Music of Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia. Its musical heritage includes the well-known Adelaide Festival of Arts, Barossa Music Festival and the world music festival WOMADelaide, which is held annually in Botanic Park. Major music venues include the Adelaide Entertainment Centre and the Thebarton Theatre. The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1937, with William Cade as conductor. Other music institutions in Adelaide include the Elder Conservatorium at the University of Adelaide.

Adelaide has also produced a number of popular bands and musicians, such as Sia Furler, Atlas Genius, Testeagles, Eric Bogle, The Mark of Cain and the Superjesus. American Ben Folds has also lived in the city, inspiring his song titled 'Adelaide' from the album Super D. Adelaide's popular contributions also include Australian hip hop crew Hilltop Hoods, pub-rock act Cold Chisel and Australian Idol winner Guy Sebastian.

An ongoing battle between city based residents and local musicians constantly threatens the live music scene in Adelaide. Noise complaints often force the closure of live venues while a lack of local patronage also contributes. Some argue that the live music scene is as strong as ever, referencing census/surveys conducted on the live music industry that show many venues holding regular and well attended gigs. Although most of the evidence used to justify arguments in these census/surveys comes from unreliable sources such as Facebook and Twitter. Others argue that it is condescending, conceited, pretentious and exclusive with a 'It's not what you know, but who you know' attitude focusing on the industry rather than aesthetics. International bands often bypass Adelaide due to a so-called 'Lack of ticket sales', but it is hard to buy a ticket for a concert which was never scheduled. A conclusion that the Adelaide Music Scene is at the crossroad of success and failure would be plausible. Despite these controversies Adelaide was awarded an UNESCO City of Music title from the United Nations in late 2015.

Local venues

In the city of Adelaide there are many live venues for 'up and coming' bands to practice their craft. These include local pubs and some specific music venues. (Local names in parentheses for reference)

• Adelaide Entertainment Centre
• Adelaide UniBar
• The Crown & Anchor (The Cranker)
• Ed Castle
• Electric Light Hotel
• Enigma Bar
• The Exeter
• Fowler's Live
• The Gaslight Tavern
• The Governor Hindmarsh (The Gov)
• The Grace Emily
• L!ve on Light Square
• Jade Monkey
• Jive
• The Highway
• Producers Bar
• Rhino Room
• Rocket Bar
• Thebarton Theatre (Thebby)
• The Metropolitan Hotel (The Metro)
• Whitmore Hotel

Adelaide bands

The following is a list of some of the most widely notable Adelaide artists.

• Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
• Adelaide Youth Orchestra
• Amber Calling
• Atlas Genius
• Bad//Dreems
• Bearded Clams
• Bit by Bats
• Chalice (band)
• City Riots
• Clowns of Decadence
• Coerce
• Cold Chisel
• Common Good ( Band)
• Double Dragon (band)
• Embodiment 12:14
• Embryonic Soul
• Exploding White Mice
• Fear and Loathing
• Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire!
• Fraternity
• Funkoars
• Fury
• Headband
• Hilltop Hoods
• Idyll Gesture
• I Killed the Prom Queen
• In Fiction
• Iwantja (band)
• JAB
• James Taylor Move
• King Snake Roost
• Leader Cheetah
• Lowrider
• Mere Theory
• No Fixed Address
• Numbskulls
• Redgum
• Sealed Our Fate
• Sia
• Static Icon
• Testeagles
• The Angels
• The Audreys
• The Dairy Brothers
• The Hot Lies
• The Mad Turks from Istanbul
• The Mark of Cain
• The Masters Apprentices
• The Open Season
• The Shaolin Afronauts
• The Sundance Kids
• The Superjesus
• The Sweets of Sin
• The Transatlantics
• The Vibrants
• Unitopia
• Universum (band)
• Virgin Black
• Where's the Pope?
• Wolf & Cub
• Wrench
• Young Adelaide Voices
• Zoot (band)