During lockdown, 62 Melbourne acts created an original 60-second long song about Melbourne. Now, 12 of them are playing those tracks live at Brunswick Ballroom.
Melbourne in 60 Seconds was an epic collaborative challenge to compose and perform an original song about Melbourne that went for 60 seconds, enabling the broader Melbourne songwriting community to remain connected during COVID lockdowns, and reconnect to the city that inspires them.
With the doors open once again and music returning to the stages, the corners, the pubs and the footpaths, it’s only fitting that Melbourne in 60 Seconds should come to the stage. What better place than one of the hearts of Melbourne’s live music scene, the Brunswick Ballroom.
Melbourne in 60 Seconds at Brunswick Ballroom
- The epic collaborative project Melbourne in 60 Seconds is coming to Brunswick Ballroom
- The 12-act lineup will be performing their odes to M-Town on Sunday 18 September
- Tickets on sale now, you can buy them here
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The lineup: Rebecca Barnard, Mick Thomas, Little Wise, Charles Jenkins, Mark Ferrie, Sarah Carroll, Jane Clifton, Ian Bland. The MC will be Jon Von Goes and the house band will be called the Melbourne in 60 Seconds Club, featuring Pete Farnan, Clio Renner, Nathan Farrelly and Matt Earl.
The performers are as varied as the music – established acts, troubadours, careers spanning 50-plus years to the emerging and those yet to set foot on a stage.
“I drew names out of a hat and the chosen performers from the project will play the track they recorded and then sing about our town a bit more,” Von Goes says, “I mean it would be a waste to get Mick Thomas up there for 60 seconds when he has written and recorded some of the great Melbourne anthems of our time.
“Charles Jenkins recorded an album about the history of Melbourne written in conjunction with a historian. When Shirley Strachan left Skyhooks, Jane Clifton was very tempted to take up the offer and be their new singer. When you talk of songs about our city none are more iconic than some of those Skyhooks’ numbers. Jane will read some of her poetry and she may sing a Skyhooks song.
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“Rebecca Barnard’s opening track on the Melbourne In 60 Seconds CD is the opening track for a very good reason. Her voice sounds better than anyone else’s in Melbourne. Little Wise has put Carnegie on the musical map. Sarah Carroll is the Ukelele Queen of the Bellarine but she used to be a Fitzroy fixture and she knows all about the place in song. Mark Ferrie’s Punt Rd Traffic is a bonafide Melbourne underground anthem.
“And the house band, The Melbourne Club are an elite institution. Pete Farnham from Boom Crash Opera is the MD, he reckons BCO’s big hits were all about Melbourne. I will try and stop him singing one, but I don’t like my chances. Clio Renner is on keys, the most sought after keyboard player in town, she has a song on Melbourne in 60 seconds, so does Nathan Farrelly on the bass. Matt Earl on the drums doesn’t have a song on the record. That’s because he’s a drummer.
“And it goes without saying that Ian will be reading more than 60 seconds of poetry. It’s gonna be like a theatre show, a bit like the Mother’s Day gig I put together each year at the Ballroom. Old school variety entertainment. No ventriloquists though, sorry.”
Grab tickets here.
