Last month MusicSA proudly presented our first ever Good Music Month; the new annual, state-wide, open access live music festival held each November across South Australia. Keep reading for some highlight info and events below.
A massive 656 live music events were registered with Good Music Month and presented to South Aussie live music lovers in the official Good Music Month dynamic digital Gig Guide. Over 2000 artists engaged with Good Music Month, and over 70 of their gigs were held regionally across 19 regional venues!
We are also proud to say with thanks to our partners at the City of Adelaide, Adelaide Economic Development Agency, and Adelaide West End Association, a massive 341 gigs were held across the City of Adelaide and Adelaide West End!
SA did not shy away from making use of the unique spaces and locations we have to offer. From Cry Baby fest at Adelaide Gaol, library performances, acoustic gigs on the River Murray itself, City of Adelaide’s Music in the Streets, organ and choir concerts at Adelaide Town Hall, Umeewarra Downtown festival at Port Augusta Barracks, to one of the biggest stages we’ve seen at the VAILO Adelaide 500 After-Race Concert Series, Good Music Month saw it all.
Local city, metro and regional grassroots live music venues put on a show as always, ensuring the beating cultural heart of SA that is live music stays alive. Considering this all took place across just the 30 days of November, the Good Music Month program represents a snapshot of the phenomenal amount of live music that takes place all across SA.
To see the full list of venues who participated in Good Music Month, click here. This is not a definitive list of all the incredible local grassroots venues out there across SA. Please keep going out, and keep seeing live music, everywhere!
Photo credit: Photos by Jamois
As part of Good Music Month, MusicSA celebrated with several key official events, kicking off with the official opening event on Saturday 4 November, Notestock.
Notestock is local music publication The Note‘s inaugural annual festival and also, first birthday celebration! Notestock featured a bunch of incredible local acts (Molly Rocket, Ricky Albeck, Druid Fluids, Los Palms, Colter, The Vains, Stellar, The Dainty Morsels) who supported interstate legends Beddy Rays and The Beefs.
The Note also ran a special “Locals Only” November edition of their mag, with some of SA’s rising stars on the cover, as well as a special Good Music Month Gig Guide print inside!
Photo credit: Photos by Jamois
The 2023 South Australian Music Awards followed the week after, on Wed 8 November 2023 at the iconic art deco Woodville Town Hall on Kaurna Yerta. For the full recap article (including Paul Kelly’s induction into the SA Music Hall of Fame!) and winners, click here.
Photo credit: Samuel Graves Photography
The VAILO Adelaide 500 After-Race Concert Series saw local acts DJ SVVLO, Mums Favourite, Purée and Rob Edwards supporting massive national and international acts (such as Carl Cox and Eric Powell’s Mobile Disco, Icehouse, and Robbie Williams!) on the huge stage, performing to thousands! For more info, click here.
Photo credit: Morgan Sette
To officially close Good Music Month, MusicSA hosted a South Aus Music T-Shirt Market on the last day of November, to coincide with national Ausmusic T-Shirt Day, raising funds for Support Act.
The market saw a bunch of local bands, artists and orgs come together on the sunny afternoon outside The Howling Owl in Vaughan Place to sell their merch, graced by acoustic sets from Bianca Hendy, Corda Negra, Mark Curtis, and Chloe Sea.
This was followed by an afterparty at The Howling Owl with intimate performances by JAWGEE, My Chérie and Mum Thinks Blue (duo).
It didn’t end there though, the party kept going all around with numerous official Good Music Month closing parties! Click here for more info.
Photo credit: Morgan Sette
MusicSA would like to sincerely thank everyone who jumped on board to be part of our first ever Good Music Month. A massive thank you to artists, bands and all performers, both local, interstate, and international who joined the epic lineup.
Thank you to all venue owners who continue to play a crucial role in our live music ecosystem. Thank you to all live music crew; sound and lighting techs, door sales, bar staff, photographers, security, drivers, and the list goes on.
A special thank you to our major Good Music Month partners, of which without this would not be possible:
Thank you to City of Adelaide and the Adelaide Economic Development Agency, the Government of South Australia’s Music Development Office and to the Adelaide West End Association.
And of course, thank you to all audiences! Thank you for continuing to support artists and live music in our South Aussie state, for buying tickets, merch, showing up and singing along.
We can’t wait for next year!
To stay up to date with all things MusicSA and Good Music Month, make sure you’re signed up to our e-news here.
