Last weekend was the first trial of the controversial 1:30 lockout laws in Sydney. Everyone (no literally everyone) has put in their two cents on the issue, so I won’t go into too much detail right now about it. The moral of the story is that nothing crushingly terrible happened last Friday, Saturday (Mardi Gras) or Sunday night. Goodgod Small Club didn’t suddenly implode, Sharks didn’t appear in The Ivy pool, Chinese Laundry wasn’t annexed by the state and The Coca Cola sign in Kings Cross wasn’t replaced by an evil all-seeing eye. In fact, if it weren’t for Tonedeaf, Mess + Noise, The Sydney Morning Herald, FasterLouder, MusicFeeds, Polaroids Of Androids and The NSW Police Minister spouting doom and gloom about the state of city’s cultural scene, you might almost be inclined to believe that a night out in Sydney ain’t all that bad.
So quit your whining this weekend and head on down to the Inner City’s most petite suburb where The Imperial Hotel is cutting the red tape on it’s brand new basement venue – The Roller Den. With an… umm… charmingly designed website and an illustrious history on film, committing to a performance space dedicated to live music could be a step in the right direction for rebranding the Erskineville venue as a new musical staple for the inner western suburbs. Plans are already in place for regular hip-hop and indie nights, both set to launch later this month, and the venue is already some of the nation’s favourites, playing host to King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard on April 10th and Stonefield on March 28th.
For the grand opening tonight (7th March), The Snowdroppers are headlining a fourteen act bill (fourteen!) which claims to stretch well beyond sunrise and into the first 8 hours of Saturday morning. No lockout laws in the wild wild west. If you haven’t heard The Snowdroppers then you’ve been living your life without everyone’s favourite dapper indie blues rock, and that just simply won’t do. Check out Moving out of Eden below. Also on the bill are predictable electronique four piece The Khanz, balladeering philosophers The Rider, psychonautic engineers Dead Radio and a whole heap more.
Full lineup and set times are below – tickets are about $30 from moshers and probably about the same on the door. Judging by the mere 550 person capacity, a bill with this many bands (all bringing their mates along) and the buzz that the party has been garnering from industry familiars, I’d say book ahead and save yourself from potential disappointment.
11:30 – 12:30am – SNOWDROPPERS
10:30 – 11:10pm – BORN LION
9:45 – 10:15pm – THE DEAD LOVE
9:00 – 9:30 – DEAD RADIO
8:15 – 8:45pm – HELL CRAB CITY
7:30 – 8:00pm – TIGER & THE ROGUES
THE CORNER STORE STAGE
12:30 – 1:20am – THE KHANZ
11:45 – 12:15am – PANACHE
11:00 – 11:30pm – WASTERS
10:15 – 10:45pm – THIEVES
9:30 – 10:00pm – THE FIXATORS
8:45 – 9:15pm – THE RIDER
8:00 – 8:30pm – SUNDOWN STATE
7:15 – 7:45pm – THE RUNAWAY HOUSES
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