Neighbourhood singer stuns Ocean Grove

NEIGHBOURS were treated to a pop-up concert in Ocean Grove by songstress Kim Cooper earlier this month, and while a subsequent performance was shut down by police on Good Friday, the community applauded her efforts.
“I’m a local singer and I saw a lot of musicians were going live online, I didn’t feel like doing that. I thought ‘What could I do that’s a bit more local and community based?’,” she said.
“I was driving around and saw families walking together, every afternoon has a Sunday afternoon feel about it, and I’ve been thinking how lovely that is.
“I think that’s been a silver living in this situation. So, I thought it would be nice for my neighbours and people walking by, if I sang for them. I wrote a little note introducing myself and put it in their mailboxes, letting them know I’d be singing between 4-5pm.”
Ms Cooper said as she was setting up, she was surprised by the neighbours’ reactions, who were ready and waiting for her to start.
“People were in their driveways with their chairs and a bottle of wine, it was just beautiful, really heartwarming. The next day people dropped notes and chocolates in my letterbox thanking me, someone tied a balloon to it asking me when I’d be doing it again.
“I didn’t think that many were listening, as a singer I know how special live music is, it carries a certain magic, but you never know if other people feel the same way…it was lovely to see that
they do.”
The online Ocean Grove Barwon Heads Noticeboard was inundated with posts searching for the mysterious singer, celebrating the performance which amassed more than 700 likes and hundreds of comments.
“This was hands down one of the most
beautiful performances and experiences I’ll remember for the rest of my life. I felt really privileged as a singer to be able to create a little bit of magic.”
Ms Cooper said as a full-time, live-in carer for her dad John, she performs on weekends for her job, but as venues shut down, work ceased to exist.
“Regardless of your trade, we’re all just trying to do our bit for the community, and I saw this as a way for me to make a positive
difference.”
A secondary performance on Good Friday at a Minerva Close address was cut short after Sergeant Greg Taylor responded to a noise complaint.
“We received a noise complaint – the amplified music is a breach of the EPA act in a public place; if music can be heard from a habitable room, then it’s an offence,” Sgt Taylor said.
“Secondly, it wasn’t at her home address and didn’t meet the criteria for being out and about. The performance doesn’t classify as essential or comply with the four criteria for being out, our job is to keep the community safe and enforce the laws of the state of Victoria.
“It was a lovely thing to do if she did it when we weren’t under these restrictions, but under the new laws, it can be up to a $10,000 fine for a commercial event and $1,652 for a private individual.”
If you would like to see Kim’s future performances, find her on Instagram @kimelisecooper.