When we unveiled our list of 11 Of Australia’s Best New Live Music Venues back in March, we definitely noticed a trend, and that’s that most of the venues were opening along the East Coast, particularly in Melbourne and Sydney.
Both cities have famously bustling live music scenes, so it’s not all that hard to understand why they would be receiving the lion’s share of new Australian live music venues. Besides, the rest of Australia doesn’t do too shabbily.
Back in June, we wrote about the opening of Jack Rabbit Slim’s, a very cool new venue that recently opened in Perth. The multi-purpose venue is inspired by the iconic restaurant in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction.
There’s also Brisbane, home to the famous Fortitude Valley, where most of the city’s must-see live music spaces are helpfully situated just a few minutes’ walk from each other and which has seen several spectacular new venues open in recent months.
One state that unfortunately seems to have missed out is Tasmania, but that’s all about to change in a very big way. Skyfields is a new outdoor live music venue located in the state’s North-West, capable of hosting the world’s biggest touring acts.
As The Herald Sun reports, the picturesque Skyfields site is located in the grounds of Eagles Nest Retreat in the foothills of Mount Roland outside Sheffield and has a capacity of up to 15,000 people.
“Situated just outside of Sheffield, the venue boasts panoramic 360 degree views of lush rolling green hills and rainforest, with constantly awe inspiring Mt Roland providing the ultimate back drop,” a statement reads.
Skyfields’ owners are hoping the new venue will attract some big-name international acts who would otherwise leave Tasmania off their tour schedule. The venue’s director, David Sykes, says plans are already in motion.
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Sykes told The Herald Sun he’s spent the past 12 months working with one of Australia’s leading touring and promotions companies to develop a business model that will allow Skyfields to bring some of the world’s biggest artists to the state on a regular basis.
By the sounds of things, it seems as though Skyfields could change the face of Australian touring, sending big-name artists to a state that has been routinely left off international and even local tour schedules for decades.
The new venue’s first headline show will see multiple ARIA Award winner Missy Higgins performing with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra on Sunday, 19th March, with more acts set to be announced soon.
“This will be my first show with a proper, world-class orchestra like the TSO so I’m incredibly excited to perform my songs with them,” said Higgins. “I think this show is going to be epic, and something really different and special for my fans.”
Higgins had nothing but good things to say about Skyfields, which has brought her back to the state she unfortunately missed on her last national trek. “Plus, the venue is just spectacular. I also missed Tassie on my last tour so this show is well overdue!” she said.
