The Eastern Hotel announced on Monday morning it was a part of the Save our Scene initiative, which already has the support of hundreds of venues around the state, including the newly opened Volta: Arts and Culture.

Owner Matt Stone said venues like his desperately need further financial assistance from the government if they want to hold onto hope of life returning to normal post-COVID-19.

"We need direct financial help to save the music industry," he said. "We've been lobbying through Music Victoria to try and get some level of assistance and so far we've received nothing other than what all other businesses have received. It's not going to be enough to get us across the line."

The initiative includes a petition to the state government, which has over 6500 signatures at the time of publication.

This comes only days removed from the venue hosting live music for the first time in months thanks to the City of Ballarat's 'Sanitise' live streaming concert.

Mr Stone said he was very pleased with how the musical showcase went, saying he got goosebumps seeing artists return to the stage last Friday night.

"It was amazing... they all played so well because they were all so excited to be back."

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