Live music’s alive and well at The Manly Fig

Whatever happened to live music? You’ll hear this asked when people reminisce about rocking out to Midnight Oils at the Sands or being INXS enthralled by Michael Hutchence at the Fisho’s. A generation of Sydney grew up on a booming live music scene that was the envy of the world. But somewhere along our evolution this staple of existence all but vanished. Much like roadways without tolls or pubs without pokies, Friday nights were without live music until…

In 2009, North Curly’s Robbie and Steve Elliot decided to give the Northern Beaches a live music Lazarus resurrection. They created The Manly Fig. And while the focus was complete dedication to giving musicians a platform to showcase their talents, Robbie and Steve were equally passionate about ensuring the audience respect the performers.

“To get paid, artists were basically having to play at a pub in front of a big screen TV, and have the crowd ignore them,” Steve reflects. “There was nowhere that offered them the chance to get paid for their skills, and to have an engaged audience where people would respect the music and intently listen to it.”

What sets the Manly Fig apart is this deliberate emphasis on the audience being there to listen, to enjoy, and to truly respect the musicians. “Live music has almost become like wallpaper,” Robbie explains. “The music provides a great vibe, but the patrons to a venue are there to see each other, which leads ultimately to the musician being drowned out.”

Robbie and Steve used their skills of persuasion to convince The Manly Village Church to host the first event and utilised the musician networks they’d built through their children’s budding singer- songwriter careers to organise three acts, and in March 2009, The Manly Fig was born.  “We did a few things, almost by accident, that have become so important to what The Manly Fig is all about,” Robbie says. “We asked the audience to respect the artists, which means to be quiet, listen to the music. And we made sure the three acts were all different in music styles, and that the tempo and intensity of each act increased as the night progressed.” Steve sums it up, “It was about building community and supporting live music. Simple as that.” 

Within next to no time, The Manly Fig was selling out, over 250 tickets to the monthly shows on the last Friday of each month. “Everyone loved it,” Steve recalls. “The audience couldn’t believe how much of a difference it made to properly listen to the performance, no distractions.” Robbie adds, “Occasionally artists would get up and actually say, ‘Wow! You’re all listening’. They were in shock. And they’d tell us, ‘I can’t believe what you’ve got going here. This reminds me of why I wanted to create music.’”

13 years on, The Manly Fig has overcome Covid and is still going strong, now running their last Friday of the month gigs at Seaforth Bowling Club. You’re guaranteed three different styles of acts, two big breaks in between so you can catch your breath, get refreshments from the bar, and it’s all done and dusted by 11pm on the dot. Keep the neighbours happy, and make sure you’re up fresh and spritely Saturday morning.