The Victorian Government has announced further easing to restrictions for seated venues and the return to offices, which came into effect from 11:59pm Friday 9 April. You can read the Minister for Health's full statement on the changes here.

The key change for the creative industries is as follows:

• Indoor and outdoor seated venues will increase from 75% to 100% of total capacity. The limit of 1,000 people per space and density limit of one person per two square metres in unseated areas such as foyers, bars and bathrooms remain in place.

If you have submitted an application to the Public Events Framework (PEF), please note the following:

• If your event has been previously approved by the Victorian Government to operate at more than 75% capacity under the Public Events Framework, you can now operate at 100% capacity with up to 1,000 attendees.
• Or, if you have registered a Tier 3 event and would like to increase to 100% capacity, you are able to do that under your existing event registration – you do not need to re-register with the COVIDSafe Events Team.
• From 9 April onwards, it is not mandatory to register your event with the Government if you are a venue, you will only need a COVIDSafe plan. Tier 3 event organisers can still register a COVIDSafe Event Checklist.
• Unseated indoor events will still operate under the density limit of one person per two square metres.

The following restrictions enacted Friday 26 March are unchanged and will remain in effect:

• All venues and creative arts facilities are required to use electronic record-keeping through the Services Vic app or a government API-linked digital system for electronic record keeping (venues will have a 28-day compliance amnesty)
• Nightclubs and dancefloors can operate at a density quotient of 1 per 2sqm (no max patron limit)
• Non seated venues can operate at a density quotient of 1 per 2qm up to 75% capacity (max 1000)
• Arrangements for capacity over 1000 are determined on an individual basis under the Public Events Framework. Venues with a capacity of greater than 500 patrons must publish a COVIDSafe Plan online.

This morning, Acting Premier James Merlino announced that there will be some easing of restrictions that will come into play at 6pm on Friday 26 March.

For the music sector this means:

• All venues and creative arts facilities are required to use electronic record keeping through the Services Vic app or a government API-linked digital system for electronic record keeping (venues will have a 28-day compliance amnesty)
• Nightclubs and dancefloors can operate at a density quotient of 1 per 2sqm (no max patron limit)
• Seated venues can operate at 75% of seated capacity (max 1000 patrons)
• Non seated venues can operate at a density quotient of 1 per 2qm up to 75% capacity (max 1000)
• Arrangements for capacity over 1000 are determined on an individual basis under the Public Events Framework. Venues with a capacity of greater than 500 patrons must publish a COVIDSafe Plan online.

While there are some things to celebrate here, like the alleviation of dancefloor-specific quotients, we realise there are significant issues still to be addressed. For most non-seated venues the increase to 75% capacity is meaningless so long as the 1 per 2sqm density quotient remains in place. Music Victoria will be meeting with representatives from DHHS and State Government this week to discuss these issues and the ongoing struggles faced by the music sector.

For the full story on the statewide changes to restrictions, click here.

In celebration of International Women's Day on Monday, March 8, 2021, Music Victoria has put together a list of Victorian gigs happening this upcoming long weekend. If you know of or are hosting a gig for International Women's Day, please let us know by emailing us at info@musicvictoria.com.au and we can add it to this guide.

Saturday 6 March

ISEULA w/ Late Shift - IWD

Beneath Driver Lane, Melbourne

FREE EVENT - More Info Here

Two Birds IWD2021 ~ DAY PARTY - Featuring Maya Vice, Komang, Velvet Bloom, Emma Volard & DJ Emma Peel

Two Birds Brewing, Spotswood

FREE EVENT - More Info Here

Sunday 7 March

Pre IWD - Pascal Latra + Kat Stevens residency

Cafe Gummo, Thornbury

FREE EVENT - More Info Here

PSYCHIC HYSTERIA PRESENTS INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY - Featuring Slush + V + Zig Zag + Not Quite White + The Vovos plus DJ sets from LAZERTITS DJs + Hearts and Rockets DJs + Loveboner DJs + DJ fishleg

Retreat Hotel, Brunswick

FREE EVENT - More Info Here

Monday 8 March (International Women's Day)

Party Pest + Plaster of Paris: IWD at The Tramway

Tramway Hotel, Fitzroy North

More Info + Tickets Here

This week, Wed Dec 9 at 7PM - the Music Victoria Awards!

The 16th annual Music Victoria Awards will be a live-streamed event, forming part of the Melbourne Music Week opening night program.
Announcing: beloved singer songwriter Alice Skye, dreamy Melbourne musician Elizabeth, acclaimed indie rock five-piece Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever and the incredible synth-pop icon Simona Castricum. These artists will perform live from the Melbourne Recital Centre on Wednesday 9 December, to an intimate live audience of music industry professionals, and broadcast live to the public throughout Australia and the world.

Awards Partners Channel 31 who will be broadcasting the event live on Australian TV and streaming worldwide via Music Victoria’s Youtube Channel. Industry supporters, Auslan Stage Left will be interpreting the event for our deaf community, and JMC Academy will provide students with access to valuable hands-on experience in event production, video editing, online content management and more, thanks to a brand new Education Partnership with the educational institution.

Co-presented by PBS 106.7FM and RRR 102.7FM, the annual Victorian music community love-in celebrates the best music of the year across 20 categories.

5.30pm Before the Awards - MMW Wominjeka live stream
Wominjeka! After a tumultuous year, MMW–Extended kicks off with a specially curated evening across four Melbourne locations by Kuku Yalanji, Jirrbal, Zenadth Kes song woman, Kee’ahn. Join us live and online as we pay our respects to the Traditional Owners and custodians of the land we live, meet and create on, and capture this auspicious beginning of MMW–Extended by drone over the city.

A Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony will be presented by the Wurundjeri Corporation and take place at Melbourne Recital Centre, followed by music by dj pgz
This event will be available to enjoy in-person or via the live stream, shared here from 5.30pm on Wed 9 Dec.

7.00pm - 9.00pm - Music Victoria Awards
Melbourne Recital Centre (Elisabeth Murdoch Hall – Invite-only)
Performing live: Alice Skye, Elizabeth, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Simona Castricum
Members of the public can tune in to watch the event live-streamed as it happens right here or on Channel 31
Subscribe to get a youtube reminder here

PUBLIC-VOTED NOMINEES

Best Album
Cable Ties – Far Enough
Elizabeth – the wonderful world of nature
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever – Sideways to New Italy
RVG – Feral
Sampa The Great – The Return

Best Band
Amyl and The Sniffers
Cable Ties
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
RVG

Best Song
Baker Boy – Move
Leah Senior – Evergreen
Mildlife – Rare Air
RVG – I Used To Love You
Sampa The Great – OMG

Best Solo Artist
Angie McMahon
Baker Boy
Briggs
Courtney Barnett
Elizabeth
Gordon Koang
Leah Senior
Sampa The Great
Simona Castricum
Sui Zhen

Best Musician
Amy Taylor (Amyl and The Sniffers)
Erica Dunn (Tropical Fuck Storm, Palm Springs, MOD CON)
Gareth Liddiard (Tropical Fuck Storm)
Gordon Koang
Jen Cloher (Dyson Stringer Cloher)
Romy Vager (RVG)
Sampa Tembo (Sampa The Great)
SilentJay (Sampa The Great, Mandarin Dreams)
Stu Mackenzie (King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard)
Tom Iansek (Big Scary, #1 Dads)

Best Breakthrough Act
Alice Skye
Elizabeth
Grace Cummings
Nat Vazer
Pinch Points

Best Live Act
Amyl and The Sniffers
Cable Ties
Gordon Koang
Sampa The Great
The Teskey Brothers

INDUSTRY-VOTED NOMINEES

Best Regional/Outer Suburban Act
Benny Walker (Echuca)
Bones and Jones (Geelong)
Freya Josephine Hollick (Ballarat)
The Kite Machine (Geelong West)
The Teskey Brothers (Warrandyte)

Archie Roach Foundation Award for Emerging Talent
Alice Skye
Allara
Kee’ahn
The Merindas
River Boy

Best Blues Album
Aaron Pollock – Separated Through Time
Charlie Bedford – Good to Go
Joey Vincent’s Bakelite Radio – Rosary of Tears
*Lloyd Spiegel – Cut and Run
The Teskey Brothers – Live at The Forum

Best Country Album
The Cartwheels – Self-titled
Lost Ragas – This Is Not A Dream
Michael Waugh – The Weir
Mitch Dean – Holding Back the Levee
Tracy McNeil & The GoodLife – You Be The Lightning

Best Electronic Act
*DRMNGNOW
OK EG
Pugilist
Simona Castricum
Sleep D

Best Experimental or Avant-garde Act
Bridget Chappell
James Rushford
Maria Moles
Natasha Anderson
Robin Fox

Best Folk Album
Charm of Finches – Your Company
Fiona Ross & Shane O’Mara – Sunwise Turn
Liz Frencham – Love and Other Crimes
Louisa Wise – All of These Things
Ruth Hazleton – Daisywheel

Best Heavy Album
Carcinoid – Metastatic Declination
Dead – Raving Drooling
Diploid – Glorify
Internal Rot – Grieving Birth
Sithlord – From Out of the Darkness

Best Hip Hop Act
Birdz
DRMNGNOW
Jordan Dennis
Nomad
Sampa The Great

Best Intercultural Act
Amaru Tribe
Black Jesus Experience
Gelareh Pour’s Garden
No Borders Music
Sampa The Great

Best Jazz Album
Andrea Keller – Life Is Brut[if]al
Horns of Leroy – Big Night
JK Group – The Young Ones
Vanessa Perica Orchestra – Love is a Temporary Madness
ZEDSIX – The Shape Of Jazz

Best Reggae and Dancehall Act
Dub FX
Jah Tung
Marvin Priest
Monkey Marc
The Push Reggae Band

Best Rock/Punk Album
Cable Ties – Far Enough
Nuada – Beneath the Swamp
Pseudo Mind Hive – Of Seers and Sirens
RVG – Feral
Shepparton Airplane – Sharks

Best Soul, Funk, Gospel or RnB Album
Karate Boogaloo – Carn The Boogers
Sampa The Great – The Return
Surprise Chef – All News Is Good News
The Teskey Brothers – Live at The Forum
Various Artists – Over Under Away Volume 1: 10 Years of Hopestreet Recordings

HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

TO BE INDUCTED AT THE MUSIC VICTORIA AWARDS
Mary Mihelakos (industry)
Chris Wilson (musician)

2020 MUSIC VICTORIA INDUSTRY AWARDS WINNERS

Best Small Venue (under 500 capacity) – The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood
Best Large Venue (over 500 capacity) – Forum Melbourne
Best Festival – Golden Plains
Best Regional/Outer Suburban Venue (Over 50 gigs per year) – Barwon Club Hotel – Geelong
Best Regional/Outer Suburban Venue (Under 50 gigs per year) – *Theatre Royal – Castlemaine
Outstanding Woman In Music – Sarah Hamilton (One Of One)
Best Producer – Joelistics: Mo’Ju & Joelistics Ghost Town EP

Music Victoria thanks Major Partners Bendigo Bank, City of Melbourne, Creative Victoria and Melbourne Recital Centre for their ongoing support of the Music Victoria Awards.

*Music Victoria Board Member Tim Heath is a co-owner of Regional Venue winner Theatre Royal. *VMDO/Songlines staff member Neil Morris is nominated for his work under the performing name DRMNGNOW. Music Victoria Artist Advisory Panel member Lloyd Spiegel is nominated in the Best Blues Album category. These Awards are industry-voted by independent panels, and nominees are not involved in the voting process.

To celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the SLAM (Save Live Australia's Music) rally, Music Victoria speaks to those who were there at the frontline about their memories of the time and their observations over the passing years.

It's a little-known fact that Melbourne musician Jade Imagine helped spearhead the 2010 rally to save The Tote. This rally precipitated the huge SLAM rally that followed. Jade fills us in...

1. What was your involvement in the live music lobbying and protests of 2010?

Around the time when we heard that The Tote was going to close, I was living above and running a music rehearsal space on Johnston Street in Collingwood with my bandmate at the time, Sarah Phelan. We could just see The Tote out of our bedroom window (lol yes, our bedroom - we shared a bedroom - divided down the middle by a couple of clothes racks. Anyway that’s off-topic…).

I remember us talking about how rattled we both felt, reflecting on how important this venue had been to 'cut our teeth' playing music and how integral to the DIY scene it was. So we got on Facebook and created an event titled “Save The Tote - Rally” or something to that effect.

We published the event and went on with our day. Later on we checked back to see how the event was going and there were something like 5000 people who’d clicked to attend the rally. Things escalated pretty quickly from there. I remember getting a phone call from Paris Martine saying we should start a discussion with the local police to ensure (and reassure) that it was going to be a peaceful protest.

2. Why did you get involved?

I just didn’t want The Tote to close - I couldn’t picture Melbourne without it! Honestly, never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that things would have come as far as they have. Evidently it was and still is something the entire community felt very strongly about!

3. Do you have any specific memories that you hold dear from that time? What are they?

I remember being ushered inside The Tote whilst the rally was in full force outside. It was just before Bruce Milne made a speech addressing the crowd through a megaphone from the second floor. I remember peering out of the office window upstairs at all the hundreds of people outside. It felt so special to see that many people showing just how much they cared about this single venue.

4. What lasting changes/impact do you think these events had on the live music scene in Melbourne?

Well, for one, keeping the doors open at The Tote for so many more amazing shows to take place. Plus the conception of SLAM; such an incredible organisation to have come out of this event and which has helped to continue the conversation about live music, venues and the challenges that all can face within the music industry.

5. Do you have any further comments whilst reflecting?

Just about how much I respect Quincy and Helen from Bakehouse for seeing an opportunity to take things further and create SLAM (Save Live Australian Music). That was a lot of work for them considering they were running their own business! Pats on backs all round.

To celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the SLAM (Save Live Australia's Music) rally, Music Victoria speaks to those who were there at the frontline about their memories of the time and their observations over the passing years.

Amanda Palmer, the band booker at the Tote in 2010, gives us her account of the events...

1. What was your involvement in the live music lobbying and protests of 2010?
I was the band booker at the Tote when we announced the closure of the venue in January 2010. This announcement led to a week of outpouring of support, spontaneous protests and much media attention in Melbourne and culminated with the ‘Last Drinks’ gig that I put together to see the venue out with a bang. These events were the catalyst for the SLAM group to form and begin planning the SLAM rally. Once the Tote closed, I mostly worked on wrap up of the Tote but I attended initial SLAM meetings and helped in promoting the Fair Go 4 Live Music petition and upcoming SLAM rally.

2. Why did you get involved?
I got involved because I was right in the middle of it. The Tote was closing down, I was losing my dream job, Tote staff were about to become unemployed, Bruce and James were losing their business and we were being directly affected by one-size-fits-all government policy. The Tote is open now, but at the time, we weren’t certain it was going to reopen. The forced closure of the Tote not only meant losing our jobs but it was a direct assault on our lives, culture and community. It was being taken away from us and I was devastated and angry.

3. Do you have any specific memories that you hold dear from that time? What are they?
There are so many! Too many for just one paragraph anyway.
I think some people might just remember that time as being one big party, but as Tote staff, we were all extremely busy. It was hard, emotional, frantic and pressured. I do remember being blown away when I looked out of the window of the Tote booking office seeing a couple of thousand people – who’d mobilised in just a few hours - protesting on the street below. Even though it was too late for the Tote then, these mini protests helped to inspire the larger SLAM protest less than a month later. I remember feeling hopeful marching alongside 20,000 others at the SLAM rally – that this might change things for other venues in similar circumstances. I guess in a way the thing I hold most dearly isn’t really a specific memory, it was more about feeling like I was part of a community that collectively had the power to effect change.

4. What lasting changes/impact do you think these events had on the live music scene in Melbourne?

I think these events shook a lot of people from their complacency of live music and small venues. It helped legitimise live music as one of Melbourne’s economic assets. Before these events we didn’t have SLAM or Music Victoria – they formed because of these events to advocate on behalf of music issues.
I think this being the 10 year anniversary, is as good as any time to say a huge thank you to Helen and Quincy and everyone else at these organisations and behind the scenes for all of the work you have done and all of the work you continue to do. Cheers to all of you.

Pictured: The Teskey Brothers (Liam is second from the right)

Warrandyte's The Teskey Brothers swept the Music Victoria Awards prize pool in 2019, including winning Best Regional Act which came with a $3000 grant from Bendigo Bank.

In the middle of a hugh international tour, The Teskeys' drummer Liam Gough took time out to look back on some of their favourite achievements over the past year and to tell us what they did with the prize cheque...

What’s your name, role and which band do you represent?

My names is Liam Gough and I play the drums in The Teskey Brothers

In which location are you based?

We are Based in Warrandyte, Victoria

Looking back over the last year, which achievement/s or moment/s are you proudest of?

I’m most proud of playing 4 sold out nights at the Forum Theatre. It’s always been the best large live music venue in Australia in my opinion.

As a regional artist/venue, what do you find to be the biggest challenge for the local music scene?

Keeping pokies and TV screens out of pubs and venues. We didn’t used to have to compete with electronics for punters attention.

What are some ways the music community members in your area support each other and the local ecosystem?

We love to book gigs along side our friends bands and people work together to save money where we can by sharing backline and driving.

What’s the best thing about regional live gigs?

I love going watch and play regional gigs because it takes me to a different part of Victoria. There are so many great towns in regional Victoria with great nature spots, restaurants, op shops and pubs to explore.

Are there any local music initiatives or artists you’d like to tell us about?

Green Music Australia have a great campaigns which we are a part of trying to stop single use water bottles at gigs. Check out https://www.greenmusic.org.au/

What’s the best-kept secret of your local area? Give us the inside tip.

Go for a wood fired pie at the historic Warrandyte bakery.

Your prize was accompanied by a generous $3000 grant from the Bendigo Bank. Lucky duck! What did/will you spend the money on? How will it further your career/business?

We will use the grant to record new music as soon as we have the chance! Thank you!