Nearly every day we get DMs and emails asking if we can put on Nambour gigs for bands. Probably we can't right now, because Bad Habit is slowing down on doing shows. But we'd still love to see you play here, so here's our advice on how to book a gig in Nambour. Hopefully it helps.

[Featured image: Double-Sided Nail. Photo by @64_pit.]

First, some history and background...

Nambour is a regional town in the Sunshine Coast. It's about 100 km north of Brisbane. Nambour and the Sunshine coast have had a wildly up and down history of underground music. There's been eras of heaps of cool stuff happening, then the people driving the activity get burnt out or move away and it all stops.

Then down the track, someone will start putting on shows etc with no connection to the previous era and the cycle continues. It means there's not a continual legacy to build on and generally it's starting from scratch each time. That's good and bad, but it means people don't always have the experience or skills built on years or decades of doing shows. But the trade off is there's always so much enthusiasm and people will be excited to see new stuff going on.

Some hard truths...

If no one knows you here, no one's gonna gonna come and see you. I always say to local bands, come out to see other bands and be a regular face at local shows. Share flyers on social media for gigs you'd like to play. If you're a friendly person who isn't difficult or goofy and you're a regular face at events, people will want to put you on and see what you're doing.

It's really a basic aspect of being in a band, but often the hardest to grasp. It's a big entitled jackass move to expect someone to put on a show for you when you haven't put any effort into supporting a scene you want to be a part of.

So, if you're a band from outside of the area, I'd recommend contacting a local Nambour band that you're into and offer to do a show for them in your area. Look after them and make the show sick. It means you'll have locals here on the ground going into bat for you when you come and play here. And it helps build a robust network of bands and friends that make touring so much better.

The nuts and bolts...

Now you're all clued up, let's get onto the venues.

The Black Box & Ramp Space

These are the two gig spaces at the Old Ambulance Station. It's a local art gallery and community space. Bad Habit is located in the same building, so we work a lot with these guys. The Black Box is a theatre with a standing capacity of 150 for concerts. They also host performing arts, but the space works really well for music. The Ramp Space a repurposed driveway where the ambulances use to drive into the building. It has a slanted floor covered in astro turf with a small stage at the bottom. Like a mini amphitheatre. The shows in both areas can be all ages and can have a bar.

The Presynct

The Presynct is a really nice intimate room (100 capacity). Great sound with in-house sound tech. It's located above a medical centre (strange but fitting for the Nambour mindset of making it work despite all the odds). Run by a mother/daughter team who welcome all music genres. 18+ only as it's also a cocktail bar.

Morts

Morts Brewing Co is a small basement bar/brewery. The best beer in town. Go there for a beer whenever you get a chance. They welcome the occasional small gig, with space in the bar or the small room at the back.

The Commercial

Upstairs from Morts is a pub called The Commercial Hotel (locals may refer to it as the Beach House, as it was known for a little while). They have an old function room upstairs. No stage, just a big room, around 120 capacity.

The Vogue

The Vogue Theatre is a new big venue for Nambour gigs. It's an old ballroom style room that was once a cinema, and has been refurbished in an art deco style. I haven't had much to do with the folks running it but if you're looking for a big space, like 600 cap, this place would be great. 

Promoters...

There's a bunch of locals who put on shows. Mostly for friends on a casual basis. Often in the format of 10-band all-dayer type situations. These are probably a good place to start if you're a new band playing a genre that can jump on a showcase type bill. Most of these people play in bands or are very close to a few bands, so you could offer to do a show for them in your area? Search your socials to make contact.

AntiVision - Starting to do a lot of shows. Metalcore and hardcore focus.

Basket of Hammers - A few shows a year. Post-punk, experimental focus.

Rottenfest - A few times a year. Focused on punk and punk adjacent bands.

Spin Vintage - Semi regular shows/parties in their backyard. Big mix of styles. They are becoming a bit of an institution. Located a few trains stops south of Nambour but totally tied in with what's going on.

No No Records - Starting to do lots of shows. Rock, punk and other adjacent styles.

SCASM - A few shows a year. Focused on metal, tech death, slam.

Namcore - Reasonably regular shows. Mostly metal and hip hop focused.

There are no doubt more but this should be a good starting point for genres mentioned above.

Ok wrap it up buddy...

Drop posters and flyers into the Bad Habit shop when you've got something organised. The preferred format for flyers is A5 as they fit in our flyer display rack.

Tag us in your promo on your socials so we can share it and so we have an idea of whats going on etc.

It's also worth checking to make sure there's not already a show book on your date that will clash with yours and affect attendance numbers.

Everyone who's active around Nambour on the live music front is working hard and fitting in music activities around other jobs and busy lives. Don't be a prick or get all sour-faced if someone can't help you. People only have so much fuel in the tank and can't be everything for everyone. Try and be understanding and kind.

Photo by Mark Panizza