There is just under one month of sleeps until SLAM Day 2013 gets underway and apparently the gigs set to rock over 200 participating venues around the country are coming in thick and fast for the 2nd annual celebration in support of Australian Live Music.
From Pete Murray at the Hoey Moey in Coffs Harbour NSW, to the Tea Party’s Jeff Martin at Darwin’s Railway Club NT, My Fiction at the Zoo in Brisbane QLD, Soul Fellas at The Promethean in Adelaide SA, the John Read Band at Settlers Tavern in Margaret River WA, Claude Hay at The Blues Train in Queenscliff VIC and Tijuana Cartel at The Republic Bar in Hobart TAS, SLAM Day 2013 is proving to be a massive celebration of all things live music across the country in both regional and metropolitan venues.
Melbourne’s White Night Festival will see the city come alive for twenty-four hours of live music in large and small venues across the city, the perfect way to celebrate SLAM Day in the city where it all began. And if you head North East of Bunbury in WA you will stumble across the town of Williams, where you’ll find Donna Simpson (The Waifs), Bill Chambers, The Dave Mann Collective and a bunch of other musicians playing QuinnyFest at the Quindanning Inn.
The website is being updated daily, head over to http://slamrally.org/nationalslamday to get details of shows popping up all around the country.
SLAM (Save Live Australia’s Music) was born out of the SLAM rally, the largest cultural protest in Australia’s history. 20,000 people marched in Melbourne to change government policy that incorrectly linked live music to violence.
Since then, SLAM has successfully lobbied and contributed to:
· Change the law in Victoria; live music is now recognized in the objects of The Liquor Licensing Act
· Break the policy link between live music and violence in Victoria
· Initiate the Premier’s Round Table for Live Music in Victoria. Outcomes from the roundtable include the reform of planning policy and licensing law in relation to all ages gigs, and cutting red tape.
· A new Live Music Strategy and Lord Mayors Advisory Panel in the City of Melbourne
· Live Music taskforces in City of Yarra and City of Port Phillip Live music is now firmly on the political agenda, with:
· A National call for candidates to have a Live Music Policy at all State and Council elections · In NSW, the City of Sydney prepares to launch a Live Music taskforce
· In SA, the state government sent a delegation and met with SLAM representatives and have since announced and passed new small bar laws, a live music hub, a Live Music ‘Thinker in Residence’ and an Action Plan for the City of Adelaide
· Federally, a new Live Music Coordinator has finally been appointed.
Check out one of Melbourne City's hardest working bands playing The Tote Hotel with their cover of The Sonics " He's Waitin".
