but in order to bring [artists] from out of town into Golden Bay, we need to get them here, feed them, host them, pay for accommodation. There’s a lot of outgoings.’’
She said not many small towns in the country had two soughtafter music venues. Both venues attracted some big national and international names to the area.
Mussel Inn co-owner Jane Dixon had overseas artists cancelling gigs even before lockdown.
Both the Mussel Inn and Roots Bar were lucky in that they both had a casual bar and meals to keep them going, she said.
‘‘But for some music venues, like in Wellington and Christchurch, they’re just music.
‘‘The thing is, it’s a bit like a house of cards. If one or two of the venues can’t function, then the whole thing falls over, because artists need to have a tour to make things work,’’ she said.
‘‘If we have lesser numbers of travellers, or people are afraid to come out, I really don’t know how it’s going to go.’’
They had just sent their mixing desk away to be fixed, which was going to cost thousands. This was ‘‘something people don’t even think about when they come to pay at the door for the gig’’.
Popular hip-hop artist Ladi6, who plays every year at the Mussel Inn, said it was one of the first venues where she performed solo.
She said the hospitality and community experienced at smaller venues like the Mussel Inn, The Park Cafe and the Playhouse in Nelson, was something artists did not get from performing in bigger cities.
‘‘It’s something quite unique to experience such a special taonga to our Kiwi way of life as the local travelling troubadour.’’
Each of the national #saveourvenues campaigns started with $1000 from the Arts Foundation Future Fund, with 5 per cent of their campaign target donated back to it. Visit the Boosted website to donate to the Mussel Inn and Roots Bar.