An Oamaru grainstore is making a name for itself as an intimate music venue. North Otago reporter Rebecca Ryan took a look.
Not all magical live music gigs happen in the biggest and most established venues.
Sure, Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch attract the big names, but there is a lot to be said for the unusual, sometimes secret and quirky gig spaces.
In Oamaru, Donna Demente's Grainstore Gallery is fast becoming known in the New Zealand music industry as a quirky and intimate venue for touring acts.
An art gallery by day, the Grainstore Gallery is a modest space, with room for only 50 people, and all proceeds from gigs go directly to the acts.
Word really spread of the Grainstore Gallery as a live music venue after Delaney Davidson made it one of six stops on his New Zealand tour last year.
‘‘Because of our taste in music, and we don't really want to vary too much from that, it's been great with all of his friends getting in touch,'' Ms Demente said.
Tiny Ruins, Fiddle Pie, Anika Moa, French for Rabbits, Tami Neilson, Marlon Williams and Adam Mcgrath have also graced the small gallery ‘‘stage'' in recent years.
‘‘It's all just been this in-house, really fortunate series of events,'' she said.
Next up is singer-songwriter Julia Deans, best known as the lead singer of rock band Fur Patrol, who will play her only New Zealand gig at the gallery on February 19, while Nadia Reid, Darren Hanlon and Anthonie Tonnon are lined up to play there together on March 3.
Mel Parsons has also approached Ms Demente about using the space.
Ms Demente opened her Oamaru gallery 13 years ago and becoming a live music venue came naturally, she said.
‘‘It started when John White was living here. He knew a lot of musicians and brought quite a few people through who did really low-key house concerts,'' she said.
For the past two years, there has been at least one gig a month.
‘‘I think it's Delaney [Davidson] we can thank for it, because just about everyone who rings up, it's because Delaney recommended it,'' she said.‘‘He's great because he knows exactly what's going to work here.''
Ms Demente makes no money from the gigs; all profits go directly to the artist.
She does it because she loves it.
‘‘We just do it for fun because we want to get music here [to Oamaru].''
So far, it had ‘‘been a buzz'' and she had become good friends with many artists who had passed through.
‘‘It's been great and just some of the music, I mean, French for Rabbits - that was probably one of my favourite ever gigs. I can't wait to get them back.''
Seth Frightening and I.E. Crazy, a young Auckland couple, also made memories in Oamaru.
‘‘That was probably one of my very favourite gigs here too - they were just such a lovely young couple, they had no expectations, it was $5 entry, they didn't care if no-one came, yet that was just a super special gig.''
The attraction of the gallery, Ms Demente thought, was the ambience.
‘‘It's symbiotic; bands that suit the ambience tend to be the bands we like [and] we're never going to be hosting very rowdy gigs; it's kind of a precious space,'' she said.
‘‘The general acoustics in here, going down the building rather than across it, are phenomenal, just because of the rafters and the space, it's beautiful.''
Oamaru was perfectly placed between Dunedin and Christchurch and, for its size, had a ‘‘brilliant'' number of unique venues.
‘‘If people are playing in Dunedin and Christchurch, we're the in-between that breaks the trip up,'' she said. ‘‘If it's on a night they can slot it in, they'll usually do it knowing that they're not going to make heaps of money out of it but it will tag along with the tour.''
Irrespective of where the acts wanted to play in Oamaru and whose venue it was, Ms Demente wanted to see more live music in the North Otago town, but warned Oamaru music fans would have to ‘‘use it [live venues] or they're going to lose it''.
See it, hear it:
Julia Deans, Grainstore Gallery, Oamaru, February 19, 7.30pm. R18. Ticketed event.
Nadia Reid, Darren Hanlon and Anthonie Tonnon, March 3, 8pm, Grainstore Gallery, Oamaru. R18. Ticketed event.
