Live music venue closes<\/a><\/p>\nThe Sunshine Coast’s largest live music venue is shutting down, with the owners stating that they need double the number of bookings to stay afloat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The bar blamed rising operating costs, changing audience behaviours and economic pressures that had “created a difficult environment for venues to survive”.<\/p>\n
Late last year, Birtinya music venue The Station also announced it would close, hosting Pete Murray as its final live act on January 2.<\/p>\n
One of a kind<\/p>\n
Natalee Johns from band Hugo and the Hive said Solbar had been “the most supportive venue” they had worked with.<\/p>\n
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Solbar will close this weekend after more than 20 years as a live-music venue on the Sunshine Coast. (Supplied: Solbar)<\/p>\n
She described Solbar’s entertainment manager, Melissa O’Bryan, as the “glue to the Sunshine Coast music industry”.<\/p>\n
“She saw something in us that not many other people had the time or interest in,” Ms Johns said.<\/p>\n
“Her passion for including youth in the music space has always been unmatched and we always felt the love with her and Solbar.”<\/p>\n
She said Solbar was an important part of the band’s history \u2014 they first performed as an opening act, and then as the headline.<\/p>\n
“Without that support, we would have never had a place at the table in this industry,” Ms Johns said.<\/p>\n
“Solbar gave us a leg to stand on, and helped us give back as well to the next generation fo youth bands.<\/p>\n
“There will never be a venue like Solbar, and I am forever grateful for what they have done for me, both with my confidence as a young person to adult, and as a musician.”<\/p>\n
Sunshine Coast artists Wave Raiders said they were “absolutely gutted” by the news.<\/p>\n
“Such an important venue for emerging original bands like us,” they said.<\/p>\n
No part of music industry is safe<\/p>\n
QMusic chief executive Kris Stewart said there was a mixture of shock and an “inevitable sadness” that the Solbar could be lost.<\/p>\n
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Kris Stewart says live music venues are under pressure across Australia and across the world. (Supplied)<\/p>\n
But she said this was not just an issue for the Sunshine Coast, but for the country and the world.<\/p>\n
“All music venues are looking at real challenges like this in the eye and having to make, for many of them, really difficult decisions,” Mr Stewart said.<\/p>\n
“You’re seeing an extraordinary number of small venues across the UK and US and Australia, sort of face ever-increasing challenges around presentation.<\/p>\n
“I think it was interesting when they announced the Oasis tour, I think three-quarters of the venues where they did their first tour as an emerging band had subsequently shut.”<\/p>\n
Mr Stewart said all levels of government and industry needed to look at how to support these venues to survive.<\/p>\n
“One of the things I think we need to do is find ways to protect that passion and make sure these absolutely essential pieces of infrastructure aren’t lost to Queensland forever.”<\/p>\n
Costs going up, punters drinking less<\/p>\n
Solbar co-owner and co-founder Alex Johns said the venue was hit by higher costs, combined with fewer able to spend money on a night out.<\/p>\n
“The challenge is that it has always been, our funding model is based around food and beverage,” he said.<\/p>\n
“And people just don’t have the money to spend on that these days”.<\/p>\n
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Co-owners of Solbar say the venue has been under pressure with rising costs, while punters were spending less on a night out. (Supplied: Solbar)<\/p>\n
On top of that, behaviours were changing.<\/p>\n
“A lot of people just aren’t drinking anymore, particularly the younger generation,” he said.<\/p>\n
“The younger ones certainly don’t drink like they used to, they want to be home earlier, and that just makes it tricky, really.”<\/p>\n
But while the end is near, he expected the Solbar to exit the scene with a bang.<\/p>\n
“Lots of the local guys that have been with us and supported us for the whole journey, they’re coming back in to tear the roof off it one more time.”<\/p>\n
Thanks and goodbye<\/p>\n
Marketing manager Katie Mateus has worked at the club for 12 years.<\/p>\n
She said the venue had “been a home, a family, and a place where countless memories were made”.<\/p>\n
“Many of our staff have dedicated over a decade of their lives to this space and the reluctant decision to close has been heartbreaking,” Ms Mateus said.<\/p>\n
Solbar will hold its final event on February 28.<\/p>\n
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Dimi Limnatitis and Alex Johns say they are incredibly proud of the venue’s legacy. (ABC News: Owen Jacques)<\/p>\n
Co-owner and co-founder Dimitris Limnatitis said the venue was created with “nothing more than a genuine passion for live music”.<\/p>\n
“Fifteen years on, we’ve watched artists take their first steps on our stage and go on to perform on the world stage, and that’s something we’re incredibly proud of.”<\/p>\n
The venue said it wanted to show gratitude to the artists, staff and “the audiences who danced, sang and made Solbar what it was”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Sunshine Coast’s longest-running live music venue Solbar is shutting down, after more than 20 years providing a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":500045,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[251543,64,63,100396,251544,134,251541,251542,30888,67774,251540,11942],"class_list":{"0":"post-500044","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-alex-johns","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-closing","12":"tag-dimitris-limnatitis","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-live-music-venue","15":"tag-local-bands","16":"tag-music-industry","17":"tag-rising-costs","18":"tag-solbar","19":"tag-sunshine-coast"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=500044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/500045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=500044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=500044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=500044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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