SLAM Rally - a mighty important day in Melbourne

On Tues Feb 23, 2010 a huge amount of Melbourne's music and music-loving community took to the streets on the 34th anniversary of AC/DC's famous Long Way to the Top video clip, marching from the State Library, down Swantson St, left up Bourke St and finishing at the steps of Parliament House on Spring St.

The reason? A whole bunch of gigs look(ed) like being swallowed in a mire of Liquor Licensing regulations following the sensational reporting of some violence in the streets of Melbourne in the midnight hours. Was this related to venues who host live and amplified music acts? Apparently so.
Following the closure of Melbourne's Tote, Fair Go 4 Live Music and SLAM (Save Live Australian Music) joined forces, and a reported 20,000 came along to help show both the Victorian Government and Liquor Licensing Commission just how passionate we all are about maintaining our culture of live music in Melbourne.

Factory Sound was lucky enough to interview Jon Perring from Fair Go 4 Live Music shortly after the S.L.A.M. Rally, and here's a quick chop-up of how we saw the events unfolding.

The awesome pic above was taken by Kristy Milliken and you can see more wonderful shots at the 'Mess and Noise' blog of S.L.A.M. Rally here. Check more about SLAM by going here, and take 6 mins out of your day to look at our video if you get a chance.