It all started with a Boosted campaign to save our Karangahape Road neighbours Whammy and Wine Cellar. Within just 8 hours $50,000 was raised by a community of artists, techs, punters, promoters and event organisers.
On the back of that success, Lucy Macrae (Whammy Bar and punk band Dick Move), musician Reb Fountain and Banished Music’s Rueben Bonner came together to launch a nation wide Save Our Venues movement on Boosted.
To kick it off, Whammy nominated Neck of the Woods to launch our own fundraising campaign, supported by Neck of the Woods regulars Gareth Popham of Fuzen, Dylan C (Music for the People) and MC Tali and Chiccoreli (Liquid Lowdown). The day after the Neck of the Woods fundraiser started, we nominated our friends down the hill, Cassette 9, to be part of the Save Our Venues campaign. Since then multiple venues around the country have been nominated to join the movement, with more being added every day.
The Save our Venues movement put together by Lucy, Reb and Rueben meant that each music venue is automatically given a $1000 koha from Arts Foundation Future Fund, plus 5% of the Boosted campaign target, donated back to them.
It’s a pay it forward movement full of love and an acknowledged need for a diverse whāriki of music venues around the motu. It’s no secret music venues all around New Zealand were struggling to survive high rents even before lockdown. In order to get back up and running, long after many other businesses have been able to reopen, we need the help of our community. Our local artists need your help too. They’ve all had to cancel gigs and tours and now face a future of uncertain revenue. In the words of Val Knut of Wellington’s rock venue Valhalla, “Keep listening to your favourite bands and download their stuff on bandcamp. Keep up the enthusiastic vibe on social media that you can't wait to see this band or this kind of event happen”.
We’re looking forward to a 2020 packed with gigs that see the local music scene thrive and blossom like never before. Of course we’re gutted to be missing out on the international acts that have had to cancel shows at our club, but what an opportunity to really build up our local artists. Here at Neck of the Woods we’ve had the pleasure of seeing a number of acts come into fruition on our stage and then go on to perform in much bigger arenas : SWIDT, Benee, JessB, Marlins Dreaming, Montell2099, Drax Project, Bailey Wiley, Church & AP, Mako Road and many more. We’re excited to nau mai hoki mai the artists who’ve found a home on our stage but also to see new faces build something and find a community here.
So how can you help make this beautiful future a reality? Save Our Venues organiser Lucy Macrae told Under The Radar “We are calling on everyone to help. Anyone can do it – artists, audience members, reviewers, techies, promoters – all of us. First up – if you can, please donate – chip in what you can to make a difference … post your own video or photo with your memory of the venue as a response and share this with your community along with the link to this page so that your friends can donate too”
If you’re posting photos or videos from Neck of the Woods please use the hashtags #weloveneckofthewoods and #saveourvenuesnz so we can find your memories - each one encourages us to keep going.
To donate to the Neck of the Woods campaign it’s as easy as going to our Boosted page. You can see all the music venues around the country that are part of the Save Our Venues movement here.
