Australian News 8/30

Bon Scott Celebrated

The Angels and The Party Boys will join forces October 19 to launch the "Bon Scott Celebration Concert" CD and DVD.

The show is to be held at the Metro in Perth. The CD and DVD was recorded in February at Claremont Showgrounds in Western Australia, where 10,000 people came to see The Angels, Rose Tattoo, The Party Boys (featuring former members of AC/DC and Status Quo), The Screaming Jets, Dave Warner and a host of Western Australian acts.

Footage from the show is at aussierock.com.au.

The show was initially held to raise money for a statue of the late AC/DC singer in his hometown of Fremantle.

But so much was collected that organisers also donated $50,000 for the music biz’s musicians benevolent fund Support Act Ltd., $20,000 to the West Australian Music association to help young acts tour and record, $16,000 to Scott’s family to donate to their favourite charity, and $5,000 to the Nordoff Robbins musical therapy program.

 

ARIA Voting Ends

Industry voting in the 21st Motorola ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) awards ended August 24, with 1,000 judges – 15 percent from record labels, 13 percent radio, 12 percent print and 11 percent retailers.

The nominations will be announced September 19 at a function in Sydney, along with the winners of the record producer, engineer, cover art and video categories.

The Motorola ARIAs will be held October 28 at Sydney’s Acer Arena before a 4,000-strong audience of invited executives and members of the public.

In a first for the Australian music industry, ARIA teamed with cell phone manufacturer Motorola to launch an ARIA-branded phone. Among its features is a button that allows consumers to access the weekly ARIA charts and artist page, and buy download tracks, which can be played on its built-in player.

 

Elton Keeps Building

Elton John’s "Rocket Man Solo Tour – A Knight Under the Stars" keeps growing from its original five shows.

Michael Chugg Entertainment looks set to announce the eighth show, this time in southern Queensland. Both the island state of Tasmania and the North Queensland city of Townsville added shows after 5,000 fans signed petitions for each city to get the tour there.

The Townsville date, on December 4 at Dairy Farmers Stadium, sold out in an hour. Chugg’s production team worked maps and seating plans to include 4,500 seats at a special $90 rate.

 

Thorpe Memorial

Billy Thorpe will be immortalised with a plaque at a privately owned farm in a place called Digger’s Rest, an hour’s drive from Melbourne.

That’s where the Sunbury Rock Festivals were held between 1972 to 1975. It was here where Thorpe and his high-energy band The Aztecs put in some of their most legendary performances.

The Hume City Council plans a plaque and tree-planting ceremony at the site. Hume councilor Jack Ogilvie said the memorial could also extend to a greater recognition of the site, including a permanent stage, a music museum, and monuments to other performers from that era who played the festivals.

"The site has huge significance as far as the Australian rock industry goes," Ogilvie said. Thorpe died of a heart attack, aged 60, earlier this year.

 

Silverchair, P’Finger Get Go-Ahead

The Silverchair/Powderfinger tour stops will go ahead at the Claremont Oval in Western Australia September 22-23 now that the local council has reversed its decision denying permission to stage the shows.

Promoter Supersonic Enterprises, which has been advertising the Claremont venue on the radio, television and Internet for three months, got a shock when the local council ruled August 7 that the venue could not be used.

Its argument was that Claremont Football Club’s decision to allow the concert on the grounds breached its no-concert lease. Tickets had been on sale for four weeks.

The club lobbied for an overturning of the decision, as it needed the funds. According to a council report, the club needs $1.3 million a year to run. Supersonic will be charged $20,000 for the first concert and $10,000 for the second.

At press time, the first of the two dates had sold out.

 

Short Notes

Sydney-based, dance-oriented Jam Agency has promoted Dayna Young to Agency Manager. She can be reached at [email protected] and 61-2-8295 9952.

Jam also added three acts to its booking agency roster: DJ and producer duo White Dorks, Sydney electro band The People’s Republic, and Sydney DJ Steve Lind.

New York-born Florence Sanford has joined Scorpio Management, coordinating the activities of Van She, Hampdens and Lisa Mitchell. She’s at [email protected].

Australian events producer Meegan Jones has joined the team of Festival Republic in the U.K. (formerly Mean Fiddler Music Group), which organises the Reading & Leeds and Latitude festivals. Her role is Sustainability Coordinator, ensuring the festivals run as sustainably as possible in power, waste and transport.

In Australia, Jones was festival manager of Cultural Stomp in Newcastle, event manager for Peats Ridge Festival, manager of the band The Hauntingly Beautiful Mousemoon and creator/ producer of the ABC Newcastle Music Awards.

After successful launches in Brisbane and Townsville in the state of Queensland, Gold Coast late-night clubbers are set to get the Nightlink FlatFare Taxi Service in two months.

Developed by Queensland Transport, the FlatFare taxis encourage customers to share cabs for cheaper, set fares from midnight to 5 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Passengers line up at a designated cab rank manned by security officers, where a marshal collects payment in advance and organises the cabs. The scheme is to prevent brawling over taxis and fare evasion.