| On Tuesday 23rd when there was a rally through the city in support of music venues that had been caught up in the legislation put in place to counter the problems being experienced at some night clubs. A music venue and a night club are different beasts and because there is often trouble at the night clubs, the government introduced restrictions and rules to try and manage them. This was limiting the hours and also making it compulsory to have security hired to manage the crowd. These steps are a drain on small music venues who aren't making the sort of money to support the hiring of security and reducing opening hours - they just don't make enough money to be able to incorporate these rules. As such, two venues have closed and others are having to reduce the amount of live music that they provide.
As there is not trouble at music venues, then these new rules are not necessary and the result if that there is even less live music for the public to experience. That is a travesty.
Live music is a wonderful thing and something that all people should be able to experience. It should always be an option. It has enriched previous generations and we should do what we can to keep it alive for the current and future generations.
The rally was a wonderful thing - an estimated 10,000 people moving through the streets of Melbourne with music accompanying us. We were led by an open lorry with a band on it who were playing AC/DC's Long Way to the Top. When we got up to Parliament, there was more live music and some speeches and then we went on our way. It was a great event and the Government have since acknowledged that live music venues and night clubs are not the same thing. Hopefully we have saved some of these places and therefore kept live music alive. |
