The national SLAM Day rally celebrates its strongest showing yet, with last weekend’s events hammering home the fact that live music and small gigs are an ever-vital part of Australia’s cultural economy.
Save Live Australia’s Music (SLAM) is a collective of non-politically aligned, independent, local music-loving citizens. SLAM Day is a campaign aimed at the broader community as an event that celebrates our local musicians and our small gigs. SLAM Day has been embraced all around the country. Thousands of musicians and up to 100s of thousands of punters participated in 2013, in backyards, in traditional pubs, in small bars, pop up venues, warehouse parties, in paddocks and vineyards and on the street.
While organisers are still compiling feedback, gathering media, and attendance numbers. Here are some of the impressive stats from this year’s event:
- Over 330 events across Australia registered.
- 11,000+ people have joined the SLAM facebook
- live music has been spoken about an unprecedented number of times in State and Federal Parliament in the lead up to SLAM Day
- At the height of the SLAM campaign, the Adelaide Small Bar Law passed through the SA Parliament paving the way for a thriving small gig scene AND the Live Music Task Force kicked off in Sydney – 2 major achievement for SLAM and affiliated music lobby groups
- In the last month SLAM’s organisers have spoken about SLAM Day on Triple J’s Hack, ABC morning Television, The Weekly Times, Herald Sun, The Age, near every radio station and music publication in the country. Community Service Ads were played on commercial & community radio stations – Triple M, 2Day FM, Hot 1049, Hot 100, FBi, 3RRR and more. There’s a full list of articles in the media section of the SLAM website. http://slamrally.org/in-the-media If you have new articles or reviews to add please send them thru.
- The biggest artists in Australian music inc. Paul Kelly, Neil Finn, Archie Roach, Something For Kate, Tame Impala, Beasts Of Bourbon, Ozi Batla (the herd), Cat Empire, San Cisco, Kate Miller-Heidke, John Butler have become SLAMbassadors & have spoken out in support of the important work of local pubs, venues and other hardworking musicians
To get all the latest on SLAM, and to get involved, see www.slamrally.org
