UPDATE (23/2): The Foo Fighters have today confirmed they’re heading down to Victoria in March, set to perform a one-off show for Geelong’s ALWAYS LIVE event.
Taking place on March 4th, ALWAYS LIVE realises the long-held dream of late Aussie music icon Michael Gudinski, who passed away in March of 2021. The event – described as the first and largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere – pays homage to Gudinski’s passion for live music and his home state, while celebrating Victoria’s music scene and highlighting its importance as a national and global destination for live music.
“ALWAYS LIVE was a passion project for my dad to ensure Victoria continued to be recognised as the music capital of Australia, and Melbourne as one of the leading music cities in the world,” explained ALWAYS LIVE Chair Matt Gudinski.
“Dad worked tirelessly over many years to bring his vision and concept to life and to obtain the support of the Victorian Government,” he added. “The initiative has been in the works for a long time and has been impacted by COVID-19 leading to several postponements of its launch and delivery. I’m honoured to be part of now making it a reality at a time when the live music scene needs all the support it can get.
“The focus of this year’s instalment of ALWAYS LIVE is reinvigorating and reconnecting the State through the power of live music. I know Dad would be very proud to see the event launched and form a major part of re-establishing a thriving live music scene.”
The event will see US rockers the Foo Fighters open proceedings, performing the first-ever live show at Geelong’s GMHBA Stadium on Friday, March 4th. The group will be joined by Amyl & The Sniffers and The Meanies, with the latter having supported Foo Fighters’ frontman Dave Grohl when Nirvana toured Australia in January of 1992.
ALWAYS LIVE is set to announce more events in the coming months, while tickets for the Foo Fighters’ performance will go on sale from 12pm, Friday, February 25th from the ALWAYS LIVE website.
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In huge news for Victoria, Foo Fighters are in talks to play a special one-off concert in Geelong next month to promote the state’s music industry.
As reported by the Herald Sun, Dave Grohl and co. are “pencilled in” to perform at Geelong’s GMHBA Stadium in early March. It’s supposedly in support of Always Live, a Visit Victoria program which aims to promote the state as a world-class destination for live music.
As the organisation’s official website puts it, “Always Live is about live contemporary music in all its forms: from the industry and musicians to the community and fans who support it, all with the energy and atmosphere Victoria’s live contemporary music scene is known and loved for.”
The concert isn’t quite official just yet – some insiders insist the band are “100%” booked, while others say it’s only a “proposed” idea currently. The tour promoter for the Foo Fighters in Australia, Frontier, is also yet to comment.
In the band’s current touring schedule, early March is free. After playing Innings Festival in Tempe, Arizona on February 26th, they currently don’t have another concert pencilled in until they play Mexico City’s Foro Sol two weeks later on March 15th.
Foo Fighters were previously in Australia in early 2018 on their Concrete and Gold Tour, in support of their ninth studio album of the same name. They played arenas in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, and Adelaide, although there was no date in Geelong.
The band also just performed a special VR concert in the metaverse following Sunday’s Super Bowl. Livestreamed from the Los Angeles Convention Center, fans were able to watch via the band’s official Facebook and Instagram pages or Meta’s Horizon Ventures app.
After opening with the live debut of their 2017 song “T-Shirt”, they performed some older classics such as “Times Like These” and “All My Life”, before concluding with “Home”.
