Last Drinks.

Posted on August 22, 2012 by Super Action Radio Team

DOUBLE GLAZING WOULD HAVE SOLVED EVERYTHING.

It has been a great passion, and pleasure, of ours to be a conversation partner with you all in the debate about liquor licensing reform and small venue licenses.

Let’s go right back to VIBRATORS, Renew Adelaide’s forum that kick started the conversation about small venue license reform. There were many an invested person in attendance that night including one Ian Horne, General Manager of the Australian Hotels Association South Australia. Ian was offered the chance the stand up and speak on the night…

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(apologies for audio quality)

It was positive to note that Ian saw “no particular conflict” with the implementation of a small venue license. Also noteworthy was the seemingly placing of the blame upon the shoulders of local government.

Next, I suppose, came this opinion piece by the Advertisers David Penberthy entitled: How the hotel lobby is wrecking our city

In it Penberthy describes the AHA, and Ian Horne as it’s head, as a major obstacle in the implementation of a small venue license, citing the oldest of all the motives: greed. Liquor licenses are a sacred thing in this state, and worth a whole lot of money. The more liquor licenses that are granted, the less one’s license is relatively worth. Not to mention the competing interests of attracting the drinking consumer. Penberthy does note that the likelihood of any real competition is minimal, as small bars would cater to a niche that wouldn’t derive from the stalwart pub drinker. Penberthy also laments the seeming loss of actual pub culture, cleared away for the pokie.

Ian Horne quickly responded with a letter to the editor that you can find here

It is clear that Penberthy wrote an impassioned piece that could well have done with some fact checking. What is interesting to note is that the AHA’s policy is they “are not yet convinced that current liquor laws can’t accommodate that outcome with some tweaking” in reference to encouraging small venues. Again the AHA places a chunk of the blame upon local government.

The AHA released a information booklet entitled Raising the Bar Ignores Reality, which you can find here. It contains some of the dubious statistics that Penberthy talks about in his piece, as well as a direct attack on the Raise the Bar movement launched by John Wardle at the Small Venue Licenses forum.

After the VIBRATORS forum we spoke with both the Lord Mayor Stephen Yarwood, who bizarrely spoke of golden taps, and the Premier of South Australia Jay Weatherill. Asked about whether he agreed with the Penberthy article, the Premier responded “To the extent that our liquor licensing laws are preventing small bars and small organisations like arts and other culture groups, live venues from getting a foot hold in the city, they need to change. I agree with his analysis”. Mr Weatherill went on to state that he “didn’t beleive the hotels lobby have anything to fear from this”, in reference to liquor licensing reform.

That same night the Premier announced a last Thinker in Residence to tackle the live music scene, which would encompass liquor licensing, building code, environmental code and music infrastructure.

All well and good.

But it was time to hear another point of view. The Scenery invited General Manager of the AHA Ian Horne onto the show to tell us his point of view of the liquor licensing reform debate. To his credit, Ian immediately replied and booked in a date for a live chat on the show.

Like with the Premier we decided to section the show into particular topics.

Firstly, in light of the Crown and Sceptre closure, and the going into administration of the Dublin, Holdfast and Talbot hotels, was there a problem with the current hotel culture that has seen a reduction in patronage?

Secondly, in the 90s and early 2000s the Producers, Tivoli, Austral and Exeter were all pubs integral to the live music scene. Apartment blocks went up around all of them, noise complaints were made and live music was severely reduced or cut all together. The Tivoli sat vacant for some time before eventually being renovated into a trendy professionals bar; the Producers went through a handful of owners and a handful of names and now has sat empty for some months, if not over a year; the Austral tried to set up a club in the backroom which failed, and now has no live music; the Exeter continues to have live music in the squashed front section of the pub, but regularly receives noise complaints. What can be done, either legislatively or politically, to prevent these common sense issues from being detrimental to existing, live music venues?

And finally, what is the opinion of the AHA when it comes to liquor licensing reform in regards to small bars and venues.

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A polite conversation was had by all, with some off the record insight that gave a little more heart to the matter. Noticeably the common thread of blame in the eyes of the AHA, in terms of the struggle to obtain small venue license, seems to continually lie with local government.

It is no surprise that an organisation that represents hundreds or more hotels around the state, which represents hundreds of millions of dollars, would be defensive when talk of something that may weaken their market share is spruiked. To the credit of the AHA, though, they seem to want to be part of the conversation, perhaps recognising the inevitability of it all. In this cynics opinion though, there are many forms of easier revenue raising for pubs and the AHA then the unprofitable struggle of lobbying for live music.

What is a beer without a good chat? What is a glass of wine without a wanky conversation about where it was grown, and the shit art that’s hanging up in front of you? What’s tequila without the tapas to soak it up? And what the fuck is a pub without a sweaty, stinking shit band that can’t play. The fucking Havelock.

This week’s feature song was going to be Old Fool, as performed by Matt Banham and Summerflake, but those arseholes didn’t allow it to be streamed from their bandcamp. But we’re good chaps, so here’s The Real Thing by Summerflake.

The Hon.

Posted on June 18, 2012 by Super Action Radio Team

This story begins many many weeks ago. Adelaide was much younger then, and in need of some soft nurturing hands and some bars.

I was standing in the offices of Radio Adelaide (228 North Terrace, next to the Anthopolgy building, for all you subscription needs). Restless, I tapped my collegue John on the shoulder and asked whether he would fancy a skip and a hop down to Format. I beleive we took the route of North Terrace down to King William, as to avoid the consumers in Rundle Mall, and perhaps stick our noses into Tuxedo Cat to ascertain whether the selling of beers was occurring.

The sun was near completing it’s decent beyond the gulf of St Vincent, when in actuality it was the Earth itself, particularly the South Easternish hemisphere, turning away from the sun (or if your point of view is America/Europe being the centre of the world, turning toward the sun.) We were on Hindley Street by that stage, I could tell because the shop fronts took on a decidedly lesser brow.

We turned, fighting the unavoidbale g-force of vibrations, down into Peel Street where standing there was none other than Tea & Magazine merchant, and some times bicycle chaining felon Joshua Fanning.

“Oh, hello dear sir. Jolly funny that we should bump into you like this. What may I ask brings you to this most vibrative of bitchumen paths”, I said.

“Waiting for a bunch of beaurocrats”.

Mr Fanning went onto explain that the capital city committee had decided to tinker with the already fine workings of Leigh St and that, he beleived, they should perhaps focus some time and energy on the laneways that weren’t doing so well, such as the very one upon which we stood.

We bid him good luck, tipped our hats, and journeyed forth to Format. Despite the sign on the door reading that the shop were to open at Three PM, and it being a quarter past that time, the door was locked. We therefore turned heel, and traveled back to Josh. It was at this time that the capital city committee turned up.

I said to my collegue John.

“Hold up good chap, let’s eavesdrop”.

And that we did.

It turned out that this group of bureaucrats included Lord Mayor Stephen Yarwood and Premeir Jay Weatherill. We inconspicuously waited back, leaning on pillars like the cool guys that we were (although I think John was standing upright, like a person above the age of 17). All of a sudden standing next to us, like a ninja from a thin mist, was a woman.

“Are you with Josh”, she asked.

A conversation ensued, the woman introduced herself as Lois Boswell, deputy chief of staff of the Premier. We introduced ourselves as The Scenery, we make lots and lots of money with our radio show. Seconds later we were shaking hands with the Premier, giving our personnel details to the governent, and then shaking hands with the Mayor.

Then Stan came. It involved the Mayor, there may have been talk of ball tickling, but that’s another story…

Some time after that the Scenery was involved in a conversation that may well have changed the course of Adelaide’s destiny: The Cultural Impact of Licensing and Regulation for Small Venues and Bars CODENAME: VIBRATORS.

So we all know what happened there, or we SHOULD all know ^^^. Anyway I found myself with a pint of Little Creatures Quiet American, sitting in the front bar of the Wheatsheaf with a host of good people and Stan. Joe Hay was talking excitedly about an idea that we’ll come back to a bit later. Then Lois Boswell leans over, like a ninja from a thin mist, and says.

“Y’know, we got to get the Premier on your show”

“Sure”, I said.

And the rest is history. Thanks Lois.

And so the Scenery, along with Ianto Ware, welcomed Premier Jay Weatherill. We weren’t short of any topics of interest for the Premier, but decided on three main points of focus:

1)The budget decisions regarding the Thinkers in Residence Program and the Integrated Design Commission and what that meant for the future of South Australian design.

2) The government’s response to suggestions of a small venues liquor license, and amendments to building codes in order to stimulate Adelaide’s fine grain culture and night time economy.

3) How important is the relationship between State and Local Governments in achieving the related goals of the above.

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The announcement of a Thinker in Residence, most likely the last of the program, to tackle the live music industry and the related issues, was met with great anticipation from the Scenery and de facto member Ianto Ware. The idea for this goes way back to before that night at the Wheatsheaf.

“So who do you think we should get to be a Thinker for the live music scene”. Joe Hay asks putting me on the spot.

“Nick Cave”, I say.

“Lemmy”, says Ianto.

(The Scenery shall hold a poll as to who you think would be the better thinker.)

Following the show the Premier visited the Jade Monkey, and spoke with Zac before sitting down for a beer and a chat with Mateo, Ianto and myself. Then it was time for an impromptu tour of down stairs bar Two Ships, during Mutiny. Only in Adelaide.

Goodnight, and goodluck.

His Worship

Posted on May 24, 2012 by Super Action Radio Team

In 2010, just before the Council Elections, I interviewed Stephen Yarwood for the University of Adelaide’s student publication On Dit. The premise given to me was ‘There’s a bit of noise around this candidate, see what you can find out’. What I found was a guy who spoke like a politician, but said exciting things. His ideas were sound; building a progressive, sustainable city and selling it to the world.

There was talk of ‘activating’ and ‘vibrating’, ‘laneways’ and ‘Copenhagen bicycle lanes’, ‘green technology’ and ‘sustainable infrastructure’ and so on.This didn’t mean much to some people, but for those that were dreaming of a Scandinavia closer to home, or didn’t want to undertake the great migration to Melbourne or Sydney, it was music to their ears.

These people, were more or less, a mixture of artists and young entrepreneurs, the next generation of Uni graduates, or just regular people who liked engaging with their city and it’s culture. What he did was tap the largest unused potential vote, the youth vote. He engaged the next generation of taxpayers, and told them that change was coming and that they finally had a chance to create the Adelaide they always wanted. This resulted in many an influential cultural purveyor of the city spruiking the idea of a young mayor that shared their ideas, to an extent.

And so it came to pass that with a flurry of excitement, and hope for life and change in our city that Stephen Yarwood became the Lord Mayor, beating his next opponent by some 800 votes.

Then this happened..http://renewadelaide.wordpress.com/2011/08/16/the-curious-case-of-the-bike-in-the-laneway/ and every one became aware that just because the face of the machine has changed, doesn’t mean the cogs have.

But nevertheless, Adelaide feels like it wants to move forward more than it ever has in my lifetime, and Mayor Yarwood must receive some credit in nurturing that evolution. We were very excited and appreciative to have the Mayor come into the studios and have a chat with us. Here John and Ryan are joined by the Mayor and Scenery adoptee Ianto, to talk about the Liquor Licensing forum, as well as the current state of Adelaide. A great conversation, and hopefully one of many with the Mayor.

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Following on from the Mayor, John, Ryan and Ianto continued their chat that led on into Mateo’s interview with John Wardle. Facing similiar problems in Sydney some years ago, John undertook a successful campaign to amend New South Wales’ liquor licensing. With the help of Arts SA, Renew adelaide brought John over to head the forum on Liquor Licensing.

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John also has started a Raise the Bar campaign for South Australia. Have a read, and if you decide to join an email will be sent to all the relevant politicians.

This week’s feature track comes from ‘Adelaide’s Best Guitarist’, according to Ianto. It’s Summerflake! with Run Run Run.

In some other exciting news, The Scenery is a finalist in Pedestrian TV’s blogster of the year awards. To see what it’s all about, and perhaps give us a vote, go here

Adios.

Behind the Curtain, on the Street

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Super Action Radio Team

This episode of the Scenery originally aired the 2nd of December and featured the two founding members of the West Hindley Street All Male Cowboy Enthusiast Choir, Ryan ‘Cold Baked Beans’ Winter and Luke ‘Fat Guy Poncho’ Eygenraam.

This week on the Scenery, Dave and Alex were solemnly lead through the thick green carpeted corridors of Town Hall and brought before the Mayor, whilst in another time and part of town Sebastian Tonkin of poorly lit cello fame spoke to Jake One Holmes and Cassie Alvey about the new artist collective Tooth and Nail before its grand opening.

For the past couple of years, for me anyway, it has felt as though Adelaide was teetering on the verge of something good, at the cusp of a cultural revival that only seems to live in the rose coloured memories of those who experienced the fruits of the Dunstan era. In the midst of this came Stephen Yarwood who, through many a door knock and fresh idea, was elected Mayor. He was poised as the man that could finally untie the strings that had held down those aching to push this city into vibrancy. Dave Harden had a chat with the Mayor on a big leather couch.

The Scenery meets Stephen Yarwood

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Let’s just assume that you have been listening to the show prior to reading this, and/or you have an interest in the exciting goings on in your city, you would have come across talk of activating laneways, urban renewal and creating vibrancy. Well this a group of artists that may inadvertently do just that. Tooth and Nail are a new artist collective running out of a warehouse space on Eliza St, near Light Square. Seb chats with organisers Jake One Holmes and Cassie Alvey about the Tooth and Nail story.

Tooth and Nail

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This week’s feature track comes from Adelaide band Horror My Friend with the track ‘Make Friends’. Unfortunately we were unable to locate a source for you to hear the song, but awesomely the Friday Range recorded a few songs in the Radio Adelaide studios. Make Friends appears as the 5th and final track.

Horror My Friend on the Friday Sessions

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Here a little something on Pre Mayoral Stephen Yarwood from 2010′s On Dit

Open publication – Free publishing – More journalism

and here’s an interview with Tooth and Nail by the lovely Jennie Lenman of Streetcast

Tooth and Nail on Breakfast with Jennie Lenman

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Smoke us a kipper skipper. Luke & Ryan. & (gans)

theScenery.com.au

stories from the curious city

Tag Archives: Stephen Yarwood

Last Drinks.

The Hon.

His Worship

Behind the Curtain, on the Street