Gigs at the Local Footy to Get Around Government Restrictions | Music News

Concrete surfers announce creative new tour

With in-person concerts severely limited and many bands and artists depending on cash from gigs to be viable, the live music industry has taken a major beating.

While the sporting world hasn’t been completely spared, the difference in crowd numbers has sometimes been hard to get your head around.

As 60,000 people descend upon the MCG for an AFL game, live music venues a suburb over are operating at 50% capacity. 

And with no resolution in sight for so many Aussie artists wanting to play their songs live and earn a living, Brisbane band Concrete Surfers have found a way around it - Live music at the footy!

The idea started one day when the band had another show cancelled and the lead singer Jovi Brook suggested that they “might as well go and play at the footy games so we can actually play a show”.

Their manager Chris Langenberg ran with the idea and “called virtually every QRL club in the state and explained the situation in the music industry at the moment.”

After telling the rugby league clubs about the continued cancellation of tours due to border and venue restrictions and floating the idea of playing gigs at their games, they were all ears

“All of the footy clubs were super excited at the idea of having something different happening after the game and were incredibly understanding of the situation for bands and wanted to help!", said Langenberg.

“The idea came because Trent from the band is a massive Wynnum Manly Seagulls fan and the band usually go to their home games.”

In fact, band meetings are often “planned around when the footy is happening” and are even sometimes “squeezed into the half time break.”

Enter the ‘If Ya Can’t Beat Em, Join Em’ tour that starts next weekend. Concrete Surfers will play right after the final whistle sounds at several Queensland Rugby League games and there will be no additional cost to punters already there. It’s a chance for the band to finally play some gigs and also enjoy a bit of local footy as a bonus.

At the moment there’s three gigs planned at games in Brisbane and one in Townsville over the first two weekends in September, with hopefully more to be announced during finals. And while it’s certainly not a money spinner for the band who got funding to make it happen, it’s a chance to play live music and maybe even prove a point.

“The most important thing for them is to play a show in front of a crowd again,” says Chris. He admits that although it started as a “dig at the restrictions that are in place in music venues”, the band are hoping it shines a “light on how rough it has been for venues and artists over the past two years.”