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Show time at the NGV

Show time at the NGV

By Rhianna Busler

“Friday Nights at NGV” is in full swing at Southbank and there’s plenty of action yet to see.

With six more weeks of after-hours art, live music and entertainment, this uniquely Melbourne event has put on an outstanding line-up of headline acts.  

Performing next on August 12, The Painted Ladies is a proudly-raggedy band, driven by love, creativity and a sense that race relations in this country still have a way to go.

The Painted Ladies project started as a tribute album to Vic Simms and his legendary lost 1973 classic The Loner.

Luke Peacock, the brainchild of The Painted Ladies project came across the album when working at a radio station and later began recording his own versions of Uncle Simms’ songs.

“As soon as I played the album (The Loner), I loved the sound. It just struck a chord with me,” Luke said.

It will be the first time The Painted Ladies is set to take on the NGV stage, but Luke has played there already this season with his band Halfway.

“The atmosphere is excellent. We all came away so happy. I’m excited to be back playing this Friday,” he said.

Vic Simms and Luke Peacock re-recorded the album, The Loner, which Simms initially wrote and recorded in prison in the 1970s.

As a contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artist, Luke said, “I think our band gets to represent a voice in our culture, through knowledge passed down, and that’s really important.”

Though the band is yet to take on Simms’ home town Sydney, Southbank will receive an exciting performance, featuring Peacock’s favourite song Stranger In My Country.

“Melbourne has proven itself as a city of strong arts and I think Friday Nights at NGV is an important event. It draws people in and positively impacts the economy,”  Luke said.

“It’s a combination of classic art work and good bands on a Friday night. What more could you ask for?” he said.

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