Secret shows, intimate settings: Sofar Sounds offers unique music experience

A LOCAL arts initiative is reimagining the live music experience in Geelong, bringing audiences and artists together for intimate performances in surprising locations.

Now a global community, Sofar Sounds began in London in 2009 and has since expanded to 400 cities across 78 countries.

In Geelong, live music experiences are carefully curated by a crew of local creatives lead by singer songwriter Rach Brennan.

“We transform non-traditional spaces like a museum or a distillery or a shop into a captivating space for secret shows,” she said.

The settings are intended to be cosy and intimate.

Venues are decorated with fairy lights while cushions and blankets are placed on the floor.

Running two shows each month, gigs typically showcase three stripped back acts, with the secret line-ups specially selected for the intended audience and space.

While audiences know the neighbourhood of the performance, they don’t find out the address until 36 hours prior to the event.

Often, they don’t find out who the performing artists are until they take the microphone.

“The idea is that it’s artist-focused, the crowd is quiet and listens attentively to the artists and it gives a chance for songwriters and musicians to play to a crowd that really wants to listen,” Brennan said.

Since Sofar Sounds launched in the region in July last year, Brennan has delivered shows across Geelong, the Bellarine and Surf Coast, including this weekend’s sold-out show at Murran, the Geelong region’s new First Nations hub.

Headlined by ARIA award winner Dan Sultan, the performance marks Sofar Geelong’s biggest show to date.

The team will back it up with its first-ever outdoor show at a secret location in South Geelong on March 10.

“In Geelong we have some incredible live music venues like the Barwon Club and, down the coast, the Torquay pub,” Brennan said.

“But this is allowing an opportunity for smaller artists, emerging artists, more acoustic artists, to play in a space where it suits their music.

“I think it’s really important for our scene and we want it to stick around.”

To find out more, head to sofarsounds.com/cities/geelong