Following his performance at the AFL’s annual ‘Dreamtime At The G’ match, Fred Leone has shared his debut single, ‘Yirimi Gundir’.
As he announced on Instagram ahead of the event – which went down at the Melbourne Cricket Ground yesterday (May 20) – Leone released ‘Yirimi Gundir’ on streaming services at midnight. It was produced by Trials (best known as one half of A.B. Original alongside Briggs), and also comes bundled with a remix helmed by the Kaurna/Adelaide-based producer.
Have a listen to both the main version of ‘Yirimi Gundir’, and the Trials remix, below:
Also performing at last night’s ‘Dreamtime At The G’ event was the Archie Roach Band – fronted by the late Indigenous icon’s son Amos – as well as Bumpy, Mo’Ju, Radical Son and Michael Long.
The performing roster teamed up for a few particularly poignant moments, including one where they covered Roach’s 1993 song ‘Colour Of Your Jumper’ (which Roach performed before 2013’s ‘Dreamtime At The G’ match). The song itself was inspired by the racial abuse that St Kilda FC player Nicky Winmar faced at an AFL match against Collingwood in April 1993.
Members of the Collingwood cheersquad allegedly shouted at Winmar to “go and sniff some petrol” and “walkabout where you came from”. At the end of the game, Winmar faced the crowd, raised his jumper and pointed to his bare chest – a moment that’s gone on to be described as a “powerful statement” against anti-Blak rhetoric in Australian sports.
In a 2013 interview with the AFL, Roach said of the incident: “When Nicky lifted his jumper that day and pointed to his black skin in defiance of the racial abuse directed at him and other indigenous players in 1993, it made me sad and angry that this champion would have to do that.
“More importantly, I think, is what the jumper meant to Nicky and many others on that fateful day. What I saw was not just an Aboriginal man proud of his heritage and people, but a young man who had made it, an elite sportsman in the greatest game, Australian Rules Football, the AFL, who played his heart out for that jumper.”
'Colour of your Jumper', featuring Michael Long, Kevin Sheedy and the Archie Road Band.#AFLDonsTigers | #AFLDeadly pic.twitter.com/d4W3iGA03y
— AFL (@AFL) May 20, 2023
The Essendon Bombers emerged victorious from last night’s match, beating the Richmond Tigers by one point – 10.11 (71) to 10.10 (70).
Prior to the game, Indigenous members of both teams united to perform the Dreamtime Dance in a pre-game ceremony. As reported by 7news, Maurice Rioli Jr, Shai Bolton, Rhyan Mansell, Alwyn Davey Jr, Daniel Rioli, Marlion Pickett and Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti all appeared together for the moment, joining Richmond’s Laguntas dancers and Essendon’s Koorie Youth Will Shake Spear dancers.
Meanwhile, Leone will perform at this year’s RISING festival in Melbourne and VIVID Live in Sydney, where he’ll appear alongside Birdz to present their collaborative project Girra. The pair had previously teamed up for the track ‘Bagi-la-m Bargan’, which appeared in the documentary Looky Looky, Here Comes Cooky and earned them a nomination at the 2021 Screen Music Awards.
Leone also featured on the song ‘Forever 15’ – a joint effort by First Nations artists including DOBBY, Emma Donovan, Emily Wurramara, Kee’ahn, DRMNGNOW and more – released last November in memory of the late Cassius Turvey. A month later, Leone delivered a tribute to Archie Roach at a state memorial in Victoria.