Victoria’s Always Live was the passion project of Michael Gudinski to celebrate Victoria’s music scene and highlight its national and global significance. The Foo Fighters is just the beginning.
Everyone who has listened to, supported, or seen live music in Australia, has most certainly been witness to the extravagant work of Michael Solomon Gudinski AM.
Gudinski was arguably one of the most influential Australians in terms of their work in music production, being the founder of the Mushroom Group, which is the largest and most successful independent entertainment and music group within Australia and New Zealand.
Bringing to life a long-held dream of the late record industry mogul, who passed away a year ago next week, Dan Andrews’ state government this week unveiled Always Live, a state-wide live music festival which hopes will restart Victoria’s legendary live scene and reinvigorate the country after those months-long lockdowns.
The first – and largest – event of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, Always Live was the long-time brainchild of Gudinski and is the only Australian Major Event dedicated to highlighting live contemporary music from home and abroad, spotlighting Victoria as the key cultural destination for audiences across the Asia-Pacific.
Keep up with the latest music news, festivals, interviews and reviews here.
Leading the ambitious program of one-off events and experiences is Gudinski’s son, Matt Gudinski, now CEO of the independent music powerhouse.
“Always Live was something that we started talking about many years ago. It was a passion project for my dad and something that the Victorian government had promised as part of their 2018 election to bring to reality,” Matt explains.
The Always Live program was initially due to launch in March 2020, just days after the pandemic began to take hold.
“It had a great purpose then, but now for it to be launching in 2022 off the back of what has been an unprecedented and probably will be in our lifetimes, the most challenging period that the live music and the live entertainment and live music scene has ever faced, to be doing it now has a greater meaning.
“The focus of this year’s version of Always Live is really reinvigorating and reconnecting the state through the power of live music. Not just in Melbourne, but the whole of Victoria.”
Following in his father’s footsteps of changing the landscape of Australian music and our accessibility to live entertainment, Gudinski launched Always Live with an exclusive concert from legendary US rockers, Foo Fighters. Produced by Mushroom Group’s Frontier Touring, the concert will be held at Geelong’s GMHBA Stadium on Friday, March 4.
On the night, the Foo Fighters will become the first international act to play a full-capacity stadium show since the pandemic was called in March 2020.
“It was always a goal of ours to have a globally recognized artist come and play at the football stadium in Geelong and be able to deliver that as the first initiative of Always Live and in what is the first major artists returning to Australia when they’re able to, is just something that puts a smile on my face and it’s really just so exciting for the town, for Victoria, for the Australian music industry, and just really signifies that we’re up and running again.
“The real purpose of Always Live is creating ‘only in Victoria’ and ‘only in Melbourne’ moments and to have the Foo Fighters, one of the biggest rock bands, one of the biggest bands in the world to come to Victoria exclusively, and to play a show in Geelong, the only show in Australia, it’s pretty amazing. I dare say this will be the most significant concert ever held in regional Victoria.”
View this post on Instagram
Recognising the enormous enthusiasm for events of scale and significance in the region, the concert will mark the inaugural live music event at the stadium and, as Gudinski highlights, the most significant concert ever held in regional Victoria.
“We really wanted to flex our muscles and show how we can make those ‘only in Victoria’ moments.
“We’ve been long planning to bring some international shows to the venue so to do it with an artist of the Foo Fighters stature and as part of an amazing Victorian Government initiative in Always Live, it’s very special, and I know my dad would be extremely proud of the state and everyone involved in making this happen.”
“It was really a big driver of him to bring Always Live to life and really engage all the stakeholders in the music industry or the music industry across Victoria, whether that be the workers, the venues, the bands – the upcoming bands, the established bands – the promoters – Always Lives really is a celebration of our entire music scene as a whole.”
The show from Always Live is just the start to one of Geelong’s busiest weekends, with Midnight Oil playing at Mount Duneed Estate for A Day on the Green on Saturday, March 5 and Nitro Circus taking to Kardinia Park on March 7, after having been moved from March 4 to accommodate the Foo Fighters gig.
While the arrival of the 12-time Grammy Award-winning US rockers is a coup for the state, it’s the Melbourne support acts who have been given the opportunity of a lifetime: Amyl & The Sniffers and The Meanies.
Earning a reputation as one of the country’s most pre-eminent underground rock acts with their raucous live shows in the ’90s, seeing Melbourne’s renowned punk rockers The Meanies on the bill is fitting for a celebration of the state.
Their beginnings saw a series of now-classic singles quickly lapped by the band’s adoring fans, while a succession of high profile supports – including a spot on Nirvana’s 1992 Australian tour – saw the band thrown on course for national and international celebration.
In the 30-plus years since their formation, the punk titans have released six studio albums, including the likes of Come ‘n’ See (1992), Televolution (1994) and 10% Weird (1998) – all of which were monumental albums for Melbourne’s underground scene, and stood as particular inspirations for punk contemporaries Frenzal Rhomb.
Having already warmed up with a few sweat-soaked, ferocious live shows in recent months, the indie-punk outfit are primed and ready to tear up GMHBA with their signature brand of irreverent, high-energy tunes.
Melbourne’s explosive retro-punk rockers Amyl and the Sniffers are a worthy inclusion to the bill.
Since 2016 Amyl and the sniffers have been a snarling, dirt-covered gem of the Melbourne punk-rock scene. They sport a raw, 70’s style in sound, dress, and attitude, and their records demand being played at max volume, which barely compares to their blistering live performance, which sees Amy consistently delivers maniacal, lewd energy as she careens around the stage between her mulleted companions.
View this post on Instagram
Last year the band celebrated the release of their already-acclaimed second album Comfort To Me, which was co-produced by the band and Dan Luscombe. Signalling a major gear shift for the hell-raising Australian punks, this was the follow-up to Amyl & the Sniffers’ critically acclaimed 2019 self-titled debut album, which won an ARIA Award for Best Rock Album and saw the band tour their anarchic and ridiculously fun live show internationally for the past two years.
Renowned for their ball-tearing live show, Amyl and The Sniffers – rounded out by guitarist Dec Martens, bassist Gus Romer and drummer Bryce Wilson – will deliver Geelong a set of raw self-expression, defiant energy, and unapologetic vulnerability.
“It’s a great Victorian lineup. It’s been an exciting time announcing this after what has been the most challenging time for our industry to hopefully inject some life into the state and also into the industry and really signifies that we’re on the way back and things getting you back up and running soon.”
From big names to rising stars, arena-style shows to intimate performances on rooftops, in laneways and in small venues, it’s clear already that Always Live will showcase Victoria’s unparalleled home-grown talent, the best acts from around the country and the most sought-after artists from across the globe.
Embracing the past, present and future, Always Live signalled a shift in Victoria’s progressive music industry. We felt alive, reinvigorated and ready to harness the energy that Victoria’s live contemporary music scene is characterised and loved for.
And it all starts here.
Tickets go on sale today at 12 pm here.
