MMW’s opening weekend was a runaway success. The nine-day music showcase started with a beautiful Welcome to Country ceremony and string of opening performances at MPavillion for Wominjeka, then set up hub at Max Watt’s for the MMW Club, which played host to Billy Davis, Simona Castricum, Pinch Points and more over three nights.
Kamp Kamp put on a stellar show at Miscellania, Sub Club opened in its full techno glory across two levels for the afterparties, and The Boatbuilders Yard turned into a riverside rave…and that barely scratched the surface.
But just because the weekend’s done and dusted doesn’t mean the weeknights are any less action-packed. There’s four major events going down in Melbourne tonight alone, so keep your dancing shoes on and grab tickets to one of the events below.
Wash My Soul In The River’s Flow
Genre: Country / Folk / Blues
It took two years of planning for Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter – two Australian musical legends and members of the Stolen Generation who found each other – to join forces with Paul Grabowsky’s Australian Art Orchestra for a special performance in 2004, which has since been turned into a documentary by director Philippa Bateman (Jindabyne) and producer Emma Donovan. Bateman and Donovan will be introducing the screening tonight at ACMI, which also includes a special preview of Danny Cohen’s Anonymous Club.
Luke Howard + Responsve
Location: Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre
Genre: Classical / Electronic
Melbourne Recital Centre’s Elisabeth Murdoch Hall always creates a stunning atmosphere for any performance, but especially resonates with the atmospheric combination of electronic and classical soundscapes set to an immersive visual digital art experience. Howard creates minimalist neo-classical music, while Responsve is a master at capturing the emotive qualities through a beguiling visual backdrop, having first collaborated together at Dark Mofo in 2017.
Another music film taking place tonight as part of Melbourne Music Week’s broader program, Rock n Roll captures the first explosion of rock n roll in Australia, through performances in 1959 by the Australian Elvis himself, Johnny O’Keefe, and The Delltones. The documentary was thought to be lost forever, a brief remnant visible in the opening intro to Rage, but a recent re-discovery means audiences will now have the ability to witness a unique piece of Australian musical history, for free, at ACMI.
MMW Club: Heavy Spectra
Genre: Electronic / Experimental
Melbourne audio experimentation at its finest, Heavy Spectra is a showcase that takes the phenomenal groundwork that MESS Synthesiser Orchestra started and takes it in a dark, hallucinatory direction, melding powerful visuals, hypnotic guitars, synths, saxophone and experimental percussion. The show features Mat Watson & Carla Zimbler, with special guests Nat Grant & Cayn Borthwick, Bonnie Mercer, Fia Fiell, Robin Fox, Archival Sound Set and Nice Music DJs.
