Pig City (music festival)

Last updated

Pig City: Brisbane's Historical Soundtrack was a one-day music festival held as part of the Queensland Music Festival in 2007. The idea for the concert came from Queensland Music Festival Artistic Director for 2007 Paul Grabowsky, who was inspired after reading Andrew Stafford's book Pig City: From The Saints To Savage Garden. [1] The festival was held on 14 July at The University of Queensland. It ran from midday to 10 pm.

Contents

The Pig City concert is regarded as one of the biggest concerts staged in the premises of the University of Queensland in recent years since O Week (Orientation Week) concerts, namely the first Livid Festival in 1989. [2]

The line-up for the festival included: The Saints, Regurgitator, The Riptides, Kev Carmody, Screamfeeder, David McCormack, Ups & Downs, The Apartments, The Pineapples from the Dawn of Time, Kate Miller-Heidke, and The Brisbane Excelsior Band. [3] The Saints were the main headliner for the festival, their appearance marking a reunion of the founding members of the band after a 28-year separation. [4]

Pig City (symposium)

A symposium – Pig City: Then & Now, A Symposium on the Past, Present & Future of the Rock Music Industry in Brisbane – was held at The University of Queensland on 13 July 2007, the day before Pig City: Brisbane's Historical Soundtrack. It was organised by The University of Queensland's Centre of Critical and Cultural Studies and featured Andrew Stafford, who gave a keynote speech. He took the opportunity to address criticisms that suggested the book was written by an individual who was not present during the tumultuous period of Bjelke-Petersen's tyrannical reign, but wished he was. He explained he had no intentions to "romanticise the era", rather he wanted to pay tribute to Brisbane's bands of that period who were not given due recognition in Australia's music industry. [5]

Stafford also explained that major cultural movements were the result of a convergence of local, national, and international factors. He gave the example of the music scene in the 1970s as drawing both positive and negative energy alike from the local enthusiasm for the right to march movement, the national reaction to the dismissal of the Whitlam government, and the international anarchy inspired by the Sex Pistols in the UK. [6]

Pig City (song)

The title Pig City originated from the song Pig City recorded by Brisbane band The Parameters in late 1983. The song was written by Tony Kneipp, lead singer of the band. It critiques the political environment of Queensland's State coalition government in the 1980s, referencing persecution of Aboriginal people, corruption within the government and police force, and banning of street marches.

Pig City (book)

Pig City: From The Saints To Savage Garden was written by Andrew Stafford over a period of three years, and published in 2004 by The University of Queensland Press. It is the first published book for Stafford. He was born in Melbourne in 1971, before moving to Brisbane in 1987 at the age of 15. Growing up in Brisbane in the late 1980s and early 1990s played a vital role in sparking Stafford's interest in Brisbane's politics and music scene.

Stafford borrowed the title for his book from the song Pig City by The Parameters. In a media release from The University of Queensland Press, Stafford is quoted as saying "although this song was barely heard outside of Brisbane, it became something of a rallying cry for those who stayed behind to fight the good fight at a time when everyone else was bailing out of the city. I decided to name the book after that song". [7]

Pig City offers readers an insight into the development of the Brisbane music scene from the 1970s to 2000. The scope of Pig City not only documents those Brisbane bands that have gained worldwide recognition, such as The Saints, The Go-Betweens, and Savage Garden, but also explores the journey of lesser-known local Brisbane bands like Razar and The Parameters. Brisbane's political climate through this time is tightly interwoven with the development of the music scene. However, Stafford stresses the importance of recognising that "bad politics does not, in and of itself, result in a great and glorious music scene". [8]

Pig City bases its informative historical perspective on nearly 100 interviews with musicians, journalists and authors. It is a valuable history, which captures the development of not just Brisbane's music scene, but also its political and cultural development. For Stafford "Pig City is the story of how Brisbane grew up". [9] This is a story largely neglected by other Australian music literature. "Firstly, as a music fan, I wanted to pay tribute to Brisbane’s bands, most of whom I felt had received short shrift in the still-slim literature on Australian music, in which Brisbane’s contribution was treated as a footnote". [10]

While Pig City is currently Stafford's only published book, he has also worked as a freelance writer. He has been published in various print media in Australia, including The Age , The Australian , Sydney Morning Herald , Australian Geographic and Rolling Stone Australia . [11] Stafford has also been employed as a university tutor, occasional environmental consultant, and a taxi driver.

Brisbane Politics from the late 1960s to 1980s

Brisbane in the 1970s and 1980s was often viewed as a cultural backwater, referred to by many journalists as the Deep North. [12] It was seen as lacking "bookshops, political pubs, radio and television network headquarters where Australian intellectuals could be seen and heard". [13] The history of Queensland politics of this time also shows a long association between the police, the government, and corruption. [14] Much critique of Queensland politics of the 1970s and 1980s focuses on the premiership of Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen. Bjelke-Petersen held the political office of Premier of Queensland from 1968 to 1987. He was a conservative politician, a devout Lutheran fundamentalist, and deeply involved in the corrupt government. [15] Culturally, the Brisbane music scene of the same time is viewed as one of its best. [16]

In the late 1960s, the New Left movement began in Queensland, activated largely in response to issues arising from the Vietnam War, civil liberties, and conscription. [17] Before the late 1960s, public demonstrations had rarely been used as tools of political action. [18] However, after 1965, they became "a regular feature of Queensland life". [19] This was despite the fact that under Queensland's Traffic Act, demonstrators were required to obtain police permits for street marches to be considered legal. [20] Police were able to refuse these permits at any time and without giving any reason. [21]

The demonstrations in 1971 in Brisbane against the Springbok tour, and the aftermath, illustrate the conservative regulation of Queensland under the Bjelke-Petersen premiership. From state to state, the Springbok team were faced with demonstrations in condemnation of South Africa's apartheid laws. [22] In Brisbane, Bjelke-Petersen "proclaimed a month-long state of emergency…on the pretext of protecting a visiting football team from political dissenters". [23] The state of emergency saw the suspension of civil liberties and led to police being granted with "extraordinary (and unspecified)" powers. [24]

Demonstrators greeted the Springboks when they arrived in Brisbane on 22 July 1971. Approximately 300 demonstrators were present, and the same number of police. [25] While police assaulted some demonstrators during this first demonstration, it was the demonstration on 24 July that was the most volatile. [26] The number of police had increased to around 500, with country police brought in to add to the numbers. [27] When police commissioner Ray Whitrod gave the order for the police to move forward, intending to move demonstrators from the road, police charged. [28] Demonstrators were forced to move by police who tackled and hit them with batons. [29] Mass arrests of demonstrators also resulted from these demonstrations. [30]

These mass arrests were one of the major catalysts that encouraged University of Queensland students, as well as left unionists, to explore better ways to communicate with the Brisbane public. [31] In 1975, the 4ZZZ FM radio station was founded at The University of Queensland's St Lucia campus. [32] It was a response to Queensland's "political and cultural conservatism". [33] 4ZZZ FM aimed to "offer local perspectives which it believes were ignored by the mainstream stations" through its news and current affairs programming. [34] The station also adopted rock music as the main feature of its musical programming, in a move to attract Brisbane's alternative youth market. [35] It is considered a major part of the development of Brisbane's music scene at the time, giving airtime to local bands such as The Saints, The Go-Betweens, and The Parameters.

From the mid-1970s to the late 1980s, the premiership of Bjelke-Petersen remained largely unchanged. The premier was generally untouched politically by allegations of corruption against him and the Queensland government. [36] Brisbane's music scene is viewed as having been affected both positively and negatively by the political environment. [37] However, it cannot be suggested that a conservative political environment by itself produces a great music scene. [38] Another important influence of Brisbane's music scene in the 1970s and 1980s was the music coming out of Britain and America at that time, particularly bands such as the Sex Pistols and The Stooges. [39]

Sources

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brisbane</span> Capital city of Queensland, Australia

Brisbane is the capital and most populous city of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of South East Queensland, which includes several other regional centres and cities. The central business district is situated within a peninsula of the Brisbane River about 15 km (9 mi) from its mouth at Moreton Bay. Brisbane is located in the hilly floodplain of the Brisbane River Valley between Moreton Bay and the Taylor and D'Aguilar mountain ranges. It sprawls across several local government areas, most centrally the City of Brisbane. The demonym of Brisbane is Brisbanite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joh Bjelke-Petersen</span> Australian politician

Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen, known as Joh Bjelke-Petersen or simply Sir Joh, was a conservative Australian politician. He was the longest-serving and longest-lived premier of Queensland, holding office from 1968 to 1987, during which time the state underwent considerable economic development. He has become one of the most well-known and controversial figures of 20th-century Australian politics because of his uncompromising conservatism, political longevity, and the institutional corruption of his government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernestine Hill</span> Australian journalist, travel writer and novelist

Ernestine Hill was an Australian journalist, travel writer and novelist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4ZZZ</span> Radio station in Brisbane, Queensland

4ZZZ is an independent community radio station operating in Brisbane, Australia at the frequency 102.1 FM. As a community radio station, 4ZZZ is a member of the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA). The station broadcasts to much of South East Queensland, parts of northern New South Wales and web streams from its website.

Stranded: The Secret History of Australian Independent Music 1977–1991 is a book about the Australian independent music scene from 1979 until 1991, as written by author and music journalist Clinton Walker. The books follows two decades of music, from punk, rock, alternative sound to garage-rock and grunge and integrates various first-person accounts from Walker's perspective as well as drawing upon interviews with artists during that time to illustrate the cultural history of Australian sound.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Campbell (judge)</span> Australian judge, administrator and governor

Sir Walter "Wally" Benjamin Campbell, was an Australian judge, administrator and governor. He was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland, Chancellor of the University of Queensland and the 21st Governor of Queensland from 1985 to 1992.

Henry Octave Cyril Vereecke, better known as Harry Oakman, was one of Australia's foremost gardening authorities and a pioneer of Australian architectural landscaping. An immigrant from Belgium, Oakman wrote numerous illustrated books on gardening and, as a public landscaper, enjoyed enormous influence over the design of open spaces in Brisbane, Canberra, and Newcastle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Popular entertainment in Brisbane</span>

In 1975, Brisbane's first FM radio station began broadcasting from a studio at the University of Queensland Student Union. 4ZZ became a catalyst for the development of original music in the city. Bands such as The Saints, The Go-Betweens, gerrymander and the boundaries, The Riptides and The Laughing Clowns established an ecosystem for alternative music that continues to flourish.

James Birrell (1928-2019) was an architect responsible for the design of significant buildings in Queensland, Australia. James Birrell practiced from 1951 to 1986.

Brisbane punk rock had its main impact between 1975 and 1984 as part of the overall punk rock scene in Australia. According to rock music historian, Ian McFarlane, the Queensland capital provided "some of the most anarchistic bands" of that era whilst it was "arguably the most conservative city" in the country. The development of the local punk movement differed from other cities because of its relative geographic isolation from other similar trends. The Brisbane scene also received a greater scrutiny by local police where early punk bands formed as "an obvious backlash to an oppressed society". This generated antagonistic and individualistic groups or "snot" driven punk bands.

Pig City is an independently released song recorded in late 1983 by the Brisbane band The Parameters. The song critiques the corrupt and authoritative aspects within Joh Bjelke-Petersen's Queensland State coalition government and Queensland police force during the early 1980s. Issues raised within the song included banning of street marches, persecution of aborigines, ministerial and government corruption, SP bookmaking, police harassment and Special Branch surveillance.

Purple Avengers was an Australian indie rock band from Brisbane formed in 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queensland Council for Civil Liberties</span> Australian civil liberties organisation

The Queensland Council for Civil Liberties (QCCL) is a voluntary organisation in Australia concerned with the protection of individual rights and civil liberties. It was founded in 1966 in order "to protect and promote the human rights and freedoms of Queensland citizens." The QCCL is regularly asked by the Government to make submissions to committees, which is how bills are made in Parliament. These submissions cover issues such as closed circuit television, abortion law reform, sentencing issues in our court system and changes to legislation already in place, which are called amendments.

<i>The Cane Toad Times</i>

The Cane Toad Times was a satirical humour magazine based in Brisbane, Queensland. It was first published in the late 1970s, then revived under the same name by a new team from 1983–1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne Jones (writer)</span> Australian writer

Anne Patricia Jones is an Australian writer, editor, and administrator. She is one of two working directors of ToadShow Pty Ltd, a Brisbane-based design company, where she is managing partner and company chair. In 1981 she was co editor of Semper Floreat the University of Queensland student newspaper.

Eva Bacon, born Eva Goldner, was a socialist and feminist based in Brisbane, Australia, who was most active between the 1950s and the 1980s. Raised in Austria and a member of several leftist political organisations in her youth, Eva Goldner escaped Nazi occupied Austria in 1939, eventually migrating to Australia. Goldner remained involved in local and international politics and joined the Communist Party of Australia (CPA), marrying fellow member Ted Bacon in 1944. Throughout her career Bacon was an active member of the CPA, and the Union of Australian Women (UAW), where she was heavily involved in International Women's Day campaigns, including attending the 1975 UN World Conference on Women in Mexico celebrating International Women's Year. Bacon was also an active member of the Women's Electoral Lobby (WEL), the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). She was passionate about childcare issues, and through her political work clashed particularly with conservative Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen.

Rosemary Opala (1923–2008) was an Australian artist, writer and nurse, and is regarded for her work as a Queensland environmentalist, historian, social commentator and community activist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Landen Dann</span>

George Landen Dann was an Australian playwright, writer, and draftsman. He is best known for a number of award-winning and critically acclaimed plays such as In Beauty It Is Finished, Fountains Beyond, Caroline Chisholm and The Orange Grove. Dann wrote dozens of published and unpublished plays over the course of his lifetime. Originally writing plays for the amateur dramatic society at Sandgate, Queensland, Dann was a particularly shy and reclusive person, and even though he wrote part-time, his more popular plays were widely performed by amateur theatre companies around Australia. George Landen Dann's writing has been appreciated for its social realism, with a number of his plays delving into issues involving Indigenous Australians and their central characters reflecting individuals that Dann had met during his time in outback Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daisy Marchisotti</span>

Daisy Elizabeth Marchisotti was an Australian social and political activist whose commitment to Indigenous rights saw her remain an active member of the political community up until her death in 1987. She is known for her communist affiliations and was an active member of the Communist Party of Australia.

Peter Newell (1916–2010) was an Australian architect, who worked in the modernist tradition in Queensland and became an architectural critic.

References

  1. ↑ 'Copy of UQNews, August 2007, with cover article on the Pig City concert', Papers of Andrew Stafford, UQFL440, Box 1, Fryer Library, University of Queensland Library.
  2. ↑ 'Copy of UQNews, August 2007, with cover article on the Pig City concert', Papers of Andrew Stafford, UQFL440, Box 1, Fryer Library, University of Queensland Library.
  3. ↑ 'Commemorative booklet for the Pig City concert', Papers of Andrew Stafford, UQFL440, Box 1, Fryer Library, University of Queensland Library.
  4. ↑ Saints back to rock Pig City. (12 July 2007). The Courier-Mail, p. 9.
  5. ↑ 'Typed speech: Andrew Stafford, "Keynote Speech to Pig City Symposium", delivered at the University of Queensland, 13 July 2007', Papers of Andrew Stafford, UQFL440, Box 1, Fryer Library, University of Queensland Library.
  6. ↑ 'Typed speech: Andrew Stafford, "Keynote Speech to Pig City Symposium", delivered at the University of Queensland, 13 July 2007', Papers of Andrew Stafford, UQFL440, Box 1, Fryer Library, University of Queensland Library.
  7. ↑ University of Queensland Press media release, private communication with University of Queensland Press.
  8. ↑ 'Typed speech: Andrew Stafford, "Keynote Speech to Pig City Symposium", delivered at the University of Queensland, 13 July 2007', Papers of Andrew Stafford, UQFL440, Box 1, Fryer Library, University of Queensland Library.
  9. ↑ 'Typed speech: Andrew Stafford, "Keynote Speech to Pig City Symposium", delivered at the University of Queensland, 13 July 2007', Papers of Andrew Stafford, UQFL440, Box 1, Fryer Library, University of Queensland Library.
  10. ↑ 'Typed speech: Andrew Stafford, "Keynote Speech to Pig City Symposium", delivered at the University of Queensland, 13 July 2007', Papers of Andrew Stafford, UQFL440, Box 1, Fryer Library, University of Queensland Library.
  11. ↑ University of Queensland Press. (2007). ‘'Andrew Stafford'’. Retrieved from http://www.uqp.uq.edu.au/author_details.php?id=641
  12. ↑ Knight, A. (2001). Won’t get fooled again: Radio journalism and the birth of community radio. Australian Community Broadcasting Series, 1(6), 1–14.
  13. ↑ Knight, A. (2007). Radical media in the Deep North: The origins of 4ZZZ-FM. Queensland Review, 14(1), p. 95.
  14. ↑ Coaldrake, P. & Wanna, J. (1988). 'Not like the Good Old Days': The political impact of the Fitzgerald Inquiry into police corruption in Queensland. The Australian Quarterly, 60(4), 404–414.
  15. ↑ Fitzgerald, R. (1984). Censorship in Queensland 1954–83. Australian Journal of Politics & History, 30(3), 348–362.
  16. ↑ Stafford, A. (2004). Pig City: From the Saints to Savage Garden. Brisbane: The University of Queensland Press.
  17. ↑ Stafford, A. (2004). Pig City: From the Saints to Savage Garden. Brisbane: The University of Queensland Press.
  18. ↑ Stafford, A. (2004). Pig City: From the Saints to Savage Garden. Brisbane: The University of Queensland Press.
  19. ↑ Stafford, A. (2004). Pig City: From the Saints to Savage Garden. Brisbane: The University of Queensland Press, p. 11
  20. ↑ Stafford, A. (2004). Pig City: From the Saints to Savage Garden. Brisbane: The University of Queensland Press.
  21. ↑ Stafford, A. (2004). Pig City: From the Saints to Savage Garden. Brisbane: The University of Queensland Press.
  22. ↑ Stafford, A. (2004). Pig City: From the Saints to Savage Garden. Brisbane: The University of Queensland Press.
  23. ↑ Stafford, A. (2004). Pig City: From the Saints to Savage Garden. Brisbane: The University of Queensland Press, p. 16
  24. ↑ Stafford, A. (2004). Pig City: From the Saints to Savage Garden. Brisbane: The University of Queensland Press, p. 16
  25. ↑ Stafford, A. (2004). Pig City: From the Saints to Savage Garden. Brisbane: The University of Queensland Press.
  26. ↑ Stafford, A. (2004). Pig City: From the Saints to Savage Garden. Brisbane: The University of Queensland Press.
  27. ↑ Stafford, A. (2004). Pig City: From the Saints to Savage Garden. Brisbane: The University of Queensland Press.
  28. ↑ Stafford, A. (2004). Pig City: From the Saints to Savage Garden. Brisbane: The University of Queensland Press.
  29. ↑ Stafford, A. (2004). Pig City: From the Saints to Savage Garden. Brisbane: The University of Queensland Press.
  30. ↑ Knight, A. (2007). Radical media in the Deep North: The origins of 4ZZZ-FM. Queensland Review, 14(1), 95–105.
  31. ↑ Knight, A. (2007). Radical media in the Deep North: The origins of 4ZZZ-FM. Queensland Review, 14(1), 95–105.
  32. ↑ Knight, A. (2007). Radical media in the Deep North: The origins of 4ZZZ-FM. Queensland Review, 14(1), 95–105.
  33. ↑ Knight, A. (2001). Won’t get fooled again: Radio journalism and the birth of community radio. Australian Community Broadcasting Series, 1(6), p. 12.
  34. ↑ Knight, A. (2007). Radical media in the Deep North: The origins of 4ZZZ-FM. Queensland Review, 14(1), 95–105.
  35. ↑ Knight, A. (2007). Radical media in the Deep North: The origins of 4ZZZ-FM. Queensland Review, 14(1), 95–105.
  36. ↑ Coaldrake, P. & Wanna, J. (1988). 'Not like the Good Old Days': The political impact of the Fitzgerald Inquiry into police corruption in Queensland. The Australian Quarterly, 60(4), 404–414.
  37. ↑ 'Typed speech: Andrew Stafford, "Keynote Speech to Pig City Symposium", delivered at the University of Queensland, 13 July 2007', Papers of Andrew Stafford, UQFL440, Box 1, Fryer Library, University of Queensland Library.
  38. ↑ Stafford, A. (2004). Pig City: From the Saints to Savage Garden. Brisbane: The University of Queensland Press.
  39. ↑ Stafford, A. (2004). Pig City: From the Saints to Savage Garden. Brisbane: The University of Queensland Press.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.