Sunday, August 7, 2011

Go-Set - Know Where?

The situation prior to Go-Set was that teenagers did not have access to a gig guide (as the expression became more commonly known as). Go-Set makes it known to "Promoters!" that this is where they can post information about gigs. "Know Where" seems to be a direct statement, in one way, of where teens could go for gigs, at the same time, it has a high culture attachment as well. It is almost a statement of "I know where to go, do you?".

The lead up to the first "Know Where" must have been a busy time. For Saturday, 24 venues are listed. Where were these venues located. The column shows no addresses, so it must be presumed that the audience already knew the locations. However, in case they didn't, some of the venues also advertised on a page associated with the Know Where page, that was essentially a page or two of classified advertisements for venues and the artists who were playing there. Two aspects of the Melbourne music scene in 1966 and the lead up to it is that there was still a large number of solo artists who were backed by bands that played for other artists as well. Many of the venues were halls that were converted for use as dance venues, and that it was possible for singers and groups to appear at more than one venue per night. Musicians from the period talk of nights where they would play one venue and then would have to drive across Melbourne to play a second venue, and then still have to make it to a third venue. One can imagine that this must have been quite a dangerous task, so it must be asked how many accidents there were? What about alcohol? Did the musicians drink? What drugs were available at the time? Uppers and downers? This is all in the wake of Carnaby Street, and the drug scene there. How much did Melbourne this trend?  

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