Source: S. Piggott; Two Fish Out Of Water

Updated: 16 February 2012

slam makes history with 100+ venues

More than 100 music venues from around the country will celebrate Australia’s thriving live music scene at National Slam (Save Live Australia’s Music) Day on February 23rd 2012.

National SLAM Day celebrates our small venue culture, and in South Australia takes place during the Fuse Festival, when a huge schedule of bands are set to play for the Coopers Fuse West series of showcases.

"We are so excited to see over 100 venues already signed up, from Tennant Creek to Hobart, Gosford to Melbourne, Fremantle to Adelaide, artists and venues are coming together to celebrate local live music, with more being registered each day. Giving thousands of music lovers the opportunity to get out and support their local live music scene” SLAM Day organizer Helen Marcou.

When 20,000 passionate music fans marched down Melbourne’s Swanston Street on February 23rd 2010 for the inaugural SLAM Day in response to crippling Victorian liquor licensing laws, they created the largest cultural protest in Australia’s history.

And music fans will create history again on February 23rd 2012, as it will be the first time so many venues have simultaneously supported a single cause.

Head over to the website (slamrally.org) to see a gallery of musicians holding speech bubbles with their answers to the question: “What does live music in small venues mean to you? Jump on the SLAM Facebook page and submit your answer! http://www.facebook.com/SLAMrally

Small venues are part of our cultural fabric. All Australian acts, from AC/DC to Men at Work, Cold Chisel, the Divinyls, Kylie Minogie, Cut Copy and Temper Trap, started out in small venues. As Paul Kelly said at the 2010 SLAM Rally: “You don’t learn how to write a song at school, you don’t do a Tafe course on how to play in front of an audience, small venues were my university.’’

Live gigs at small venues are fun, dynamic, intimate, and compared to arena concerts or a movie ticket, great value for money.

So get out there and support your local venues and musicians on February 23rd. For more information, or to register your venue for National SLAM Day, go to: slamrally.org

According to the 2011 report Life’s Better with Live, live music contributes $1.2 billion to the economy and supports nearly 15,000 jobs nationally. An estimated 42 million patrons attended 328,000 venue-based gigs at 3,900 venues in 2009/10. Yet the report revealed that Australian musicians earn a mean average of just $12,200 from live performance.

Source: S. Piggott; Two Fish Out Of Water

Published: 30 November 2011

slam goes national!

On 23rd February 2010, the SLAM rally saw 20,000 people march through Melbourne to the tune of AC/DC’s definitive ‘Long Way to the Top’, in protest against the Victorian Government’s misguided policy link between live music and violence.  Out on the streets of the city, there was support and love for a truly great live music community.

The SLAM rally was the largest cultural protest in Australia’s history.

Now all of Australia has the opportunity to participate in a national event that celebrates our local musicians in our small venues.

Music communities around Australia are now invited to unite in support of our thriving live culture by hosting their own National SLAM Day gigs. It is hoped that February 23rd 2012 will be a national day to celebrate live music in Australia!

Support your local artists and venues by getting out and experiencing the spontaneous excitement and intimacy you can only get at a small venue.

Support a National SLAM Day event in your town – any style, any genre. 

It’s easy to get involved:

• Venues can register their gigs on the SLAM website at slamrally.org.  It’s free to sign up.
• Musicians can join with their local venues to curate a National SLAM Day gig.
• Gig-goers can celebrate live music and local musicians in their own neighbourhood.
• Community groups can host their own National SLAM Day gig.
• “Like” SLAM on Facebook and keep up with news on live music
  

About SLAM
Save Live Australia’s Music (SLAM) is a collective of non-politically aligned, independent, local music-loving citizens.  The only pre-requisite to getting involved is a love of live music. 

In early 2010, the SLAM Rally swept through the streets of Melbourne in protest against over-arching Victorian Liquor Licensing policies that unfairly linked live music to high risk activity. 
SLAM representatives, the lobby group Fair Go 4 Live Music (FG4LM) and the then newly established Music Victoria, all co-signed the Live Music Accord on the eve of the rally and then spent a further seven months negotiating the Live Music Agreement, where it was officially announced that live music does not cause violence. 

Since then, SLAM has successfully negotiated important changes within a number a number of other key music reforms in Melbourne.  SLAM has contributed to the Busking Policy and the Live Music Strategy for the City of Melbourne, the City of Yarra’s Live Music Working Group, and the Music Council of Victoria.

Supporters and spokespeople for SLAM have included Paul Kelly, Dan Sultan, Megan Washington, Nick Cave, The Dirty Three, Tina Arena, Clare Bowditch, Paul Dempsey, Kram, Tim Rogers, Nic Cester, Cut Copy, The Living End, Missy Higgins, Ross Wilson, Evelyn Morris (Pikelet), Brian Nankervis, The Rockwiz Orkestra, Slash, Myf Warhurst, Augie March and Mick Harvey, among many others.

“Live music coverage relates not only to artists, gigs or festivals, but also covers the galvanisation of the local community to ‘protect’ the live music industry .The formation of interest groups such as SLAM provides further evidence of the value attributed to live music by community members. The interest groups are a manifestation of community pride in the reputation and legacy of the live music industry, which they value as something ‘worthy of protection’.”
Deloitte Access Economics Report
The economic, social and cultural contribution
of venue-based live music in Victoria'

Get ready to SLAM for your support in 2012!