On August 16 local promoters (and the bookers of Alia Arthouse) Bonny And Clyde are throwing the ‘Femme Warehouse Event’ a celebration of the ladies who help shape and create Melbourne’s incredibly rich music and art scene.

A debate constantly in the lime light (especially in Australia) is whether in this day and in this culture there still needs to be ‘female focussed’ music events? Bonny And Clyde believe so, which is why organiser of ‘Femme’, the legends behind Bonny And Clyde, aka Kayla Moon and Callum Linsell have put together a list of reasons why punters should go out there and support all the ladies who are killing it.

There Needs To Be More Balance

“Having booked and promoted a variety of live music events across Melbourne, we have found that a vast majority of up and coming bands that frequently gig are strongly male dominated. When searching for bands that identify with genres such as psych, garage, punk etc. there are noticeably less gigs that feature a female support acts, let alone events with an all female lineup.”

We Should Celebrate, Not Preach

“We donʼt have an agenda, we want this event to remain a celebration of the musicians and artists involved, we want to draw attention to the lack of equality and do something about it. We want to remind people that everyone is passionate about recognizing the importance of female bands. And we want to do it in solidarity with several beers and dim lighting.”

We Need To Challenge Stereotypes

“Having female focused events are still incredibly important. While we believe there is nothing wrong with a confident and sexy female figure, we believe it is also important to promote female acts that donʼt subscribe to stereotypical standards of femininity. Many of the acts featured in the Femme Warehouse Party lineup are great examples of talented femmes that donʼt let gender control what kind of music they play. There should be no set model for a woman in as creative a scene as Melbourneʼs music scene.”

Live Music Fans Want It

“Already we have received a lot of positive feedback from bands and people about the event, people what to support the female bands that donʼt often get the exposure they deserve. Weʼve had a lot of female dominated bands contact us asking to play, and itʼs great to see that the focus of the event is important to the acts and the audience – it confirms just how important the issue of inequality in the live music community is.”

Events Like This Reach New Audiences

“What weʼve found most exciting, whilst bringing this event together, is the new audiences weʼve managed to reach just by making a simple change to the type of events we normally throw.

Having a femme focus has allowed us open our target demographic up, simply because this event acknowledges something people believe in. People understand the significance of this event, because it proves that change is as easy as ensuring that female dominated bands get the recognition they deserve.”

Being A Female Act Shouldn’t Be A Novelty

“Ironically, having a female dominated lineup has taken out the novelty often associated with female bands. For once, these bands donʼt stand out just because of their gender, they are not meeting any ʻquotaʼ. Weʼre stoked to offer an opportunity for these bands just to play without the contrast of a male lineup.”

So Many Groundbreaking Aussie Acts Are Female

“With acts like Courtney Barnett, Lorde and Hiatus Kayote making waves for female musicians, the Femme Warehouse Party is also a celebration of women who are still breaking the stereotypical mold.

Itʼs vital to us, that we respect and celebrate how far weʼve come in this generation. To put together a great lineup of diverse female musicians and positive role models is to show people what society has been working towards for generations. The image of females within the music industry is constantly improving, and this event is a reminder of this fact – but also a way to add to the movement of gender equality.”

Bonny & Clyde’s Femme Warehouse Event

Saturday 16th August
Line Up:

Mangelwurzel
Tanzer (debut launch)
Dear Plastic
Hideous Towns
Wet Lips
More acts to be added July 21st
For venue and ticket info visit the Facebook event page

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