Melbourne Music Week goes live

Alongside an electric line-up of local and international acts, this year’s program pushes the boundaries of traditional live music formats, blurring the line between art, film, design, and music. The extended program features multi-sensory and VR experiences, parties, workshops, talks, cinema and more – making for nine huge days of non-stop music from November 16 - 24.

Having secured the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) as its official Hub, MMW extends its reach to some of the city’s most intriguing and unexpected spaces. Melbourne Star Observation Wheel, Flemington Bowls Club, the NGV Great Hall, State Library Victoria, the brand new MPavilion, Meat Market, Chapter House, The Assembly Hall, and even some of Melbourne’s trams will be abuzz with live music experiences all week long.

You Am I’s epic Melbourne Town Hall show just got bigger, with the announcement of special guest supports Gareth Liddiard (The Drones, Tropical F*ck Storm) and cult punk outfit Clowns joiningthe legendary Aussie rock band for their debut MMW show. This is You Am I like visitors have never seen them before; the rockers will play Melbourne Town Hall’s historic Grand Organ, a formidable instrument that uses ninety thousand cubic feet of air a minute, producing anything from a delicate whisper to deafening thunder.

The second announcement also includes a huge program of free panels and discussions under the MMW: Talks umbrella. Topics include ethics in music journalism, Melbourne’s night-time economy, sound healing and music therapy, connecting to the Chinese music market, how to run inclusive music events and more. The MMW: Talks program will also feature MMW headliner Jeff Mills, with an in-depth discussion with film maker Amiel Courtin-Wilson (Bastardy, Ruin, Chasing Buddha) on the visual worlds of music – a rare opportunity to hear from one of the world’s biggest names in techno.

Melbourne’s rock ‘n’ roll mecca Cherry Bar will host Civic Sounds, an all-day laneway party headlined by Regurgitator and Nai Palm in the iconic AC/DC Lane as well as Push The Envelope, a showcase featuring All The Colours, BATZ, Unlucky and Dansy. Girls Rock! will also be there on the night, raising awareness on gender equality in Melbourne’s music industry.

At the other end of the musical spectrum, Melbourne Synth Festival occupies Meat Market with live performances by Honeysmack, Luke Million and peers, while Fed Square Live will bring three of Melbourne’s most beloved acts together for a free concert on the main stage, with sets by Claudia Jones, Ben Hazelwood and RUDELY INTERRUPTED.

For something a little off-beat, The Dark Space Project is an event not to be missed. The immersive psychedelic experience will turn of all the lights at The Toff and encourage the mind, in pitch black, to focus solely on the soundscape of modular synthesisers, loops, guitars, drums, bass and violin. Without any visual distractions, all attendees will see is music.

In keeping with the uncanny, Want It To End is a 20-minute immersive, multi-sensory experience which only two people experience at a time. As Fierce Mild plays live, the participant watches a VR film that explores a dystopian rural Australian landscape and engages all five senses including touch, taste, and smell. The combination of sound and sight continues to be explored via the Cinemix series at ACMI, as Mikey Young (Total Control, Eddy Current Suppression Ring) provides a live score for Alena Lodkina’s debut feature film Strange Colours. For an unforgettable fusion of music and cinema, Jeff Mills will perform a live score to Fritz Lang’s 1929 masterpiece Woman in the Moon. Retro-futuristic and experimental with stabs of ambient techno, Mills’ soundtrack will encapsulate the mood of the film and remind us that his remarkable talent goes well beyond the club and dancefloor.

To celebrate their 30th year, The Push is bringing back Victoria's longest running all-ages event Push Over on Saturday 24 November, throwing a free party next to the MMW Hub at Fed Square. Featuring live performances from Allday, Ali Barter, Ruby Fields and Kian plus special guests from Jebediah, Spiderbait and Something for Kate, this is a birthday party you don’t want to miss.

Beloved MMW staple Live Music Safari makes its anticipated return on Thursday 22 November, with 13 of the city’s favourite live music venues ditching the cover charge and putting on a huge night of free gigs and parties. Usual suspects Section 8, New Guernica, Max Watts, Cherry Bar, Loop Bar, The Toff, Ferdydurke, Last Chance Rock & Roll Bar, Belleville, Boney and John Curtin return, joined by newcomers Whitehart Bar and Geddes Lane Ballroom for an unforgettable night of free music across the city.

Announced exclusively via Broadsheet yesterday, Melbourne Star Observation Wheel will take bands and fans sky-high and spark the senses with sights and sounds above Docklands. Programmed by long-time MMW collaborator MzRizk, the rotating musical menagerie will send DRMNGNOW, Kalala, Soli and more skywards on 23 November.

The Music Victoria Awards is back for its 13th year, again partnering with MMW to celebrate the status of Melbourne as one of the world’s premiere live music cities – nominees will be announced Wednesday 11 October.

Owned and delivered by the City of Melbourne, MMW partners with the city’s music industry to create a program of carefully curated events, enhancing Melbourne’s reputation as the music capital of Australia.

For the full program visit www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/mmw  

Tickets on sale now.