2010 Melbourne live music rally

The 2010 Melbourne live music rally, (commonly known as the Save Live Australian Music (SLAM) rally) was a public political rally held on 23 February 2010, in the central business district (CBD) of Melbourne, Australia. The rally was an act of protest against effects of liquor licensing laws on live music venues in the city. Attendance was estimated at 10,000 to 20,000 by the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC).

Background

The Tote Hotel, located in the inner-city Melbourne suburb of Collingwood, closed in January 2010, due to the owners' inability to continue payments related to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT)'s regulations that deemed live music venues that opened beyond 1am "high risk". Since the owners, brothers Bruce and James Milne—officially the "licence nominees" of the premises—purchased the establishment in 2001, the most profitable segment of its opening hours has been between 1am and 3am. The Tote was classified alongside mainstream nightclubs on King Street located in the city's central business district (CBD), receiving the label a "high-risk" venue.

Music of Australia

The music of Australia has an extensive history stretching back to the Indigenous and colonial societies. Indigenous Australian music is a part of the unique heritage of a 40,000–60,000 year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of Indigenous and Western styles (exemplified in the works of No Fixed Address, Yothu Yindi, Christine Anu and Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu) mark distinctly Australian contributions to world music. During its early western history, Australia was a collection of British colonies, and Australian folk music and bush ballads such as Waltzing Matilda were heavily influenced by Anglo-Celtic traditions, while classical forms were derived from those of Europe. Contemporary Australian music ranges across a broad spectrum with trends often concurrent with those of the US, the UK, and similar nations – notably in the Australian rock and Australian country music genres. Tastes have diversified along with post-World War II multicultural immigration to Australia.