618 or Kaurna Yerta

I recently went to a gig with two international bands, one interstate band and one local band. Apart from wishing that it was Death Televised opening up the show, I was annoyed at the local band for not acknowledging the land they were performing.

I wrote a social media post after the gig that said ’I’ve got zero respect for local brocore bands who are too lazy to do an acknowledgment of country. It was Kaurna Yerta before it was 618’. It was raised to me via the comments that bands starting their set with an Acknowledgment of Country can appear ‘performative’, and in some ways I agree. An acknowledgment of country shouldn’t be something that is just said. It should have some meaning behind it, and it should indicate the person saying it has done the work to understand the importance of paying respect to Traditional Owners and their ongoing connection to country.

The post was aimed at bands who have started including area codes/post codes in their song names and even in their band names. They clearly care about where they’re from - in my opinion, they should care about all parts of where they’re from. And shouldn’t be afraid to acknowledge our collective past and present, even the bits we aren’t all that proud of.

I live on Peramangk country. I work on the lands of the Ngarrindjeri people. Most of the gigs I’ve played throughout my life have been on Kaurna Yerta. Death Televised will always acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land we’re playing on.