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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-06-22 Daily Xml
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Umbrella: Winter City Sounds

The Hon. J.M. GAZZOLA (15:57): Recently I had the pleasure of attending the launch of Umbrella: Winter City Sounds music festival. Umbrella: Winter City Sounds is a brand-new live music festival that runs in the city and near surrounds, celebrating live music in Adelaide for three weeks from 15 July to 7 August. On 1 June, the official Umbrella program, Adelaide's latest addition to the festival calendar, was launched to a packed room of industry and artists at popular live music venue The Jade. It featured the release of 30,000 copies of a printed guide packed with over 200 music events for the inaugural festival.

Funded by the state government through Arts South Australia's Music Development Office, the event is being produced by non-profit organisation Music SA, with sponsors including Adelaide City Council, Adelaide Festival Centre, Australian Hotels Association SA and Channel 9, to name but a few. The program celebrates a vast range of genres including punk, electronic, hip-hop, acoustic, metal, folk, pop, cabaret, classical and more, and will be hosted at 60 venues across Adelaide.

As well as the city's best-loved live music venues, performances can also be found at a selection of more unusual spots. Do not be surprised if you see acts popping up in spaces and places not traditionally used to stage live music. Thanks to the Premier actively working to change regulation that has seen live music restricted in some venues, you will see the positive changes coming out of this work in Umbrella and beyond. For example, Wyatt Street UPark will be transformed into an all-ages rooftop party. Cinema Place will become a public lounge room of electric jams, Adelaide Zoo will enjoy a live music matinee series, and making its South Australian debut is Melbourne's widely celebrated Tram Sessions. Event co-ordinator Sharni Honor was quoted in the InDaily independent news as saying that the new stages 'bring a bit of life and sunshine and those lovely vibes into a somewhat mundane environment.'

To help create this gamut of live music experiences, the festival introduces a unique model for events of its kind, with the combination of a curated program and a grassroots open access element. It has commissioned 17 emerging music entrepreneurs to bring their artistic vision to life, and enticed hundreds of other artists and ancillary services to participate in the festival, creating new paid opportunities for the sector. Music SA is also working with several tech start-ups to deliver the content digitally, including a NXTGIG app, UNESCO Live Music Walking Trail app and more. When interviewed, local artist Thom Lion was quoted by the ABC as saying:

…it shines a light on SA's absolute best talent, and is a great promotional tool and puts everyone to the fore for Adelaide.

Other highlights in the Umbrella program include a mini hip-hop festival presented by The Hilltop Hoods' label Golden Era Records. Families can enjoy karaoke with a live band, and public spaces such as Rundle Mall and the Adelaide Railway Station will come alive with acoustic acts throughout the festival. A new partnership also sees Umbrella: Winter City Sounds working with the internationally recognised Adelaide Guitar Festival, with the inclusion of the new Guitars in Bars program as an official part of Umbrella.

With its breadth, depth and sheer creativity, Umbrella attests to Adelaide's designation as a UNESCO City of Music. It not only activates the city during a traditionally slower time of the year but also rounds out a busy calendar of events, proving that Adelaide extends well beyond Mad March. It is not just the buzz that we all love about our music festivals; it is also about the contribution that it makes to our economy. As the Premier acknowledged on 10 February 2016:

From both a creative and an economic standpoint, live music is an important piece of South Australia, contributing more than $260 million to our economy and supporting more than 4,000 jobs.

Registration for artists and venues to become involved in the program is free and online registrations are still open until 8 July. It is expected that the event list will grow even further beyond the 200 performances already listed. The Umbrella program really highlights what a great offering of talent we have here, and the only challenge will be making it around to see it all.

Congratulations to Music SA on bringing together such a fabulous program of live music for our city this winter. I encourage all South Australians, and indeed my parliamentary colleagues, to promote and support the wonderful music industry we have here in South Australia and to get to as many shows as possible.

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