Melbourne has long been celebrated as Australia’s live music capital, and now proud Victorians want to make it number-plate-official.
Two of the city’s most passionate live music advocates have launched an online campaign to get the state’s official plates changed to read ‘Victoria – The Live Music State’.
Cherry Bar owner and booker James Young and writer Kaye Blum first hatched the idea when they met at the 2014 Face The Music Conference in Melbourne (naturally).
“Music Victoria’s 2012 study found that live music contributes more than $1 billion a year to the Victorian economy,” the pair said in a statement on the official campaign page at change.org. “We have one of the strongest live music scenes in the world. And we deserve to be proud of that.”
The state’s current number plate slogan reads ‘Stay Alert, Stay Alive’, which is rather a Slytherin sort of thing to live by. While new Labor premier, Daniel Andrews, has proposed to change it to ‘The Education State’, which is just so Ravenclaw.
“What would international and interstate tourists think about a holiday or short break in The Education State? Or the state where you have to Stay Alert, Stay Alive?” the campaign posits, convincingly.
“Surely we need a slogan that represents a contemporary vision, a vision of global culture, and a reflection of the state’s appeal to tourists as the best place in Australia for live music”, it concludes.
Ten points to Gryffindor.
Young has further explained in a press statement (via themusic.com): “When I was travelling through Austin, they had bands at the airport, so you knew you were in a music city. Berlin has its own music-themed ‘walk and don’t walk’ symbol at crossings. Melbourne needs a defining feature and our Victorian number plate is it!”
Young and Blum have launched an online petition with the hopes of garnering enough signatures to convince the Premier, who previously pledged to commit $22.2 million to the Victorian music industry over four years.
You can sign the petition here.
Melbs was also recently acknowledged as one of the leading music cities in the world in a global study, which cited the tram-tastic city as an exemplar of how other cities across the world can “generate a vibrant music economy”.
To celebrate, here is a short list of songs and videos that represent Melbourne.
1. Crowded House – Four Seasons In One Day
Adopted by Melbournians as their unofficial anthem, in reference to the moody weather that often plagues the fair city.
2. Watch: The Living End – All Torn Down
Written in defence of the city’s historic sites, the clip for All Torn Down features the Aussie rockers performing in a number of iconic Melbourne locations.
3. Tism – Mourningtown Ride
A wonderful portrait of 14 Melbourne suburbs that you shouldn’t get off the train to see.
4. King Parrot – Dead End
Iconic and dilapidated live music venue The Tote gets hacked to pieces by an axe-wielding metal maniac.
5. Dan Sultan – Old Fitzroy
Kind of speaks for itself.
