NEWCASTLE'S all-ages music scene finally awakes from its COVID-induced slumber this weekend and it's just the beginning.
Newcastle funk master Saylor & The Flavor will headline the all-ages show at the Adamstown Uniting Church on Saturday night, with psych-rockers Loons and Hunter School of Performing Arts band, Customer Service, rounding out the bill.
"The people there [at Adamstown Arts] are so keen to get something off the ground at the moment for the all-ages community," said organiser India Seddon-Callaghan, who is also the vocalist of psych band Well?
"There's been so many all-ages venues and people who have put things on in the past, but it's so difficult.
"It's really hard to put on an all-ages gig and make it safe and make sure people get paid.
"This time the church is taking it super seriously and we're making sure the protocols are all there because we're dealing with young people."
It's hoped that Adamstown Uniting Church will host monthly all-ages gigs.
Pre-COVID the Brunker Road venue held shows in its The Dungeon space, but Saturday's show is booked for the bigger 300-capacity Memorial Hall.
Seddon-Callaghan and her Well? bandmates developed through the all-ages scene in defunct venues like The Commons and Drone.
"If we didn't have the all-ages community when I was young I probably wouldn't have gotten so much into playing in bands," she said.
"It really fostered my start in music. I have this feeling of needing to give back, especially to the young kids who have missed out because of COVID."
