Report shows Nepalese restaurant is Adelaide CBD’s busiest live music venue
Adelaide’s most active music venue is a Nepalese restaurant, a new study reveals. Read about the other venues and why one music heavyweight says there’s still hope for the city’s music scene.
Currie Street’s Khukuri Nepalese Restaurant is the top live music venue in the city that is not government-owned, a live music census shared exclusively with CityMag revealed.
The restaurant hosted 31 live music performances in May 2025, tying with the Crown and Anchor Hotel, which closed on July 20 due to a student accommodation tower being built behind the pub.
The Live Music Census, conducted by the Adelaide City Council, took a snapshot of live music in May to capture the scene outside of peak festival times.
The census showed the city has more live music now than pre-Covid levels, with the council saying there was a 70 per cent increase in the number of venues hosting live music in the Adelaide CBD and North Adelaide since 2019.
The Nepalese restaurant is the top venue currently open and was second only to the Adelaide Festival Centre, which is state-government owned and hosted 105 events across various festivals, like DreamBig Children’s Festival and the Cabaret Fringe.
Owner Bibash Karki told CityMag the restaurant – which is named after the traditional curved knife of Nepal – has hosted live music since day one, when it opened in November 2023.
Karki said, given he is both a chef and musician who used to perform at restaurants and pubs, “we have never compromised on the quality of either food or live music”.
The restaurant hosts live music in three languages, Nepali, Hindi and English.
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Karki said their ranking was “incredibly rewarding” because “we strongly believe that food and music are two powerful forces that bring communities together”.
“There is no single fixed genre, which keeps the experience fresh and inclusive,” Karki said.
It is one of 16 cafes and restaurants that host live music, while bars like Pastel Wine Bar or SkyCity’s The District, also ranked highly for number of performances.
Adelaide’s UNESCO City of Music general manager Joe Hay said the data shows a shift in the live music ecosystem from more traditional Adelaide spots that come to mind, like Hindley Street’s Jive or Rundle Street’s the Exeter – which each had nine gigs in May 2025.
Hay said the shift to more music in diverse venues is a good thing, but that staple music venues were still doing it tough after Covid, with rising insurance costs, less alcohol sales, and other challenges.
“The economic models that support live music venues have changed,” he said.
“It’s different music for different purposes. When you play in a restaurant or you play in a bookstore, you’re playing for a different reason, when you’re playing a live music venue, bands are playing for tickets. They’re building careers, they’re not being paid a set fee to turn up and play.”
Hay said he had not personally visited the Nepalese restaurant, but “high five to those guys for putting on music, understanding that music is an essential part of Nepalese culture, as much as it is part of everyone else’s culture”.
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Despite the economic changes, Hay said “the energy of artists at the moment is so exciting”.
“I came through in the 90s when everyone was starting bands, but at the moment it’s better,” he said.
Talent like art-folk band Any Young Mechanic and pop artist Aleksiah are putting Adelaide’s scene on the map with overseas tours and festival slots, while closer to home, Hay said there’s plenty of unique talent like punk rock band Sacrifical Larynx he recently saw at Arthur Art Bar.
“It’s exciting in South Australian music at the moment, and it’s sad that [some traditional pub] venues are still suffering.
“So there’s a disconnect there that we have to find a bridge for. But the important thing about the census data is it actually shows that, and it’s so important that we have data that we can work from.”
Councillor Patrick Maher – a music advocate involved in the campaign to save the Crown and Anchor – said he was “not surprised” at the results because Adelaide “doesn’t have that many dedicated live music venues, so I wouldn’t expect to see them dominate the list”.
“They also have a specialised fit out which means it isn’t viable to trade on days when there’s no gig,” he said.
“Khukuri is a great cultural experience and it hits the point home – perhaps we could take a few pointers from them to better integrate live music into our own social gatherings.”
The council’s City Community Director Jo Podoliak said the council was committed to supporting the live music industry beyond what takes place in brick-and-mortar businesses.
Podoliak pointed to a national partnership to strengthen grassroots music communities, a pocket gig guide, workshops and a new cultural policy as ways the council prioritise live music in the city, as well as supporting a year-round events calendar.
One such event is Make Music Day, a global event that originated in France as Fête de la Musique.
The council will run Make Music Day again this year, with expressions of interest now open, after its inaugural June 2025 event saw 220 musicians paid to perform across 40 venues.
The census results come after a months-long parliamentary enquiry into the health of the live music industry.
In December, recommendations were handed down, including one suggesting ‘Community Right to Buy’ legislation be investigated so the community can collectively finance the preservation of important live music venues.
