Can I Bring My Kid to the Gig?

The chapter has two clear goals: firstly, to create a definition of the phrase ‘family-friendly gig’, and secondly, to examine the perceived benefits of sharing live music experiences between adults and children in such a setting. The methodology consists of first-person interviews conducted in two different data-gathering contexts (a live music event series in Melbourne, and a podcast) which reflects the vastly different pre-COVID and ‘current’-COVID worlds of live music performance. The material included here includes comparisons of the pre- and post-2020 COVID-19 lockdown live music industries, acknowledging that changes brought about by the health crisis remind future leaders of the importance of a flexible, family-friendly industry going forward.