This year Arts OutWest has been supporting Orange’s monthly music night 4 on the 4loor through our Live & Kicking program. Here’s a recap of this music institution.
the 4 on the 4loor is an integral centrepiece of music culture and live music performance in Orange and the Central West. It provides at least 4 acts the opportunity to present a set of original music on the first Saturday of the month. This has allowed many artists to transition to performance of their original music. In 2019 they celebrated 21 years of continuous shows at the Victoria Hotel in Orange. In 2020 this all came to a halt due to COVID. The venue felt it was not viable to present these show due to the limitations of restrictions making it not viable for them to host it.
Arts OutWest recognised the need to provide support for these shows to occur regardless of limitations of restrictions to ensure that the regular live music community could reconnect with these performances and ensure continuity for 4 on the 4loor.
“..The funding from…the Live & Kicking Program has been a boon to The 4loor… It has enabled the show to continue through the limitations imposed by the covid restrictions… which was obviously important for musicians and 4loorgoers alike. We did lose about twenty 4loors due to the lockdowns; so fingers crossed that never happens again! and thanks heaps to Arts Out West for co-ordinating the funding!” – Jon Carter 4 on the 4loor Organiser/Curator
4 on the 4loor is a program that has earned a reputation for an audience that’s willing to engage with original music. Musicians travel long distances to perform here. Jimmi Carr from the Blue Mountains is one artist who played at the 4loor in June for the first time in 14 years and shared his thoughts about the program “It was great to come back and play 4 on the 4loor after all these years. It’s such a good, supportive venture for musicians in the Central west and visitors like us. I wish there was something similar in the Blue Mountains where we are. I’ve had a few lineup changes since I was last out there and it was quite a bitter-sweet occasion because the last time I played out there was just a few days before my very close friend and guitar player at the time, Chris Wheatley, passed away. It was his last gig. It felt good to come back and rock out though, and the memories are sweet too.”
Arts OutWest looks forward to what The Victoria Hotel and 4 on the 4loor have installed for their 25th year of bringing original live music to the stage.
— Patrick Coomey, music industry support officer.
IMAGE: Jimmy Carr plays 4 on the Floor in June 2022. Photo: Zenio Lapka.