'No Stages Without Us': Locals mobilise against Boiler Room with series of protest shows

Local crews in Naarm/Melbourne and Gadigal Land/Sydney have announced protest events scheduled to coincide directly with Boiler Room’s upcoming shows in each city.

‘Sonic Solidarity: No Stages Without Us’ is a coordinated effort by crews and artists across each city, described as “a loud F*** off to every entity profiting from exploitation and genocide. You will have no stage without us.”

These events come as only the latest instalment in a global push against the promoter and broadcaster, who in January of this year was purchased by Superstruct Entertainment, owned in turn by investment firm KKR.

KKR is widely reported to have investments in military technologies, companies operating on Occupied Palestinian Territories and ownership of the Coastal Gaslink Pipeline. Global protests and boycotts against Boiler Room have aligned themselves with the struggles of Palestinian people and of the Wet’suwet’en Land Defenders, who are First Nations people from British Columbia, Canada.

In August, coinciding with Boiler Room’s Australian lineup announcements, artists launched an ‘open letter’ distancing themselves from the brand and other KKR-affiliated events, including Australia’s own Fuzzy, responsible for the likes of Listen Out and Field Day. As of September 20, this open letter has over 850 signatures.

Read: Over 450 artists sign ‘open letter’ directed at upcoming Boiler Room Australia tour

‘Sonic Solidarity’ takes this protest of Boiler Room to a physical level, purposefully organised to clash with the brand’s events in Naarm and on Gadigal Land, on November 1st and 15th, respectively.

The shows themselves are collaborations among a variety of local collectives, venues, radio shows, and artists. Its Naarm instalment sees DJ and producer FOURA working with undisclosed members of the Naarm dance music community alongside Howler Theatre, and on Gadigal Land, a currently undisclosed space will house the collective effort of Dot Zip, MSG4000, ARSONIST & Club Pesadilla.

The lineups themselves are a who’s who of each city’s more ‘community’-oriented scenes, with the event on Gadigal Land poised as a b2b-fest, featuring Atro and Air Max ‘97, Maz and 3urie and many more, while Naarm sees Ramsey, Mowgli, Rakhi and very notably, c000kie, who had previously featured on her city’s Boiler Room lineup before withdrawing soon after its announce.

Much like similar events which have taken place across the globe in localised protest of Boiler Room, ‘Sonic Solidarity’ acts as a series of fundraisers, with all profits being split equally between a strike fund to support artists who have left the Boiler Room shows, and half to mutual aid supporting displaced Palestinian families.

At this stage, the majority of local acts set to appear at Boiler Room's upcoming shows have already pulled out of the lineup, including c000kie as mentioned above, Osmosis Jones, Chloe, and Obeido.

Currently, Boiler Room still lists c000kie and Obeido on the posters for their receptive shows, though they both pulled out some time ago.

The coordinated effort of figures within each city’s respected local scenes is yet another message to the promoter and its affiliates.

That message is increasingly clear: events like this are “taking back the power from entities supporting genocide. We want a scene backed by moral compass. Music is political and always will be.”

View the full lineup for each event, with tickets to Naarm & Gadigal Land available now.