On the 23rd of February 2010, 10,000+ Melbourne music fans flocked the city to protest the Victorian Government’s strict liquor licensing laws, and their damaging effect on Melbourne’s live music scene. Recreating the famous AC/DC ‘It’s a Long Way to the Top’ video clip (filmed for Countdown in 1976), bagpipe players from the original clip joined members of the RocKwiz orchestra on the back of a flatbed truck, playing the song repeatedly as they traveled down Swanston St, then up Bourke, in one big party of a protest. The march culminated on the steps of Parliament with speeches and performances from some of Melbourne’s high-profile musicians.
The protest (and the publicity leading up to it) has resulted in the State Government reconsidering its position on the laws that were so negatively affecting Melbourne’s smaller music venues.
