THE Adamstown Bowling Club's (ABC) board of directors will meet on Tuesday night and the future of live music and the position of venue manager and booking agent, Matt Field, are expected to be hot topics.
Last week the Glebe Road venue's simmering internal politics reached a boiling point when a host of original live music gigs were cancelled.
It's been reported that these gigs were cancelled by Field at the behest of the bowling club's board, but the Newcastle Herald understands that is incorrect.
It's understood that the board asked Field about a month ago to cease scheduling live music in the main bar area, which houses Keno and TAB facilities and is next to the bistro dining room, as it was negatively impacting patronage and revenue.
The board still permitted original live music to continue in the sound-proofed 100-capacity "Locker Room" - which was built last year and features an elevated viewing platform, - as well as outside in the beer garden.
However, live music in both the main bar area and the Locker Room were cancelled. Acoustic soloists and duos performed over the weekend and bookings were strong at the venue.
The board's chairman Brad Johns has resigned over the issue and an interim chair will be appointed at Tuesday's meeting.
Adamstown Bowling Club secretary manager Glynn Haslam declined to comment on Monday and referred the Herald to the club's earlier statement, which said the decision to scale back its live music was part of an "efficiency review."
"Live music is an important offering not only for our board and community members, but to the many original local talented artists we feature at the club," the statement said.
"Following this review, the ABC looks forward to continuing to incorporate live music into our community events program.
"There have been media suggestions that the decision to conduct a review, was driven by a desire to prioritise gambling at the club. We categorically reject this claim."
Field did not respond to calls or text messages on Monday.
The cancellation of the ABC's music program has been met with widespread anger in the Newcastle music scene.
Newcastle synth-punk duo Poltergeist 9000 were scheduled to host the launch of their debut album, I Can See Pam and Her Legendary Hands, this Friday as part of a nine-band bill that was to be held across ABC's Locker Room and main bar area.
Poltergeist 9000 have regularly played at the ABC over the past year.
"We had bands from Sydney and the Central Coast travelling up, so it's been a headache," Jaxon Micallef from Poltergeist 9000 said.
"Everyone was expecting to get paid, was expecting to play. Everyone has been super understanding and wants to come together as we've all taken a blow."
Poltergeist 9000 have since been able reschedule their album launch for the Newcastle Hotel on Friday.
Newcastle indie singer-songwriter Georgie Winchester is still searching for an alternative venue after her November 1 EP launch was cancelled. The five-act gig was also going to double as a fundraiser for the Women's Legal Service.
"Adamstown were giving us a guarantee and not a lot of other venues were doing guarantees so that cuts the money that we would have raised to go towards them," Winchester said.
In recent years the ABC, has become a major home for original live music in Newcastle under Field's stewardship and has attracted a younger demographic.
But the transformation of the ABC has not been without its challenges. Noise complaints from neighbours initially dogged their growing live music program inside and outside the venue.
At one point in July 2023 Field temporarily halted live music after a female employee was allegedly abused by an irate neighbour while conducting a sound reading check.
However, those issues were resolved when the Liquor and Gaming NSW announced in January that it would not impose any further licensing conditions on ABC.
