Features
Live music venues are facing one of the toughest periods in decades. Rising costs and changing nightlife habits are forcing many spaces to rethink how they operate — but some venues are finding creative ways to adapt and survive. The Economic Pressure on Live Music Venues Small to mid-size live music venues across Australia and
Local hip-hop artists Caelwhip and Notorious Nix prepare to support national touring act Illy outside Solbar. Photo: Ben Russoniello. The Maroochydore venue will shut after two decades as one of the region’s key touring rooms. Solbar has announced it will permanently close, removing one of the Sunshine Coast’s primary mid-capacity live music venues and leaving
Most people describe the Sunshine Coast through its daylight routines: surf checks at dawn, school pickups, market mornings and early dinners with the shutters down by ten. The assumption is that culture lives elsewhere and the coast is where you come to reset afterward. Compared to the Gold Coast, it’s often framed as the natural
People often assume touring shows land on the Sunshine Coast randomly. A promoter picks a room and hopes for the best kind of a deal. In reality, where a band plays here is usually determined by audience behaviour more than popularity. This region isn’t a single strip of venues, the Sunshine Coast live music venues
After 20 years on the Australian folk circuit, Sunshine Coast singer-songwriter Andrea Kirwin is attempting to leave the music industry behind and find a new path through comedy. Andrea Kirwin has never waited for the music industry to make things easy. On the Sunshine Coast, where rising costs, venue closures and shifting audience habits are
Main picture: A digital interpretation of a future Coochin Fields, which has been approved for the Sunshine Coast. UPDATE – February 2026: Coochin Fields Festival Site Approved Queensland’s largest dedicated festival site has been approved. The State Government has given the green light to the 155-hectare Coochin Fields music and events site at Coochin Creek,
Pictured: The Station owners Chris and Lauren, via ABC Sunshine Coast live music venue The Station has announced it will close after two years of bringing live music and entertainment to the region. The Station owners Chris and Lauren announced the news on Instagram on Tuesday, saying Australian music legend Pete Murray will play the
Tickets Hyena Smyle at The Presynct on Saturday via Oztix.com. Sunshine Coast newcomers Hyena Smyle will debut their blistering pop-rock sound at The Presynct in Nambour on Saturday. Marking the arrival of a fresh, fierce voice in Australian alternative music, the female-fronted, three-piece channel the golden era of 80s and 90s alt-rock. The band has
Photo by Gerry Nicholls for BLUNT: Garbage at Good Things Festival in Brisbane on Sunday where singer Shirley Manson eventually apologised for her beach ball tirade. Imagine being an international rockstar and telling a mosh-pit filled with thousands of your Australian fans in the heat of summer that you “HATE THE BEACH!” And that you also
The Sunshine Coast’s biggest pint-sized band Wave Raiders are set to debut at Good Things Festival on December 7 in Brisbane. The teenage rockstars will make their festival debut on the Garage Band Stage at the Brisbane Showgrounds with some new music. They are also playing this weekend at Bluff Fest at Alexandra Headland. Pictured:
