Australia: Overdose Action, Fortitude Music Hall, Sydney’s Secret Garden

An open letter issued by the newly formed Australian Festivals Association (AFA) calling for federal and state authorities to initiative action in the wake of five drug overdoses at four music festivals since September 2018 took on more urgency when a sixth death took place Jan. 12, five days later.

Alex Ross-King, 19, attended the Sydney stop of the four city FOMO festival alongside 11,000 others at Parramatta Park. She was taken to Westmead Hospital at 6 pm suffering a suspected drug overdose and died hours later.

Her family called on New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian to show “strong leadership” and introduce pill testing at festivals. Denise Doig worried her granddaughter’s death will “just pass by” and told Network Ten, “If it saves one life; one life is a life. And these are children.”

The AFA’s letter said in part, “We need to better understand drug use behavior, identify significant intervention points, better coordinate between regulators, health, police, businesses and broader communities, and make sure that the health and safety of Australians is the ultimate priority.” 

Its proposed initiatives included the establishment of on-going state-based Music Festival Regulation Roundtables “to ensure better relationships between regulators, medical experts, promoters, emergency service providers and law enforcement”; use the expertise of festival promoters at these meetings; work with health, festival and drug experts to develop pill-testing trials; adopt an evidence-based, health-focused approach to drug regulation and commission further research into recreational drug use; and convene a national drug summit “to allow in-depth, meaningful, expert-led discussion around drug use.”

Ross-King’s death came as calls intensified for pill-testing. The latest included a protest rally outside Sydney Town Hall Jan. 19, the Queensland Network of Alcohol and Other Drugs Agencies insisting “sufficient evidence” for trials, and Rainbow Serpent promoter Tim Harvey calling for authorities “to untie the hands of promoters,” adding, “We promise, changing your mind costs a lot less than human life.” 

Sydney booker Mark Gibbons will be head booker for Brisbane’s forthcoming 3,000-capacity Fortitude Music Hall, set to open mid-2019. 

The venue is in the Fortitude Valley precinct, on the site of the iconic Festival Hall 1959 to 2003.  It is a joint venture by promoter Secret Sounds, Live Nation and live music venue the Triffid club. As part of the appointment, Gable will also be head booker at the Triffid from Feb. 4.  He was six years at Century Venues’ Sydney rooms, the Enmore, Metro and Factory theatres.

The 2019 installment of Sydney’s Secret Garden festival in February will be its 11th and final one. Promoters said that they started the festival “because we desperately wanted a different kind of festival experience. A festival less about the headliners and irritable crowds, and more about getting together a community of good people, in over-the-top costumes and creating a world where patrons participate rather than just spectate.” The event was consistently a sellout even before the bill – featuring musicians, dancers, performance artists and visual acts – was announced. It also raised A$500,000 ($359.540) for charity over the years.

With 1250 international shows under their belt, The Cat Empire struck a deal with government funding body the Australia Council to pick up the tab for an emerging Aussie act to accompany them on some future dates. 

“By far the biggest resource Australian music has is the talent of its up and coming artists,” said singer Felix Riebl. The act gets “opportunities we really needed back when we were contemplating our first overseas tours.”  21 North American dates behind their mid-February album Stolen Diamonds run Feb. 28 to March 26.