Australia News: Bushfire Relief, Scorpions & Whitesnake, Drug Testing & More

Miley Cyrus is headlining a World Tour Bushfire Relief concert at Lakeside Stadium in Melbourne March 13, according to an announcement from Apollo World Touring, TEG Dainty, Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith’s Westbrook Inc.

She will joined by Lil Nas X, The Veronicas, and UK DJ Seb Fontaine. 

The concert takes place alongside the Formula 1 ® Rolex Australian Grand Prix. Proceeds go to nonprofits working to restore forests and wildlife, and rebuilding affected communities.

World Tour is a new multi-genre event series to stage in cities around the world. Its sponsor AgBioEn is a carbon negative, renewable energy and fuel firm headquartered in Melbourne.

TEG Dainty, with TEG Live, organized the Feb. 16 Fire Fight Australia at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium which raised A$9.5 million ($6.26 million).

The Scorpions & Whitesnake’s double-header promoted by Live Nation came unwound after its first show, Feb. 19 at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena. 

Scorpions singer Klaus Meine was hospitalized for kidney stone surgery after “a very painful attack,” he posted on social media. 

The Feb. 22 date at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena was moved to Feb. 26 just hours before showtime. Stops at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre (Feb. 24) and Auckland’s Spark Arena (Feb. 27) were cancelled.

As the 2020 summer festival season starts to wind down, the conversation between promoters is primarily about how the effects of the worst bushfires in Australian history will affect the options for their events in coming years.

Still, drug testing remains a greater talking point. Civil rights lawyers expressed concern that 12,000 patrons aged 13-17 at the Lost City festival, held at the Sydney Showground Feb. 22, were subject to drug and alcohol testing without their parents being present.

Promoter Good Life conducted tongue swipes, pat-downs, bag checks and breathalyzer tests as part of its health and security plan, saying, “the safety of our patrons is paramount.” The measures were outlined on its website, tickets and on-site PA announcements as condition of entry.

A 14-year old female and a 17-year old male were found with 31 and 75 MDMA capsules respectively. Both face court in April. Fourteen others were discovered to be carrying illegal substances.

In New Zealand, where the summer’s MDMA pills had up to triple the normal dosage, moves were made to work around the illegality of pill-testing at festivals.

A day before Christchurch’s Electric Avenue (Feb. 22), which drew 20,000, harm-reduction service Know Your Stuff encouraged patrons to a location in the city to pre-test their stash.

At Auckland’s Splore (Feb. 21-23), festival director John Minty held drug tests on site for its 8,000 patrons, telling 1 NEWS he was confident police would turn a blind eye, and that a patron’s overdose was “a promoter or festival owners worst nightmare.”

The 10th anniversary of Melbourne’s SLAM (Save Live Australian Music) rally has been commemorated with a digital moving image at the music industry’s permanent exhibition The Australian Music Vault at Arts Centre Melbourne.

Angered by closures of music venues because they were deemed high risk and slapped with suffocating restrictions, 20,000 marched Feb. 23, 2010. They followed a flatbed truck on which a band repeatedly played AC/DC’s “It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock ’n’ Roll)” through the streets. Among them were Frontier Touring’s Michael Gudinski, with Paul Kelly, Missy Higgins, Amanda Palmer, You Am I, Spiderbait and Something For Kate. 

The large turnout saw the government sit down with the music industry. The laws were scrapped, a roundtable was convened, and new initiatives were funded to bolster the city’s live scene.

The Vault’s digital recreation features multiple surround screen projections and spatialized sound to place visitors right at the heart of the rally surrounded by placards. 

“It offers multiple generations of music fans a unique insight into an important day that continues to shape our live music culture,” said Janine Barrand, director, Australian Performing Arts Collection.