Melbourne is a city of music. Let’s see what I could found in just one week.
First, I was guest in a PBS studio. Guest? Not really. I am one of thousands of members who sponsor the radio station so it stays on air year by year, for 39 years by now. Others volunteer in the studio, manning the phone lines, helping at events and more.
PBS is the home of the lesser-heard music so do not expect the number one hits played there every day. Instead, moderators are running one or two hours shows showcasting music they like, whether it is new music from Melbourne and Australia, electronics, music from all over the world, you name it and you may find it here. My family listens occasionally to the Breakfast Spread, a late night drive home on Friday could be accompanied by Metal Genesis with Wendy, on Monday there is Mumbai Massala with Ritchie Milan, and it may be time for 106.7 Flight To Africa when we come back from the snow and see the towers of our home town. The radio comes down from the mountains, the signal comes clear and I get hooked on the hypnotic mix of French and West African words. “Africa” starts the show, a song by the Mali-born Salif Keita.
“Drive Live” is a chance, to come to the Collingwood studio after work, grab a beer and listen to some bands as well as seeing how moderators run the show. Everybody finds a place in front of the glass walls to catch the action. It is a bit like watching the Homo musicus in a terrarium. Friends chat, children dance, others just stand, sip and watch what’s on. I liked the rock chicks from MOD CON, with Erica Dunn who has her own show at the station (“Mixing Up The Medicine”), Sara Retallick and Raquel Solier.
Another annual event is the St.Kilda Festival. Half a dozen stages and in-between streams of people, many young, some old, locals, backpackers, listening, chatting, eating and drinking, food and drinks bought from the festival stalls, local pubs and cafes on Ackland Street, browsing the weekly art market on the Upper Esplanade.
My favourite: The small songwriters’ stage, a tent in the sand, the view beyond goes to the white waves rolling in and the seabridge with the kiosk at its end. At the Catani Garden stage played homegrown Northern Folk some jazzy stuff, when they finished, I moved to the Luna Park, saw the soul&electronics duo Electric Fields, singer Zaachariaha Fielding who comes from the Red Centre and Michael Ross on keyboards. On the main stage, the bay behind them, were the Models, rock veterans who have not forgotten their trade. Young dudes in a moshpit, or at least they tried, sme girls elevated on their friends’ shoulders, there was dancing, swinging or just sitting in the grass.
Much more settled was the crowd a few days later in the Rod Lever Arena. On the way to the concert enmashed with the Victory fans who wanted to see the soccer club’s first Asian Champions League game oft the season, they were greeted by a personal message by Roger Waters making his case for the Palestinian people.
It sat the tune, Roger Waters’ music is political, he is critical, not to say angry, about the state of affairs. He praised the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons which started here in Melbourne and got a Peace Nobel Prize this year. He was disappointed that many did not even know this. I can just imagine what he had to say about the brilliant idea of our government to support the weapons industry so Australia becomes a major player in the League of Death. He might rage against Trump and the Tories – we have our own share on sad affairs.
Pink Floyd’s most successful – and possibly simply the best – album The Dark Side Of The Moon became a frame for his concert, he started and finished with it and played them all, Money, Time, The Great Gig In The Sky, Us & Them.. He also played from Wish You Were Here and Animals, he played One Of These Days and he also returned to The Wall, which gave him the encore with Mother and Comfortably Numb. Melbourne kids were on stage singing in Another Brick In The Wall, stepping out of their orange overalls and presenting RESIST written on their shirts.
He also played two new tunes from his last album “Is This The Life We Really Want?”. “Deja Vu” and “Picture That” give me the feeling of seeing David Bowie’s angrier twin. As Bowie, Waters is deeply disappointed with the current set of politics.
However, his music is accompanied by a light show which gives hope, by picturing faces, eyes of fellow humans who share this planet with us. “Us” as our hope, in being inclusive, working together, not in the current mind set of “Us & Them”.