16 of SXSW Sydney’s 2024 music venues have either been confirmed by SXSW or reported elsewhere, and excluding the larger outliers of the ICC and Tumbalong Park, they’re so far focussed around Chippendale and Ultimo.
All but one of these venues (The Commons) were used at SXSW Sydney last year, and the geographic concentration is likely to stay the same even as more events and locations are announced. Claire Collins, Head Of Music for SXSW Sydney recently said that the feedback they’d received last year was that the venues were too spread out and that “most of the activity is going to be around Chippendale.” Wherever they end up being, I’ll keep track of venues as they get announced.
Latest Updates:
- 7th Sep: ICC Sydney Theatre, Kyiv Social, The Abercrombie, The Barrie, The Chippo, The Lansdowne, The Lord Gladstone, The Old Clare Hotel, Tumbalong Park, UTS The Loft, UTS Underground
- 14th Sep: Agincourt Hotel, Knox Street Bar, Phoenix Central Park, Sneaky Possum, The Commons
VENUE MAP
First of all, I’ve gone and pulled a map together that combines both confirmed and reported venues:
WALKING DISTANCES
I’ve also built a matrix to tell you how long it’ll take to walk between any two venues:
Overall
Looking at the map, the density of venues is currently centred along Broadway and down through Chippendale. If you drew a triangle based on The Lansdowne, UTS Underground, and the Lord Gladstone, it’d take about ten minutes to walk between each point, and the triangle would contain nine venues, almost all of those announced so far. If you’ve got a music badge or wristband, this is likely where you’ll be spending a bunch of your time, especially if you’re trying to venue hop from show to show.
The Venues A-Z
Agincourt Hotel
While the venue is officially known as the Agincourt Hotel according to SXSW, let’s assume they really mean The Alley, the dive venue underneath the pub (with its separate entry down the side of it). A much-beloved live spot, it’s been a venue where emerging acts have cut their chops for ever. There’s no raised stage to speak of, so you’ll get right up close to whoever’s playing. A pretty centrally-located venue too.
ICC Sydney Theatre
Large, spectacular venue. Won’t be many shows here, but any there are will be big and sparkling productions. It’s next door to the main conference centre, but it’s a bit of a distance from most everything else.
Knox Street Bar
Not been here, but looks like a bonkers little venue. Bet this one’ll be super-fun. Better known for parties than gigs (so will likely suit more electronic artists), but it has been known to host live shows too. Also super-convenient to the Lansdowne and the Kyiv Social, both literally around the corner.
Kyiv Social
A relatively small venue, located right next door to The Lansdowne. Does great food (and donates a bunch to worthy causes too). Likely to see more emerging acts here, or a likely location for some curated label showcases too.
Phoenix Central Park
Artsy as hell, Phoenix has made a name for itself hosting one-off events with a lottery-style ticketing system. It’ll be fascinating to see what they do in terms of both the lineup and the space for SXSW Sydney. I’d bet money that there’ll be a standout performance here over the course of the week.
Sneaky Possum
A charming little house of a venue with the world’s tightest bar downstairs, plus a couple of spaces for *really* intimate shows elsewhere in the building. Likely to be an oasis of calm and charm amid the maelstrom.
The Abercrombie
Recently reopened a couple of years ago as a HUGE multi-level party venue, the Abercrombie is notably queer-friendly, and will like go off like a bloody firecracker. Mainly electronic-focussed outside of SXSW, it’ll be interesting to see what they do with the space. It’s also one of the most centrally-located of all the venues, so you’ll never be far from somewhere else.
The Barrie
The Barrie’s normal vibe is primarily cocktail bar, so more intimate performances are on the cards here, and – in particular – late night ones, since it’s got a 3am licence.
The Chippo Hotel
The usual live music space here is dark, small, underground, and brilliant – it literally always feels like it’s 2am at The Chippo. Loud, raucous, and sweaty will likely be the order of the day or night, with guitars featuring prominently. The ground floor also features a small garden, which is likely to be holding a few SXSW-related events too, albeit without the live music element.
The Commons
New to SXSW Sydney for 2024, this is a particularly central venue, close to tons of other of the core Chippendale venues. That said, I can’t work out what it’ll be used for yet, since The Commons is a co-working space. It’s listed in the venue guide as ‘The Terrace’ so I’m guessing there’s an outside space? Whatever – if there’s live music here, it’s in a great location.
The Lansdowne
One of the most-loved venues in Sydney, The Lansdowne has two levels plus a rooftop bar. Based on last year, they’ll be using the whole venue, but the downstairs is smaller, with the upstairs room holding a couple of hundred. The current owner of the space is – without exaggeration – a legend of live music in Sydney, and has a looong track record of getting acts to play who by rights should be on bigger stages. Expect the same, only madder, at SXSW Sydney – add in the fact that it’s just a great place to hang out (especially on the roof in the sun!) this venue should be at the top of your list. To be honest, you could probably just spend the whole four days here and love every minute of it. One corner of the core ‘Chippendale Triangle’ of venues.
The Lord Gladstone
One of the most Austin-ish of all venues in Sydney, this sprawling, ramshackle-but-loveable pub is pretty much guaranteed to host some of both the loosest guitar-based shows – no stages, right up in your face – as well as bouncing garden parties during the Sydney spring sunshine (and long into the night). A fabulous place to hang.
The Old Clare Hotel Rooftop
A killer boutique hotel in the heart of the festival, the Rooftop is a relatively small space. TikTok have got it booked out for most of the week. Will be a lovely place to spend some time – especially if the weather’s nice – but it’s not yet clear if there’ll be live music or not.
Tumbalong Park
Big and open (think the Sydney home of the biggest fanzone for big sport stuff) this is where the big open air shows will happen, many of them open to the general public as well. It’s semi-convenient for other venues, but is really close to the main conference venue as well as one of prime conference hotels for out of town visitors.
UTS The Loft
Relaxed, mid-sized and centrally located, this is often a venue for emerging acts outside of SXSW Sydney. Has its own outside space adjacent to it which is a nice place to hang out, and is super-central for pretty much any other venue at the festival too.
UTS Underground
Announced early on, Rolling Stone will be hosting their live music space here across Wed-Sat. Their lineups were absolutely on point last year, and given how central a location this is – easy walking to just about everywhere – this should be high on your list of priority spots.
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