NAKED CITY – AN OPEN AND SHUT CASE?

In case you haven’t noticed, amongst the furore created with the ‘Keep Sydney Open’ campaign, a small but vocal opposition group ‘Keep Sydney Closed’, has recently emerged. Originally branded a satire and a pisstake, if you believe the spiel on their Facebook page, they are seriously legit!

Their message is very much one about maintaining the current lock out laws and keeping the city relatively free of drunken violence. Their more radical fellow travellers point to a conspiracy between the NSW liquor industry, gangster owned night clubs and sleazy drug dealers in pushing to have the lock out laws abolished.

Regardless of which side of the identification scanner you stand, there is a serious amount of misinformation being generated amongst the passion of the current debate. The most recent mass anti-lockout demonstration was accompanied by an endorsement from Jimmy Barnes claiming that attendance at live music venues had dropped 40 per-cent since the 1.30am shut out was introduced.

The figure seems grossly exaggerated given that live music has been on the decline in Sydney for over a decade, allowing for the changing face of pubs and clubs and the closure of numerous venues such as The Hopetoun, The Annandale, The Harbourside Brasserie and The Landsdowne – to name just a few. Traditionally most live music gigs finish around midnight or 1.00am, so it’s hard to say that they have been affected at all. A myriad of other factors have also come into play, that have put the kibosh on live music, including restrictive noise pollution laws and heavy handed council compliance regulations.

One of the furphies associated with the ‘Open’ lobby is that rescinding the current lockout laws will see a revitalisation of the live music scene. It will certainly create extra work for DJ’s and bar staff, but whether any musicians genuinely benefit from a Mike Baird backflip remains to be seen. It would certainly be great to think that musicians would gig more with the lifting of the lockout laws and that clubs and pubs would program not only prerecorded but live music well into the small hours.

One proposal that’s been put forward is that venues committed to live music (as opposed to muzak) to down shots by, be given special dispensation when it comes to extended after midnight hours. Perhaps this would have to be enforced with a degree of qualification, otherwise some venues might chose to employ one of those wretched one-man guitar strumming cover bands belting out Oasis and Don McLean – just to stay open.

The Cross and Oxford Street are at the epicentre of the current lockout debate, although the Sydney CBD probably sees the ugliest and most regular alcohol fuelled violence. Whilst a possible softening of the present lockout laws seems likely, there is a strong argument that Sydney nightlife needs to reinvigorated during the wee small hours.

Somehow the unholiest of all nocturnal alliances, that between entertainment and the flogging of booze, needs be broken. That of course is entirely wishful thinking, but surely some kind of compromise and creative thinking is possible. Nobody in their right mind is going to open a nightclub for teetotallers, although it would be an interesting experiment but maybe a ‘sobering hour’ between 2pm and 3pm could be inserted into the late night trading. Bar service would cease for an hour whilst patrons were offered free coffee and donuts, resuming at 3pm until the close at dawn.

Totally ridiculous? Yeah, you are probably right, and wouldn’t the booze barons hate it if they were denied an hour of lining up shots and other overpriced drinks. It is however a suggestion and lots are needed, on top of the current black and white debate which is irreconcilably divided between open or closed.