3XY Stereo Sky Show advertisement

For centuries, fireworks have united crowds in shared moments of wonder. In 1986, Melbourne radio station 3XY staged the Stereo Sky Show, pairing a large-scale light display with a live music broadcast ranging from Midnight Oil to Tchaikovsky. People gathered along the banks of the Yarra River, radios tuned in. This short promotional clip captures the mood surrounding the event. An excited voice-over promises an unforgettable night, while a 3XY DJ urges listeners to pull over, turn up the volume and listen along. 

What is striking now is the ordinariness of the crowd. Teenagers in oversized jumpers. Families with children. People arriving with portable radios rather than tickets. Although the State Bank and Coca-Cola sponsored the event, overt branding is largely absent. Broadcasting the soundtrack via individual radios was a smart marketing idea, but its effect feels unexpectedly intimate. The experience sits somewhere between a drive-in and an early form of silent disco, shaped as much by listening as by watching. While ’80s culture is often characterised as ruthless, the homey scale of this spectacle reminds us of its sweeter side.