Gudinski first pitched the concept of Always Live to Premier Daniel Andrews after he helped the premier and his wife Catherine secure tickets to see Joel at New York’s Madison Square Garden in 2017. From there, the idea of using government money to bring the Piano Man to Melbourne morphed into a 2018 election promise to stage a 10-day, statewide music festival.

The creation of a standalone season for live music in Victoria will add to the frenetic competition between state governments for the post-pandemic domestic tourist dollar, with NSW this week announcing its plans to host in October 2023 a version of South by Southwest, a cultural and business festival created in Austin, Texas.

So far, 43 per cent of tickets sold for Always Live events have been bought by people who live outside of Victoria. Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Steve Dimopoulos said the festival would deliver a boost to regional economies, with thousands of concert goers expected to book local accommodation and restaurants.

Geoff Jones said once Always Live became established as an annual event, it would encourage promoters to bring out international acts to coincide with the festival. “It gives us an opportunity to be the focus, not just across one Billy Joel or Eminem concert, but multiple events at a variety of levels,” he said. “It will grow and blossom from this first-year experience.”

Always Live receives $13.5 million in funding – nearly all its revenue – from Visit Victoria, the government’s major events and tourism promotions agency. Visit Victoria also approves the appointment of its board members other than the chair, who is appointed by cabinet.

To accommodate Michael Gudinski as founding chairman of Always Live, Visit Victoria chairman Janet Whiting, an experienced commercial lawyer and president of the council of trustees of the National Gallery of Victoria, established strict rules to manage conflicts of interest on the board.

The company’s constitution prohibits directors from entering into contracts in which they have a personal material interest. A procurement subcommittee chaired by Village Roadshow’s John Kirby decides which acts to include in the Always Live program.

Matthew Gudinski said: “There are rigorous, formal processes in place that preclude me from participating in the assessment and decisions on whether to support any pitch to Always Live from Frontier Touring or any other Mushroom Group related entity.”

The Always Live board includes leading entertainment industry accountant Michael Roseby, Melbourne performer Clare Bowditch and Roundhouse Entertainment co-founder Anthea Newton. Jones and Field said they were comfortable with the board make-up and company structure.

“I have no concern about Matt being the chair,” Jones said. “I know he is an honourable man; he is a music man and he wants the best for everybody.”

Plans for a music festival and Joel concert, provisionally scheduled for the winter of 2020, were mothballed by the pandemic. During Melbourne’s protracted lockdown, Michael Gudinski and Andrews developed a close friendship, with the Premier sharing the entrepreneur’s passion for vinyl records, single malt whiskey and reviving the state’s moribund live music scene.

In the depths of Melbourne’s second wave lockdown, Gudinski expressed optimism about his industry and city’s capacity to recover. “Melbourne is famous for the things that have been most affected, but we aren’t throwing in the towel,” he told The Age at the time. “We will be very keen as soon as we can get started. Hopefully, that is not as far off as people think. ”

He died in March last year at the age of 68, while the pandemic was still raging. A statue of Michael Gudinski outside the Rod Laver Arena was this year unveiled by rock icon Jimmy Barnes.

Gudinski’s original idea for Always Live was a 17-day festival spanning three weekends and featuring a “monster” event on each weekend. Always Live chief executive Steve Smith, a well-connected entertainment industry consultant who previously ran Australian Radio Network Melbourne, said the 2022 program would be “looser” in structure and spread across the year.

Some Always Live branded events have already been staged, with the Foo Fighters playing a one-off show in Geelong and more recently, Welsh indie-pop artist Cate Le Bon playing in Melbourne and Castlemaine. Later this month, K-pop group Epik High will play an Always Live gig at Forum Melbourne.

“The appetite is there now, we are encouraging people to gather and use music as a great tonic for getting back to life,” Smith said.

Smith said events chosen for the program would either be exclusive, like the Joel concert, or unique in setting or content. Government funds will be used to lower production costs so promoters and venues can book acts for performances that would otherwise be commercially marginal.

“If it is not exclusive there will be something special about the event,” he said. “The economic impact is a consideration with any event we are putting on but second to that, and really importantly, it is to promote Melbourne, Victoria and the suburbs to further cement the envious position of the live music capital of Australia.”

Aidan McLaren, the co-founder of the Ocean Sounds festival at Churchill Island, said that without financial support from Always Live, he wouldn’t have been able to secure Melbourne singer/songwriter Tash Sultana as the headline act. “It is Tash’s only show in Victoria for the year,” he said. “Fingers crossed that this is a regular summer and people want to get back out and support live music.”

At the start of this year, Always Live invited expressions of interest from promoters, festival operators and venue managers looking to be part of the program. Shows have so far been confirmed in Melbourne, Geelong, Queenscliff, Echuca, Horsham and the historic, Goldfields town of Carisbrook. The full program is expected be announced within the next month.

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