Man has been documenting life since the day an anonymous caveman first put charcoal to a cave wall. The cave painting is probably as old as the medium of live music but up until the 20th century one was only able to enjoy live music if one was in the immediate vicinity of the performers. Radio, cinema and television changed the face of music forever and made it accessible to literally millions of people the world over. Thanks to visionary filmmakers and music fans, we, as a generation who is spoilt by the luxuries of the iPod and Youtube, are able to catch a glimpse of music events past.

The Palais Theatre in St Kilda is one of Melbourne’s premier live music venues. The historic theatre, once famous for its grandeur as a cinema, is returning to its roots in hosting the first Music On Film Festival, a festival which organisers expect to become an annual celebration of music and filmmaking.

“The Music on Film Festival celebrates music magic in the full glory of the silver screen with the added benefit of a “it’s-like you’re-there” sound system. All this in Australia’s premier live music venue! I promise you that every film is worth seeing and every piece of music is worth listening to. That’s why festivals like this are so terrific because they introduce us to artists and music that may be outside our usual tastes,” says Dennis Watkins, Festival Director.

Punters can expect to see films such as P!nk’s Funhouse Tour, It Might Get Loud (ft. Jack White, The Edge and Jimmy Page), Heima (Sigur Ros), Disney’s Fantasia, Academy Award winning docci Woodstock and Mozart’s The Magic Flute. On the last day of the festival, fans will be treated to four back-to-back music films by award-winning director and self-confessed music fan, Martin Scorsese.

The festival will run from July 6 – 10 at The Palais Theatre and single session tickets or full festival passes can be obtained from www.ticketmaster.com.au/moff. For more information and a full program check out www.moff.com.au. You definitely don’t want to miss out on this one!

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