Blow Up The Pokies

Video poker machines are the bane of many Australian acts: Licensed venues around the country tend to see them as a more consistent income-earner than bands.

The Whitlams’ song "Blow Up The Pokies" seemed to sum up the sentiment. The Adelaide Advertiser reported that almost 800 groups, solo artists, venues, radio stations and live music fans signed up for a rescue campaign launched late August by musician and owner of Adelaide’s Cavern Bar, Monty Ruggiero.

He "proposes a motion to entitle venues that only offer live entertainment to have a special entitlement for live music, comedy, DJs and theatre and those that have pokies on their premises to be disallowed entitlement for live entertainment, allowing for a more equitable playing field in all venues."

His band Fab 4 split recently after bookings dropped from 150 a year to 37. The Australian Hotels Association dismissed his claim that the South Australian live scene is in crisis as "a myth and a fallacy."

General manager Ian Horne told the Advertiser that South Australian hotels, more commonly known to Americans as bars, staged 21,000 live band performances every year, with 55 percent offering live music or entertainment.