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Live music venue closures: What gives?

SINGAPORE – It’s been a sad time for the live music scene recently, or should I say, live alternative music. Particularly with the closing of the jazz venue, Sultan Jazz Club and the “indie” establishment, Home Club.

The Pinholes performing at Home Club. Photo: Christopher Toh

The Pinholes performing at Home Club. Photo: Christopher Toh

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SINGAPORE – It’s been a sad time for the live music scene recently, or should I say, live alternative music. Particularly with the closing of the jazz venue, Sultan Jazz Club and the “indie” establishment, Home Club.

Hang on, you say, jazz is alternative music? Well, in many ways, jazz is the alternative music of today, because let’s face it, it sure isn’t mainstream by a long shot. And while Singapore’s ratio of jazz fans - percentage-wise - may be comparable to a country like America, in real numbers, it’s not a lot. So that Sultan Jazz Club would close its doors may not have been such a big surprise.

After all, few jazz clubs here seldom last beyond the two-year mark, barring Jazz @ Southbridge or Somersets - both of which had a run of several years. I’ve only been there a couple of times, but what I liked about Sultan Jazz was its comfy atmosphere and, if you’re a music lover like me, the acoustics that allowed you to swallow every nuance and note that was played. Detractors complained that the service wasn’t great, but frankly, I wasn’t there for the service. Nevertheless, great though the music was, as with many ventures in Singapore, it fell prey to the business side of show business. To be sure, you don’t get that much traffic in the Aliwal/Jalan Sultan area. The crowds are over at Haji Lane and don’t quite spill over. It’s a numbers game, and unfortunately, it hasn’t quite added up for Sultan Jazz.

And that’s what it seems has also affected Home Club. The owners want to up the ante and their profit margin, and I can’t say I blame them. I’ve always enjoyed the times that I’ve been there. To me, Home Club is kind of like New York City’s CBGB & OMFUG. It has the same rough ‘n’ ready look, it has gritty atmosphere, affordable drinks and edgy entertainment content. And I’m not just talking about its DJ sets - where names such as Mensah, Goldie, Ken Ishii and even that dude from The Smiths, Andy Rourke, have spun their discs, not to mention the regular sessions like Beat! and Kicks!. Home Club was where many up-and-coming bands performed – delighting and confounding audiences, occasionally at the same time.

It was the one of the few clubs in Singapore where they encouraged the bands to play their own material and not covers, particularly with live music sessions such as Identite. Singapore outfits such as The Pinholes, Monster Cat, Amateur Takes Control and Typewriter have graced Home Club’s stage, as have alternative acts from around the world, including Lymbyc System from the United States, Hong Kong-based British singer-songwriter Emmy The Great and Australia rockers The Rubens.

Of course, Home Club wasn’t just a place for music. When Umar Rana wanted a place to hold his stand-up comedy showcase, Comedy Masala, Home Club gave him a venue. From its humble start – there were times when there were more comedians on stage than members of the audience – Comedy Masala has now grown into a juggernaut of comedy. Comedians like Fuzz, Jinx, Sharul Channa and Rishi, all of whom are playing much bigger stages these days, owe their success, in a way, to Home Club’s support. The club also had spoken word nights, SPEAK, which offered budding writers and poets a chance to share their material to a live audience.

Sure, the place had its faults too: The sound system, for one, could have been tweaked a little better when it came to live music. But it had a certain vibe that many other places don’t have. Like SJC, people didn’t go to Home to be seen, they went there to just be. There was no pretension. It was earthy. It was real. It was, well, Home.

If you want to look at it from a romanticised point of view, both Sultan Jazz and Home were establishments that flew in the face of what Singapore wanted for its nightlife. You know, everything has to be mass appeal, super glossy and sleek. In the face of all that, you could say Sultan Jazz and Home were sticking it to The Man. It was The Man who sugar-coated rock ‘n’ roll, made soul music soulless and made R&B all about the bling. And The Man, it seems, has once again triumphed. Jessie J was wrong when she said that wasn’t about the money. It is. And it seems like it always will be. In fact, it’s surprising that Home Club lasted as long as it did. Other places succumbed pretty quickly. I remember a place in Middle Road called Gashaus which held regular indie music nights that featured bands like Flybar, LGF and Breakbeat Theory. Barely made it past year one before it closed.

Still, all things must pass, as that George Harrison song goes. And all is not lost. Blu Jaz Cafe is still going on strong, serving up jazz and indie music, and relative newbie cafes like Lowercase and Artistry seem to be doing fine with their music showcase nights that aren’t dependent on Top 40 fodder. And Home will return - sort of - in a new iteration: Canvas Singapore. The concept seems promising enough – art gallery by day, club by night – but, to paraphrase Bob Marley, only time will tell if this will work. And we’re waiting with bated breath to see what gets etched on the new Canvas after it opens in July.

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