The song, Get The Jab, is written and performed by a one-off project called The Jabz, featuring musicians from the city’s underground and doom rock scene, with contributions from Melbourne’s “night mayor” and Cherry Bar owner, James Young.High-profile leaders, including Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp and Live Nation Asia-Pacific president Roger Field, make cameo appearances in the music video and sing the anthemic three-word chorus. The song, released on all streaming platforms on Monday, comes as Melbourne’s live music scene, once touted as a world-class capital, faces dark stages and closed venues for the 18th month.It also follows a push by arts and culture leaders for vaccine passports and rapid testing to save the struggling music, theatre and events industries. “The Covid vaccine is the gateway drug to concerts, festivals and local gigs,” says Young, who chairs the Melbourne City Council’s night economy advisory team.“The only way we’re going to be set free from lockdown and be able to host, perform at, and attend live music gigs again is to reach government vaccination targets. We all must get the jab.”The Jabz frontman, Dave Ferguson, said vaccinated punters in the US and UK have “reactivated” live music events overseas.“Gigs are back in full swing and we need to do the same,” he said.In June, Live Nation’s Mr Field initiated an open letter to Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton with a desperate plea to save industries in dire straits.The letter — with 200 signatures, including touring giants Live Nation, Frontier, TEG Dainty, musical theatre producer Michael Cassel, hospitality kings Chris Lucas, Shane Delia, Bruce Keebaugh and Shannon Bennett, theatre owners Marriner Group, and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Theatre Company, and Australian Ballet — asked the chief health officer for a road map and timeline back to pre-lockdown settings.In the US, from October, Live Nation will require all artists, crew and punters to show proof of full vaccination or a negative test at their venues and festivalsThe Living End frontman Chris Cheney, Kylie Auldist from The Bamboos, and cabaret performer Eugene Hamilton also feature in The Jabz video clip.Get The Jab – written by Luke Bolton, Jake Hills, Dave Ferguson and Benny James Pertzel. Our band will never play again until we can leave homeThe dirty virus shut us down and now we’re on our ownGeezers up against the jab but snorting everythingStick the prick in your arm or it’s stuffing up the artsGet the jab, yeah yeah yeahGet the jab, it’s up to youGet the jab, yeah yeah yeahGet the jabCan’t believe it’s Tuesday, I’m getting out of bed.I drag my stinky ass all the way to Jeff’s shedDays are going by, nothing seems to changeStand in line, it’s time, get us back on stageGet the jab, yeah yeah yeahGet the jab, it’s up to youGet the jab, yeah yeah yeahGet the jabNeed to move on, get back out againConspiracies; are they true? Do ’em if ya canWe all want our freedom, can’t do it on our ownBut all we seem to do these days is stay at bloody homeGet the jab, yeah yeah yeahGet the jab, it’s up to youGet the jab, yeah yeah yeahGet the jabPolioMalariaSmall PoxTuberculosisRabiesThe PlagueThe ClapGet the jab
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