Summer hotting up for music lovers

THE Perth music landscape has been irreversibly transformed over the past decade with events organisers for outdoor concerts and festivals poised to stage one of the busiest summers in Perth's entertainment history.

Major players such as Sunset Events, Roundhouse Entertainment and Mellen Events are part of a growing number of local organisers and promoters that will bring more than 20 major summer alfresco festivals to the state, including stalwarts the Big Day Out, Southbound, Summadayze, Good Vibrations and the Future Music Festival.

Despite the downturn in the Australian dollar and the turmoil gripping global financial markets, organisers and promoters have early signs of strong attendance numbers this year, with a bright projected outlook for the future of the business locally.

"It's not all doom and gloom out there. People still want to entertain themselves and I believe that if the brand is good and the acts you get over here are good, then people are going to want to always head out to these events," Mellen Events founder Brad Mellen told Business Class.

In comparison to Sydney and Melbourne, the WA outdoor events industry is still relatively young, emerging only about a decade ago.

Leeuwin Estate was a pioneer of sorts, staging one of the earliest major outdoor concerts in the mid-1980s.

This year, most organisers are selling tickets quickly for their outdoor music events, although Business Class understands a few promoters are struggling to get sales for some smaller festivals and concerts. But, industry insiders have refused to disclose which events were battling.

Simply Red's concert at Kings Park has sold-out with 6,000 tickets sold and there are 200 tickets remaining for the second show.

An Evening on the Green with John Mellencamp at Sandalford Winery, his first Australian tour in 15 years, has sold-out with 10,000 tickets sold. Business Class understands Mellencamp's second show is also close to selling out.

Mr Mellen said electronic dance festival Summadazye, held at the Supreme Court Gardens, was selling 100 per cent better than this time in 2007, with Global Gathering and the Future Music Festival ticket sales also tracking well.

Sunset Events' flagship event Southbound, a two-day camping festival at Sir Stuart Park in Busselton, has again sold-out, attracting up to 20,000 people each day.

Sunset Events said ticket sales for Stereosonic at Claremont Showgrounds were "cranking along", but the company would not release rolling sales figures.

The company's second outdoor festival, the West Coast Blues 'n' Roots Festival, held in March each year, has grown from 5,000 attendees in 2004 to selling out this year with about 30,000 tickets sold.

Sunset Events promoter David Chitty said Perth has finally tuned into the international music scene, labelling the industry in WA as "extremely healthy".

"The scene has seen some massive transformations over the past few years, namely the emergence of some major home-grown and national festivals," he told Business Class.

"The artists themselves continue to push boundaries and the scene continues to grow and strengthen.

"It's changed drastically and irreversibly. Ten years ago Perth was a very different place, but today it is a vibrant city with a cultural movement to match and this includes a world-class choice of music festivals."

Sunset Events, which was founded by Mr Chitty and Andrew Chernov in 1997, will also bring inaugural music event and conference, One Movement Festival, to Perth next October.

The state government recently secured the One Movement Festival to showcase Australian and Asian new music talent on a global scale. Tourism Minister Liz Constable said the event, expected to return $2.7 million from tourism next year, would transform Perth into a major music talent hub and a breeding ground for new bands. Modelled on similar events in Los Angeles and London, Dr Constable said organisers had chosen Perth because of its prime location within the Asia-Pacific region and the "enormous talent pool within the industry".

Mr Chitty said securing One Movement epitomised Perth's status as a major music market and ideal location for concerts. "We're right up there. Once upon a time we were left off the touring circuit, now Perth's a major revenue centre for national promoters," he said.

"We have an active audience, a healthy music scene and as such the desire for music festivals."

Mr Mellen said because of the high costs involved with getting international acts to Perth, the survival of the industry rested on events like One Movement to ensure the sector continued to attract big-name outfits.

"It's all about the acts. If you put on a good environment, then you'll survive because it's a good social experience that people go for," he said.

"And in Perth, we always punch above our weight."

Mr Chitty agreed, adding the competitive advantage for a promoter was to ensure the audience enjoyed a quality social experience, not just a musical one.

"We've always been pretty honest in telling people who we are and what we are about," he said.

"There is no marketing plan, but to offer the best for our punters. Treat them honestly and they'll keep coming back.

"The punter is a savvy being these days, and won't accept sub-standard shows...We see ourselves apart from the standard promoter as we've always done things differently, right from the Sunset Cinema days.

"We've always strived to bring all of these things together in a memorable festival for the punter, so for want of a better word, I suppose we are a leader, our brand is pretty unique in WA."

In 1985, Leeuwin Estate pioneered the outdoor concert concept, a music series that has grown to be a staple on the WA social and cultural calendar.

"Twenty-five years ago, the staging of an alfresco concert with one of the world's leading orchestras, at a winery 290 kilometres from the world's most isolated capital city, before an audience who picnicked on the lawn, was a fairly novel idea," Leeuwin Estate marketing director Simone Horgan-Furlong said.

"Such an incongruous event made front page news and was described at the time as the most extraordinary concert ever to be held in Australia, launching what was to become an annual tradition and institution on Australia's summertime social calendar."