The Stag & Hunter Hotel in Newcastle is helping local, live music get back on its feet by hosting four gigs as part of the massive Great Southern Nights programme.
Great Southern Nights (GSN) is a campaign to help kickstart live music in New South Wales, with more than 900 COVID-safe gigs happening across the state throughout November.Owner of The Stag & Hunter, Mick Starkey says he is rapt to be part of the GSN event and provide opportunities for local artists to get back onstage.
“We put the submission in straight away knowing that all of our local artists and all the artists we support are all original artists, and they’re finding it even tougher in this situation because most of them are full-time musicians,” Mick says.
“To be involved in Great Southern Nights is fantastic, and then to be awarded four gigs was just phenomenal, so we’re stoked about that.”
Gracing the stage at Stag & Hunter is a broad selection of artists from Newcastle and the greater NSW region, including Frank Sultana, Lili Crane, Dani El Rassi and Paris Grace (who performed last weekend: 6-7 November) as well as Bloody Hell (27 November) and Chase The Sun (28-29 November).
“I made a very strong point when I wanted to book the Great Southern Nights shows – because we got four shows – of having different artists each time,” Mick explains.
“With Lili Crane, Dani El Rassi and Paris Grace – they’re very indie, young bands, very cool. Chase The Sun are full-on, heavy blues stoner rock, amazing musicianship; Frank Sultana [is] like a bluesman with songs that tear you away.
“Then we add Bloody Hell into it, a young punk band from Newcastle who are making great waves. For me, I really wanted to make sure I chose bands that I knew would benefit from this opportunity, that was the key for me.”
Getting musicians back onstage has been one of Mick’s chief concerns throughout the COVID crisis, alongside keeping The Stag & Hunter afloat. “Obviously, weathering the storm has been difficult,” he says.
“The impact on live music has been immense; it felt like the venue had lost its soul essentially.
“We opened up and operated without live music, and we did that for a couple of months while we tried to work out how we could do it – one, that the artist could get paid and two, that we were maximising our own profits to ensure to venue remained viable.
“So, we worked it out and basically since July we’ve been hosting live music events almost every Friday and Saturday night.”
With shows being seated and patrons unable to get up and dance, Mick says live gigs at Stag & Hunter have taken on a whole new dimension.
“We had one particular metal band play, The Witching Hour; I talked to them after the show and they were a bit flat after the show because no one was able to dance and what you’d normally do at a metal show.
“I said to the guys: ‘On a positive note, you didn’t notice the crowd were absolutely enthralled with your musicianship and the way you were playing? You had them connected. They appreciated what you were playing now more than ever.’ That made them look at it a little bit different.”
Great Southern Nights is a much needed shot in the arm for live music in New South Wales, both for the artists and the punters, after what has been one of the most depressing periods for the music industry.
“It’s been difficult in terms of the volumes of people and actually turning a profit over the bar,” Mick says.
“But the silver lining on this really dark cloud is that all of our shows have been ticketed, which has been fantastic. All of the shows have sold out, the artists have been paid really well, and it’s nice to see people really appreciating live and original music and not taking it for granted.”
Aside from their remaining Great Southern Nights shows, The Stag & Hunter have a stack of life music happening throughout November-December.
Great Southern Nights At The Stag & Hunter Newcastle
Fri 27 Nov – Bloody Hell, Microwave Johnny, Motionless CanvasSat 28 Nov - Chase The Sun* sold out
Sun 29 Nov – Chase The Sun
