Sydney’s biggest musical export, Flume, has lent his hand to his city’s fight against the state’s punitive lockout laws. A currently unreleased track, ‘Heater’, soundtracks Keep Sydney Open’s latest clip, which captures a city-wide activation in which the group installed plaques across shutdown venues to highlight the importance of a vibrant nightlife to Sydney’s music scene.
Keep Sydney Open’s Music Plaques from Broken Yellow on Vimeo.
Artists represented that have united behind this cause include:
Flume, Flight Facilities, RUFUS, Anna Lunoe, Alison Wonderland, Peking Duk, Art vs Science, The Presets, Nina Las Vegas, Jagwar Ma, The Preatures, Yolanda Be Cool, Hayden James, Bag Raiders, You Am I, Sneaky Sound System and Lorde (a New Zelander who played her very first showcase at Goodgod.)
The plaques were an instant sensation across Australia, attracting media coverage from The Sydney Morning Herald, ABC News, national youth broadcaster triple j and a slew of online music publications. Buoyed by individual shares from the artists themselves, they have sent reverberations around the world, where cities like London face a similar fate after the recent closure of Fabric.
Flume is currently touring America, playing sold out shows across the country, including Red Rocks, New York’s Forest Hills Stadium, four nights at LA’s The Shrine and three nights at San Francisco’s Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. His plaque references Goodgod Small Club, where he played one of his first shows supporting Chet Faker (now known as Nick Murphy).
Australians attend more live music annually than sport. Over 40 million people attend contemporary music performances each year, according to Music Australia. Live music contributes to $2 billion annually to the economy and accounts for nearly 40,000 full-time jobs.
Keep Sydney Open will be holding their second rally on Sunday, October 9.