A jam-packed November of shows kicks off in South Australia today as Good Music Month arrives to reignite a passion for live music.
The open-access festival was launched by Music SA in 2023 when 2,000 artists participated in 650 live music events.
Music SA chief executive Christine Schloithe said this year’s program spanned the scale of “small indie acoustic beer garden events for 20 to 30 people to the other end of the spectrum, the larger touring acts”.
“We’re pleased to say the Adelaide 500 [Supercar championship concerts] is part of the staple of events rolling out with Good Music Month,” she said.
The Supercars championship concerts will this year take place on November 16 and 17. (Supplied: Morgan Sette via Music SA )
Bands at the Adelaide 500 include The Cruel Sea, Crowded House, Ocean Alley, Cold Chisel, and Meg Mac, as well as local acts The Superjesus, Tonix, and J-Milla.
Ms Schloithe said Good Music Month included traditional venues that concentrated on hosting live music throughout the year, as well as spaces where it might not be the norm.
Year-round venues like The Exeter Hotel on Rundle Street will be an active part of Good Music Month. (ABC Radio Adelaide: Malcolm Sutton)
“We’ve got wineries in the Adelaide Hills, a couple of theatres that are doing some work, and a couple of councils both in metropolitan and regional areas that are collaborating with local venues to open up live music opportunities,” she said.
“It really is quite a mixed bag.”
Drawing back crowds
Ms Schloithe said one of Good Music Month’s purposes was to “reignite the passion” of people who had stopped going to live music all year-round.
She said that the number of people engaging with live music was starting to move back to similar numbers to before the COVID-19 pandemic started.
“But we also know there are things impacting how audiences are going back and they aren’t necessarily going back to what they used to see,” Ms Schloithe said.
Stellar performs at Unibar Adelaide during Good Music Month in 2023. (Supplied: Music SA)
“Their spending habits have changed, what they can spend has changed for a lot of people. The cost-of-living crisis is having a very real impact.”
As well as those seeking grassroots artists and new music, Ms Schloithe said some people wanted a different experience, with ticket sales and touring schedules showing many sought “the big end of the market, those big, spectacular shows”.
“When they were younger, they might have been really happy being in that dirty, late night, gritty, hot and sweaty small live music venue,” she said.
“But being 20 or 25 years older they might be looking for a very different kind of venue.
“I think people’s lives are often a lot more complicated so sometimes you just really need to make a much more committed decision to go and see live music compared to the way it used to be.”
Music awards next weekend
A highlight of Good Music Month is the SA Music Awards at the Dom Polski Centre on November 7, which will include live performances by West Thebarton, My Chérie, Sons Of Zöku, and DJ SVVLO.
“We’ve got Guy Sebastian coming, who’s being honoured in the SA Music Hall of Fame this year. He’ll also be performing a couple of numbers,” Ms Schloithe said.
“He grew up in SA and still has strong connections back here so it’s really great for our industry to see that, but also for someone of that calibre to acknowledge they came from SA.”
Notestock to cap it off
The cost-of-living crisis in the wake of COVID-19 has had a severe impact on live music venues and festivals, with higher operating costs and skyrocketing insurance premiums leading to closures and some larger festivals getting postponed or cancelled.
But SA has seen the successful emergence of several mini-festivals like Notestock, which will cap off Good Music Month on November 29 at Unibar Adelaide.
Notestock is being headlined by Melbourne band Private Function and includes performances by locals acts The Tullamarines, Looch, West Thebarton, Tulampanga Pakana hip-hop artist Rulla, and Queensland’s Concrete Gold.
Tulampanga Pakana hip hop artist Rulla, based in Adelaide, will perform at Notestock. (Instagram: @rullamusicofficial)
Launched in 2023 by South Australia’s only printed street magazine The Note, director Olly Raggatt said there was so much good music in SA that “to dedicate a month to it seemed right”.
He said Good Music Month last year was “absolutely crazy … almost the busiest time of the year”, and he expected it to be bigger again this year.
“I think the second year in, people start to know what to expect,” Mr Raggatt said.
The November edition of The Note, which is free and can be collected from venues, pubs, cafes, shops and restaurants across Adelaide, comes out today and includes extra pages for its extensive gig guide.
“It’s jam packed as tight as it possibly could be, which is cool to see,” Mr Raggatt said.
Music SA also hosts a Good Music Month website where people can search by venue, location, or act for what they want to see during November.
