Should The AFL Be Booking Australian Bands For The Grand Final?

Are you sick of having to sit through performances from irrelevant and aging musicians like Meatloaf and Sir Tom Jones before the first bounce of an AFL Grand Final? A new petition is begging for your John Hancock, in order to show Grand Final organisers that Australia wants local rockers Pond, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard and Bad//Dreems to represent the country at this year’s season-ending match.

Created by Leigh Ryan on Change.org, the petition titled “Make the AFL Grand final pre-match entertainment homegrown again” has over 300 signatures at the time of writing, and even has its own hashtag: #rockthegranny

“We have a bunch of world class rad bands in this country that have been brought up with the love of footy. Bands such as Pond, King Gizzard and Lizard Wizard and Bad Dreems have been independently touring the world honing their craft and captivating fans across the globe,” Ryan says.

“THESE are the perfect Australian bands to fire up the ‘G’ before 2015 Granny and deserve more than anyone the chance to perform on the grandest stage of them all. They train hard and play hard in their chosen game of ROCK N ROLL. Let’s support the bands that support the game.”

Thankfully, support for Ryan’s petition is coming from within the AFL. The Adelaide Crows have taken to Twitter to throw their support behind local boys Bad//Dreems having the chance to entertain crowds ahead of the Grand Final, and are, rather optimistically, hoping for a Bad//Dreems & The Black Keys double-header. View their tweet, below.

Bad//Dreems are no strangers to the G. Pond have previously shown their passion for their local club Fremantle with a cover of the team’s theme song (below), while King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s Footy Footy (below), included on the soundtrack to the Nine Network’s Fat Tony & Co, highlights their footy credentials.

Last year’s AFL Grand Final saw performances from Sir Tom Jones and English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. Jones was criticised by some for his performance of his 1968 song Delilah, which seems to be about a man killing his lover in a jealous rage — just the kind of thing to get everyone pumped up before a game.

Previous home-grown musical acts who’ve entertained Grand Final crowds include The Temper Trap, Birds Of Tokyo, Hunters & Collectors, INXS and Vanessa Amorosi. Here’s hoping AFL officials bring some more of that precious locally-produced talent to this year’s Grand Final stage.

Watch: Pond – Fremantle Dockers Theme Song (Cover)