The Australian prog and rock communities have come together to help victims of the current bush fire crisis hitting the country. The Omnific, Teramaze, Hemina and Anubis are just some of the bands who wil be appearing at ProgAid, a benefit concert to raise money for the Red Cross and Wires, the wildlife rescue charity, who are both helping deal with the crisis. You can watch a video trailer for the event below.
"The devastation from the fires in Australia made us feel helpless, ProgAid festival is our way, as musicians, of showing our support and helping with what we do best," Teramaze guitarist Dean Wells tells Prog. "We are humbled to be able to represent progressive music in Australia, hopefully with help from the music community at large we can bring some much needed funds for families who have lost everything and wildlife who have lost habitat."
ProgAid will take place at Sydney's Oxford Arts Centre on March 15. Joining The Omnific, Teramaze, Hemina and Anubis are Sydney prog metallers Red Sea, math rockers Hashhashhashin, instrumental post rockers Genetics, heavy proggers Halcyon Reign, alt-proggers The Winter Effect and Melbourne proggers I Built The Sky.
"The way people everywhere have banded together in support of all who have been affected by the fire has been incredible," says I Built The Sky's Ro Han. "Being a part of this prog aid event was a no brainer. I hope together we can raise enough to show that Australia’s prog and metal community is a strong one."
Tickets will also be available for an on-site raffle with massive prizes including merchandise donated prog royalty across the globe. Up for grabs is two days of recording time (Valued at $1,200), generously donated by Dewolf Studios in Sydney.
The major prize is two after show passes to Dream Theater's upcoming Australian tour, for a city of your choice. All proceeds from Prog Aid and the accompanying raffles will be going to Wires and the Red Cross in Australia, to assist those who have been affected by this horrific fire season.
"We're so excited for the wider prog community to have pulled together and donate their time, merchandise and effort to make this event happen." says ProgAid organiser David Ellis. "From the local Australian bands playing all the way through to prog superstars like Dream Theater, Marillion, Voyager, Chaos Divine and Toehider pledging merchandise to raffle off on the night.
"We saw there was an opportunity for the prog community of Australia to come together and get behind the bushfire effort to support the bushfire victims. We are so humbled by the distances people are travelling and the time people are putting in to support this event. We hope it does as much good as we hope it will."
