Splendour in the Grass organisers Secret Sounds have announced a trio of fundraiser gigs to assist flood-affected communities in the Northern Rivers of NSW and Southeast Queensland, featuring the likes of Flume, Powderfinger‘s Bernard Fanning, Dune Rats, The Rubens, WAAX, Kobie Dee and more.
The touring company has a goal of raising $1 million in one month for communities in need with a range of initiatives, including the fundraiser gigs. The first will take place at Kingscliff Hotel in Kingscliff on Saturday, 19th March. In addition to a DJ set from Flume, the gig will also feature performances from Andy Garvey, Dameeeela, DJ Seinfeld, Jono Ma and Rona.
On Saturday, 26th March, Bernard Fanning will headline a concert at Brisbane’s Fortitude Music Hall that will also include The Rubens, a Cub Sport DJ set, Last Dinosaurs, Stevan and Hanni. The same evening in Byron Bay, Wolfmother, Dune Rats, Tex Perkins and Jez Mead, WAAX, Kobie Dee and Mylee Grace will come together for a show at Byron Beach Hotel.
In addition, Flight Facilities have allocated 100 extra tickets to their nearly sold-out Airfields show this Saturday in Sydney, alongside Cosmo’s Midnight, Sycco and more. They’ll be available at the special price of $99.90, with all proceeds going to flood relief. Tickets for all shows go on sale midday today (17th March).
“I live in this region. My nearest town is Murwillumbah and it has been devastated,” explains Secret Sounds’ co-CEO Paul Piticco. “Local schools, friends’ homes and businesses, lives and livelihoods all just swept away by the floodwater. This story is repeated in Lismore, Ballina, Mullumbimby, Coraki, Brisbane and many other communities.
“The recovery, physically and especially mentally, is going to take a long time and will need lots of support so I am very pleased Lifeline is providing targeted and specialised assistance for everyone that has been affected. It has been an extremely tough two years for the music business but we are still here and still banding together to help our communities. Please join us. Give generously, buy a ticket, buy a shirt, make a bid and support however you can to get these families and towns back on track.”
Secret Sounds co-CEO Jessica Ducrou echoed Piticco’s sentiments: “This is deeply personal for us. Many of our team live and operate businesses in the region and some of them have been directly impacted. We have also run our events in the area for decades. We are part of this community and we’re heartbroken to see the pain that’s being felt right across the region.”
If you’re not able to attend any of the aforementioned gigs, there’s still a ton of ways to contribute. There’s some tongue-in-cheek “Where the Muddy Hell Are You?” merch available here, and there’ll be auctions of items and experiences including VIP tickets to this year’s sold-out edition of Splendour in the Grass, and more.
Money raised through Secret Sounds’ Flood Aid campaign will be distributed between four organisations working to provide direct assistance to flood-affected communities – Lifeline, GIVIT, the Koori Mail‘s Bundjalung Community Flood Relief campaign and the Northern Rivers Community Foundation.
Learn more about Secret Sounds’ Flood Aid campaign and donate directly here.
