Save Live Australian Music - SLAM Rally

Yesterday I took part in the Save Live Australian Music Rally from the State Library in Swanston St to Parliament House in Spring St at the top of Bourke St.

The SLAM Rally came together as a protest against the current interruptation of the Victorian State Liquor Licencing regulations that are lumping small live music venues with no history of violence as 'high risk' venues along with large beer barns and nightclubs some of which do have a history of violence. The requirements for extra security under the regulations have already forced The Tote in Collingwood to close.

The Rally took the form of the a recreation of AC/DC's classic 1976 clip for "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock n Roll)". In that clip, AC/DC played from the back of flatbed truck driving down Swanston St accompanied by three pipers. Yesterday, the part of AC/DC was played by Brian Nankervis and the RocKwiz Orkestra and a few 'ring-ins' including Kram from Spiderbait. They also had three pipers including two of the players from the original clip.

The rally was a huge success and the State Government have already promised to work with live music venues to resolve some of the unintended consequences of the Liquor Licencing reforms.

Now I know that people come to this blog to see Art Deco buildings so if you ignore the truck as it makes its way up Bourke St and look at the buildings in the background you'll see the former Bank of NSW (1929) with the Egyptian decoration at the roofline, the much smaller former Rockman's Department Store (1937) and the former Michael's Corner Store (1934-35) ... hmmm ... on the corner.

And further along Bourke St, this is the former Metro Cinema now the Palace Theatre which features live music on a regular basis.