The Sidney Myer Music Bowl's Big Reopening Gig Will Welcome in 4000 Double-Vaxxed Music Lovers
If you've had both jabs, you can nab a $29.90 ticket to see King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Baker Boy, Amyl and the Sniffers, Grace Cummings, and Vika and Linda Bull.
Things are about to get loud at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. Busy, too. Thanks to Melbourne's six lockdowns, the city spot hasn't been hosting gigs or welcoming in music lovers for most of the past 18 months or so — but come Saturday, October 30, that'll change when Play On Victoria takes over the venue.
The site's first big event in months, this one-day music fest was first announced earlier in October, although it didn't have a name back then. A couple of weeks back, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews revealed that Sidney Myer Music Bowl would host a gig for a solely double-vaccinated audience. The reason: to test the state's reopening settings in the period between hitting the 70-percent double-jabbed mark and coming out of lockdown — which is happening at 11.59pm on Thursday, October 21 — and relaxing even more restrictions at the 80-percent double-vaxxed threshold.
Now, further details have been announced. If you're double-jabbed, get ready to see King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Baker Boy, Amyl and the Sniffers, Grace Cummings, and Vika and Linda Bull all take to the stage. Everyone performing and working the event will be double-vaxxed, too, in a sign of how things in Victoria are expected to operate as the state opens back up.
Play On Victoria will welcome in 4000 patrons, with tickets costing $29.90 each. You can nab yours from 3pm on Friday, October 22, with tickets limited to folks in metropolitan Melbourne.
Attendees will need to wear masks at the gig, and will be allocated seats. You'll also be spread across the venue for social-distancing purposes, and to test how concerts can work safely moving forward.
In terms of proving that you're vaxxed, you can display your COVID-19 digital certificate via the Service Victoria app, the Medicare app or your smartphone's wallet — or present a printed version of your certificate or immunisation history statement, or provide evidence of a valid exemption.
Back when Play on Victoria was first announced, the Premier said that the gig is "incredibly important for them and for the live music scene. We are the live music capital of our nation that has had it very tough. We have been there to support them all the way through, but they want to get out and perform and do what they do best. That's two entertain and inspire, to question all of us, to be that incredibly soulful part of our city and state. That's 30 October."
Other smaller gigs are also set to be held around the state to help test the reopening settings, with further details yet to be announced.
Play On Victoria will take place at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne, on Saturday, October 30. For further information or to buy tickets from 3pm on Friday, October 22, head to the Ticketek website.
For more information about the status of COVID-19 and the current restrictions, head over to the Victorian Government's website.
Top image: Piknic Electronik, Wade Malligan.