SLAM Rally: Don’t Kill Live Music!

On the 4^th of February this year at 4pm, over 10 000 people marched outside Melbourne’s parliament house behind a flatbed truck to ACDC’s classic anthem Long Way To the Top - fittingly on its 30 year anniversary. They had gathered to protest the pending Victorian liquor licensing laws which will force licensed venues to close at 1am, effectively killing the thriving Melbourne live music scene. SLAM is a non-politically aligned organisation supported by notable industry figures such as Paul Kelly, Slash, Nick Cave, Paul Dempsey, Myf Warhurst, Clare Bowditch, The Living End, and Angie Hart. A month ago, they presented Greens senator Sue Pennuicuik with a petition of over 22 000 signatures in a bid to stop the legislation from being passed.

The extent this movement has reached n is mindblowing: that so many people gathered in person to protest these laws shows that live music is a vital part of Australian culture and needs to be nurtured instead of shunned. Not only are our pubs and live music venues great places to have a drink, but over the years have produced such fine talent as ACDC, You Am I, Cold Chisel, INXS, Jet, Paul Kelly, Daddy Cool, Australian Crawl, Radio Birdman, The Divinyls, Midnight Oil, Hunters and Collectors, The Hoodoo Gurus, Magic Dirt, and The Cockroaches. Obviously pub rock has affected thousands of people and touched them so much to make them so passionate about it.

But this isn’t the first time liquor licensing laws have affected Australia’s live music consumption. The ‘six o’clock swill’ introduced in World War I aimed to limit alcohol intake and encourage men to spend time with their families at night. This resulted in them drinking heavily between finishing work at 5pm and the bar closing at 6pm. When these laws were finally abolished (varying year state-to-state), venues were able to put on more live music which effectively kick-started the Australian pub rock movement as well as increased business enormously.

Dr Shane Homan from Monash University published a paper ‘Governmental As Anything: Live music and law and order in Melbourne’ which provides a more coherent account of the importance of live music: the ongoing connections with audiences and peers, live performance as a marketing tool, primary means of income, skills development, and precursor to export. As well as accounting for a large percentage of the $6.8 billion Australian music industry, live music is the primary form of some people’s incomes. This makes musicians reluctant to accept these laws, demonstrated by one particularly spellcheck-ignorant musician’s message to the politicians on the InTheMix forums:

if you stop us playing live music , because its too loud , then why do you sit in your fancy car , listening to delta goodram , i bet she didn't just get there playing onto a CD first shot , she played every single club she could , she dealt with things and pushed through it all , selling herself short so you could sip your tainted wine and complain about how its too loud.

In regards to my assignment, this sweeping movement is tangible proof of the raging Australian pub rock culture. Homan’s paper thoroughly analyses the issue and provides a useful perspective on the contemporary issues facing the pub rock culture. Although these laws are meant to curb violence and binge drinking, it is obvious by the sheer numbers of people opposed to it that the local live music scene is too important to give up. Though there is talk of a similar lockout system in Queensland, I surely hope that live music lovers will unite alike Melbourne’s and make sure this doesn’t happen. As John Kerry says in the video below, “we need to institute laws that promote live music, not demonize it”. Down with the establishment!

Also, you can sign the petition to save Melbourne's live music HERE.

Video shot by Paul Drane, the same guy who did the original Long Way To The Top video in 1976. (I love Kram popping up at precisely 3:00).