Boost for live music

A new Geelong music festival could rock Little Malop Street in spring 2018 under City Hall plans to revamp the local live scene.
The City released its Geelong Live Music Action Plan (LiveMAP) last week which set out plans for CBD venues to host an all-new contemporary music festival.
The “high priority” project would require more than $50,000 in financial support, combined with other contributions, according to the plan.
City Hall hoped LiveMAP would encourage other one-day music festivals in Geelong.
The plan estimated the economic value of live music to Geelong at more than $150 million, based on a National Live Music Office report in 2014.
The estimate calculated the value based on the report’s national figure of $15.1 billion and Geelong’s population of 235,000.
Geelong’s administrators endorsed LiveMAP in their latest meeting last week.
Administrator chair Kathy Alexander said the City’s ongoing investment in the plan would be critical in securing state and federal funding.
“Implementing the LiveMAP can only bring economic benefits to our region and for musicians a new and vibrant forum for them to share their talents and entertain our community.”
Dr Alexander said City Hall works such as its Little Malop St Laneway Project could help mark Geelong as a “creative and vibrant” city.
LiveMAP highlighted Geelong’s centre as the city’s music epicentre and aimed to make the area a thriving live scene.
The plan quoted research indicating live music spending in Australia resulted in at least a 3:1 benefit-to-cost ratio.
City Hall could also offer incentives to attract more live acts to Geelong, the plan explained.
The City’s continued support of music events like Geelong’s Best Busker would be central to the plan.
The closure of the iconic, 150-year-old National Hotel, due to structural and maintenance issues, hit Geelong’s live music scene hard in 2013.
Owner George Ramia reopened the pub once affectionately known as “The Nash” this year as a boutique bar.
But the remade venue was a far cry from the grungy live-music home of Geelong’s alternative crowd and late-night dim sims that it used to be.