LIVE music returned to Swan Hill recently when the The Push’s All-Ages Tour rolled into town, as artists Teenage Joans and The Chats played to a decent-sized crowd at Longhurst Hall.
Despite a late venue change the show still sold 110 tickets as the crowd grew and the night progressed.
Will Burns from YouthInc was heavily involved with the organisation of the event and he was really pleased how the night went as a whole, as local artist Sophie Kelly had the opportunity to perform alongside higher profile musicians.
“That was the best part for me, getting to see Sophie mixing amidst those artists who are able to give her some advice,” he said.
“It was really cool to see, and it is great that we were able to provide that platform.”
Originally supposed to be held at Swan Hill Town Hall, the venue change was the last thing that organisers needed a week out, but luckily the event went ahead with no hiccups.
“Town Hall were great in the way they helped us,” Mr Burns said.
“They brought across their PA system and they had all their technicians on hand to run the show.”
Up-and-coming artist from Horsham Brody Gray was also on the bill, the event his first ever performance, a consequence of the last couple of years restricting live shows.
“Brody was great, you could hardly tell it was his first time performing,” Mr Burns said.
The event was one of the first major music events to hit Swan Hill for a fair while, especially one which was directed at the youth population of the city.
“It was nice to see something happening in the community after the last couple of years we’ve had,” Mr Burns said.
“It was great to see people support it.”
Mr Burns was pleased to see all the efforts from the youth council be fulfilled, after the event was originally scheduled for October before it was postponed.
“It was great to see all our nine months of work actually come to fruition,” Mr Burns said.
Attracting an artist such as The Chats to play in Swan Hill is an enormous feat, as the rising Australian band are heading off to play at Coachella in April which is one of the world’s biggest music festivals.
Mr Burns was really pleased how all the acts performed and how many people they got to the show.
“We were happy about the numbers we got, especially as people are still wary of COVID,” he said.
“But at the end of the day, it is all about giving local talent the chance to shine and Soph definitely did that.”
