Beat 1742

40 YEARS OF BEAT

NAARM/MELBOURNE’S VOICE IN MUSIC, ARTS & CULTURE SINCE JULY, 1986

LADY BLACKBIRD

Neo-soul and jazz phenomenon Lady Blackbird makes her highly anticipated Australian debut.

A

FESTIVAL OF NEW DIMENSIONS

Taste your way through the Queen Victoria Market. From delicious local produce and hearty fare, to shopping for your next great fashion find or trinket for your home.

Don’t hibernate this winter, grab something warm, and enjoy winter the Melbourne way.

Open Tuesday, and Thursday to Sunday.

ENCLOSED & HEATED ROOFTOP

EDITOR

Lucas Radbourne

ASSISTANT EDITOR

Frankie Anderson-Byrne

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Riley McDonald

GIG GUIDE

Jacob Colliver

CONTRIBUTORS

Bryget Chrisfield, August Billy, Brendon Hargreaves, MJ Kim, Daniel Wright

FOR ADVERTISING OR SPONSORED CONTENT ENQUIRIES advertise@furstmedia.com.au

ACCOUNTS accounts@furstmedia.com.au

DISTRIBUTION distribution@furstmedia.com.au

PUBLISHER

Furst Media Pty Ltd

FOUNDER

Rob Furst

EDITORIAL NOTE

In July 1986, the first Beat hit the streets with Crowded House on the cover and no content lined up for issue two. We’ve somehow made it to 40.

Æ This issue is our love letter to those four decades.

It also lands during NAIDOC Week, which makes our interview with Emma Donovan all the more special. The Gumbaynggirr and Yamatji artist reunites with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for Take Me to the River at Hamer Hall on 10 July, turning soul classics into stories about going home.

Elsewhere, Pitchface march 120 denim-clad voices into the Palais, Milo Eastwood settles in for his 24 Hours of Milo residency at The Night Cat, Moopie talks crate-digging, The Rookies hold court in Fitzroy, the songs of Conway Savage get their due at Memo, and Dom Buckham steps out as d.b. longing.

Here’s to the next 40.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF TRADITIONAL OWNERS

Our magazine is published on the lands of the Bunurong Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation, and we wish to acknowledge them as Traditional Owners. We pay our respects to their elders, past, present and emerging.

DISTRIBUTION

Beat Mag will be distributed free every month to hundreds of locations around metro Melbourne, to enquire about having it at your venue email distribution@furstmedia.com.au

Celebrating 40 years of Beat Magazine, designed by Riley McDonald

NEWS

NOW OR NEVER REVEALS ITS 2026 PROGRAM

Now or Never, the City of Melbourne’s multiaward-winning winter festival, is returning from 19 - 30 August, with a program built around the theme A Whole New World. That means immersive technology, AI, digital storytelling, laser beams, mist installations, a sleepover under a dome, and a talk about the sexual history of the internet.

LEAPS AND BOUNDS MUSIC FESTIVAL RETURNS TO FULL 10-DAY FORMAT

City of Yarra’s Leaps and Bounds Music Festival is returning to a full 10-day format from 16 - 26 July, with programming that champions the venues, artists, promoters and collectives that make the area one of Australia’s most vital live music communities.

WINTERLIVE TAKES OVER THE ABBOTSFORD CONVENT AFTER DARK

The Convent flips winter into a nocturnal playground of sound, performance and installation across its heritage grounds. Colombian composer Lucrecia Dalt headlines, Japanese sound pioneer Akio Suzuki stages walks through the precinct, and a closing vocal gathering brings together Queenie, WILSN and Nkechi Anele. WinterLive runs to 18 July.

A WHOLE FAMILY HOME MOVES INTO NORTH MELBOURNE TOWN HALL

Curator Dr Paola Balla and her children Rosie Kalina and Katen Balla turn Arts House into a fully furnished intergenerational home, complete with bedrooms, a central kitchen and an outdoor Blakyard. Artworks sit among family photos, books and textiles, with workshops, yarns and shared meals across the season. Free, to 18 July.

FIRELIGHT FESTIVAL SETS DOCKLANDS ALIGHT FOR FREE

The City of Melbourne’s free three-night blowout returns to Harbour Esplanade with more than 130 performers, a new 90-metre laser and fountain show synced to music, glowin-the-dark pickleball and 30 food trucks. Organisers expect roughly 100,000 people through the gates. Firelight runs 3 to 5 July.

STATE LIBRARY VICTORIA RUNS A KIDS’ DRIVE-IN THESE HOLIDAYS

School holidays at the library lean into a first-ever children’s drive-in, where threeto-eights build cardboard cars before an after-hours screening of The Gruffalo. Writing workshops, drop-in craft and the Pauline Gandel Children’s Quarter fill out the rest. The drive-in screens 8 July, with activities running across July.

SONIC CITY TURNS THE CBD INTO A MUSIC CRAWL

The Australian Art Orchestra reworks the city into a self-guided day of improvisation and cross-cultural sound, threading sets through libraries, studios and the Immigration Museum. A world premiere from Aaron Choulai anchors the evening, with a stamp trail winding through local businesses. It all unfolds on 8 July.

‘A LONG TIME

22/11 REV. KRISS HADES 28/11 NOASIS LIVE ‘26 DRAKE MILLIGAN WED 08

BY STORM (FKA INJURY RESERVE)

MONTAIGNE

THIRD EYE & KHAN 05/09 VANCOUVER SLEEP CLINIC 11/09 SHRED FEST 2026 12/09 SWERVEDRIVER (UK) SELLING FAST 18/09 MISS KANINNA 29/09 CANDLEMASS (SWE) SELLING FAST 30/09 CANDLEMASS (SWE) SOLD OUT 09/10 THE WHITLAMS 10/10 THE WHITLAMS 16/10 NATHAN EVANS AND THE SAINT PHNX BAND SELLING FAST 07/11 WHEN CHAI MET TOAST

NORDIC FILM FESTIVAL RETURNS TO PALACE SCREENS

Palace’s annual showcase of Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish cinema is back, with five titles teased ahead of the mid-June full reveal, from a tender Icelandic comedy to a sleek psychological thriller. Screenings play venues including The Astor and Palace Westgarth from 10 July to 2 August.

ABBIE CHATFIELD TAKES

ABBIE

CHATFIELD LOVES MEN TO THE PALAIS

Following a run she’s described as trauma-dumping to 18,000 people, Chatfield returns with a show aimed squarely at men, the good and the bad and the wildly overconfident alike. Expect sharp commentary, interactive games and guest interviews. Abbie Chatfield Loves Men plays the Palais Theatre on 12 July as part of a national run.

PORT FAIRY FOLK FESTIVAL TURNS 50

The beloved south-west Victorian institution, has unveiled its first wave of artists for a 2027 event that marks five whole decades of music by the sea, including John Butler, Mia Dyson, Kutcha Edwards and more.

THE NEIL DIAMOND MUSICAL EXTENDS ITS MELBOURNE RUN

Demand has pushed A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical to add a fortnight, with the Princess Theatre season now stretching to 25 October. Broadway’s Will Swenson leads as Diamond, tracing the Brooklyn kid who shifted 140 million albums and wrote Sweet Caroline. Previews begin 5 August; general tickets land 18 June.

FED SQUARE’S FREE LIT SERIES LANDS HELEN GARNER

Body of Work, a year-long literary series curated by Jaclyn Crupi, traces a writer’s whole arc rather than a single release. It opens with Helen Garner in conversation on 6 August, followed by Booker-shortlisted Charlotte Wood on 24 September. Both sit in The Edge at Fed Square and both are free, with registration required.

MASSIVE ATTACK PLAY MELBOURNE AFTER 16 YEARS

The Bristol collective credited with shaping trip-hop make their first Australian visit since 2010, bringing their genre-blurring mix of hip-hop, electronics and soul to the arena. All shows are licensed all ages. Massive Attack play Rod Laver Arena on 11 August.

WINTER SOUNDS WARMS UP DAYLESFORD THIS AUGUST

The Riverboats team turns Daylesford’s churches, halls and old schoolhouses into a frosty four-day escape, all fire pits and string quartets. Lior, Augie March, Kate Miller-Heidke and Magic Dirt feature across atmospheric rooms, with a heritage train ferrying punters between them. Winter Sounds lands 27 to 30 August.

MACY GRAY OPENS HER BIGGEST TOUR AT HAMER HALL

The raspy-voiced soul star kicks off her largest Australian and New Zealand run at her favourite local room, previewing new album

The Trouble with the Truth alongside I Try and Still. Local crowds get the first listen to the new material anywhere. Macy Gray opens at Hamer Hall on 11 September.

SIBLING QUARTET INFINITY SONG HIT MAX WATTS

The Roc Nation-signed Boyd siblings, who went from busking Grand Central to 300-million-stream hits, return after a spellbinding 2024 debut. New album in hand and Skyscraper Stan in support, their lush softrock harmonies arrive at Max Watts on 11 September.

AARON CHEN BRINGS TECHNOLOGY TO THE PALAIS

Fresh off Netflix special Funny Garden, the deadpan favourite points his surreal, slow-building humour at modern tech for his biggest tour yet, with credits on Fisk and a Melbourne Comedy Festival Best Newcomer trailing behind him. Chen brings Technology to the Palais Theatre on 16 September.

AERIAL CABARET ZERIAL SOARS INTO ARTS CENTRE MELBOURNE

Aerial Artists Australia follow Le Aerial with Zerial, a reworked cabaret spectacular pitched bigger and bolder than before. Expect opera and musical-theatre vocals from Teagan Wouters and Mark Oates wrapped around French aerialist Arnaud Caizergues and a fire-fuelled dance finish. It runs at the Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne, from 16 to 20 September.

MONTY PYTHON’S SPAMALOT GALLOPS INTO THE ATHENAEUM

Lovingly ripped from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the Tony-winning Spamalot brings King Arthur, killer rabbits, fish-slapping and flying cows to the stage with Eric Idle’s book and lyrics intact. Drew Anthony Creative’s production opens at the Athenaeum on 16 September and runs to 11 October, with Melbourne tickets out 19 June.

FREEFORM TAKES OVER THE BOWL WITH FOUR STAGES

Promoter Bizarro hands Melbourne the centre festival of a three-city dance weekend, spreading four stages across the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. Barry Can’t Swim, Interplanetary Criminal and Richie Hawtin lead a deep card of techno, house and UKG. Freeform takes over the Bowl across the October long weekend.

ASHANTI BRINGS ROCK WIT U TO MARGARET COURT ARENA

The early-2000s R&B fixture behind Foolish and Rock Wit U (Awww Baby) returns with her biggest local run yet, fresh off a UK arena tour with Sean Paul. Six studio albums and a Walk of Fame star sit behind her. Ashanti plays Margaret Court Arena on 11 November.

JET RIP THROUGH REGIONAL VICTORIA THIS SPRING

Freshly inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame, the Melbourne rockers take the second leg of their Rumblin’ Regional Revue Tour into 11 country towns, Get Born and Shine On in tow. Victorian fans can catch them at Traralgon on 12 November, Ballarat on 13 November and Frankston on 14 November.

RISE AGAINST AND DROPKICK MURPHYS HIT JOHN CAIN ARENA

Chicago’s melodic-hardcore agitators and Boston’s Celtic-punk rowdies share a bill built for circle pits and singalongs, behind new records Ricochet and For The People. Expect resistance anthems and working-class stomp in equal measure. The co-headline run reaches John Cain Arena on 26 November.

QUEENSCLIFF MUSIC FESTIVAL DROPS A STACKED AUSSIE LINEUP

The seaside festival’s first 2026 wave leans hard into local talent, with Baker Boy, Kate Miller-Heidke, Meg Mac, Lime Cordiale, Peter Garrett & the Alter Egos and Magic Dirt all locked in. It pulls more than 10,000 punters across 70 acts on Wadawurrung Country. Queenscliff runs 27 to 29 November, 90 minutes from town.

CORE MAKES ITS AUSTRALIAN DEBUT AT FLEMINGTON

The globe-trotting electronic brand plants its flag here for the first time, turning The Nursery at Flemington Racecourse into an all-day affair. Mall Grab links with Effy for a back-to-back, joined by Honey Dijon, Moodymann and a deep underground stage. CORE lands on 28 November.

CAT POWER PLAYS THE GREATEST IN FULL AT THE BOTANIC GARDENS

Chan Marshall returns to revisit her warm, soul-soaked 2006 record The Greatest, playing it front to back two decades on. The Melbourne stop arrives as part of Live at the Gardens, where the Botanic Gardens’ Observatory Precinct becomes an openair room. Catch her with Courtney Marie Andrews and Hedge Burners on 3 December.

TANGLEWOOD RINGS IN 2027 WITH 40 HOURS OF MUSIC

Built for anyone who’d rather skip the overpriced countdown, this boutique gathering near Lake Eildon packs more than 40 hours of music across two stages and just about every genre going. Add artisan markets, jam sessions and a no-glitter sustainability streak. Tanglewood runs 30 December to 2 January at Thornton, roughly two hours north-east.

OCEAN SOUNDS STACKS PHILLIP ISLAND WITH AUSSIE LEGENDS

Phillip Island gets a sun-soaked, family-friendly day of homegrown music, picnic rugs and regional wine as the festival returns for 2027. Missy Higgins, The Living End and Pete Murray headline, with Loki Liddle’s Selve and island talent Elly Poletti filling out the bill. It runs 9 January.

NIALL HORAN BRINGS DINNER PARTY TO ROD LAVER ARENA

Four albums into a quietly consistent solo run, the former One Direction member takes his new record Dinner Party on the road. Australian artist Jude York opens, fresh off a viral turn singing ABBA with his opera-singer mum. Horan plays Rod Laver Arena on 12 February, with general tickets out 18 June.

TURNS

The people who lived the deadlines, the chaos and the magic look back.

WORDS BY LUCAS RADBOURNE

Æ On 30 July 1986, the first issue of Beat hit the streets of Melbourne, with typical foresight - a new band called Crowded House on the cover. 40 years on, it’s still here – Victoria’s voice in music, arts and culture, Australia’s longest-running free music and entertainment magazine, 1,742 issues deep, reaching over 1.4 million people every month across its website, socials, e-newsletter and, of course, magazine.

Rivals have come and gone in that time. Plenty didn’t see out the decade they launched in. Beat hasn’t just survived, it’s bigger than ever.

It very nearly didn’t outlast its own launch. Founder Rob Furst sold every ad in that first issue himself and turned a profit – before discovering that “profits have a nasty habit of disappearing once you pay staff, printers and distributors”, and, more alarmingly, that “we had no content for issue two”.

But Beat has never really been a numbers thing. It’s a people thing – generations of writers, designers, salespeople and editors who passed through the office, gave it a few of their best and most chaotic years, and carried it with them long after they left.

Rob clocked that dynamic from the off. Flogging ad space to “hairdressers, nightclubs, record stores, fashion retailers, promoters and dreamers” – anyone who’d answer the phone – he built the magazine into the place a scenerich city could, in his words, “find each other”.

So to mark the milestone, we put a callout to former editors: tell us what you remember. What came in wasn’t a tidy institutional history. It was funnier, messier and far more honest than that – a pile of 2am deadlines, ‘secret’ love affairs, career-defining covers and the occasional catastrophic fuck-up, all delivered with the love that you can only feel for a place that changed your life.

THE JOB THAT DEMANDED EVERYTHING

Nobody fell into editing Beat gently. For Jaymz Clements, who ran the magazine from 2008 to 2011, the climb started at the very bottom rung. “Beat was my dream job: I started there as an intern and ended up the editor,” he says. Along the way he absorbed an education no university offers – the ins and outs of publishing, the music industry, hospitality, PR.

Taryn Stenvei’s entry was equally unlikely. “In 2011, I was 23, fresh off four months in South America, driving down the Hume from Sydney, my old home, to Melbourne, my new one,” she recalls. The role she’d applied for went to someone else. Then fate intervened. “I didn’t get the job. But thankfully, the guy who did immediately hated it, so I got the call back.

“Two weeks later, I was in the corner of the Beat office, intimidated, captivated, exhilarated.” From that corner she worked her way up to music editor – a position she describes as carrying an “almost mythical status”. She doesn’t pretend it was easy. “Music editor at Beat isn’t exactly a casual job. It demands everything, so that’s what I gave it. But it kind of gave me everything too.”

What none of them dressed up was the reality of the gig. Long hours. Advertisers to keep happy. A magazine to fill, every single week, no matter what.

THE DEADLINE, THE PIZZA AND THE TOWERS OF CDS

If there’s one thing every Beat editor remembers in their bones, it’s the deadline. A genuine, recurring, sleep-destroying, then-weekly event.

Jaymz summons it as a litany: “The 2am Monday night deadlines…the crappy Monday night deadline pizza… the towers of CDs everywhere…the free gigs…the hangovers.” The hangovers explain almost everything: being bribed with $5 vouchers to make it to sales meetings on time, being yelled at for never paying attention in those meetings, and “Lily Allen and I nearly making each other spew. Because of the hangovers.”

Out of all that mess, a full magazine appeared every week like clockwork. That’s the part Jaymz is still proud of: “The fact that we could put out a full 148 page magazine in a damn week. Despite the hangovers.”

“Beat never missed an issue, which still seems slightly miraculous,” Rob says.

For James Di Fabrizio, the defining grind was the annual comedy issue. “Nothing will eclipse the delusional glory of sending the annual Comedy Festival issue to printers after editing the magazine til 5am,” he says.

The deadlines were also, in hindsight, the forge. James is clear about what came out the other side of all those late nights. “I never could have anticipated the incredible, lifelong friendships that were forged in the fires of weekly print deadlines and the occasional (OK, all too often) latenight odyssey.”

Wind the clock back to the 90s and the deadline ran on an even more analogue kind of slog. Mary Mihelakos, who edited Beat for a decade from the mid-90s, remembers production weeks that read like an endurance event: into the Richmond office mid-morning, then not crawling out until four the next morning with the artwork finally done.

She’d drop the pages at Streamline Press in Fitzroy on the way home, grab a few hours’ sleep, then be back at her desk by 11 to chase the final deadline that night. “It was relentless,” she says, “but there was an incredible sense of camaraderie and purpose.”

And the craft itself was gloriously physical. A bromide room where photos were reproduced and resized, pages glued by hand onto graph paper, writers turning up with handwritten stories or floppy discs, musicians dropping in with demos. “I feel like a dinosaur describing it now,” Mary says, “but that’s how newspapers and magazines were made.”

THE COVERS THAT MADE CAREERS

Here’s the thing about a grassroots music magazine: it can put an unknown band on the cover purely because the editor believes in them.

Taryn landed one of the great calls of the era - “giving King Giz their first ever magazine cover.” James frames this power as the real magic of street press. “You could bypass the machinery of major media publications and label politics; we gave so many incredible artists their first-ever cover and watched them soar to incredible heights.”

Mary has a similar trophy in the drawer, just on cassette. Late in 2000 she interviewed a then-unknown

“Music editor at Beat isn't exactly a casual job. It demands everything, so that's what I gave it. But it kind of gave me everything too.”

two-piece called the White Stripes – one of Jack White’s earliest sit-downs, recorded months before the band broke worldwide. She’s still got the tape.

For Ali Hawken, who left the masthead in mid-2014, the cover wins are still paying dividends at home. “I’m still milking that Snoop Dogg cover story for some ‘cool-mum’ points from my teenage daughter.”

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY (ONTO THE FRONT PAGE)

With great editorial freedom comes great capacity for public embarrassment.

Ali still winces at the time she blew Splendour’s secret headliner. Proofing pages late on a print deadline, she clocked what looked like a missing gig listing and, in a burst of initiative, slotted in Alt-J for Splendour – not realising it was the festival’s highly-confidential headline reveal. “Come Wednesday morning, when the mag hit the pavement, we were the laughing stock of our competitors’ social feeds, and on the receiving end of some furious phone calls. Not my finest hour,” she says.

The most legendary catastrophe in Beat’s 40 years wasn’t a leak or a typo, but a full-frontal self-portrait. Asked what you could get away with in street press that you couldn’t anywhere else, Ali says: “Luke Benge…need I say more?”

In May 2012, tens of thousands of copies of Beat landed across Melbourne with a cartoon of a naked man where Kaiser Chiefs should have been, the line “Sayonara, Bitches! It’s been real” splashed above his dick. Benge was leaving for New York, and on his final day he quietly switched the artwork, sent it off and flew out the day before it landed.

Confronted with a nude caricature and a farewell message, readers assumed the obvious: this was Beat’s lastever issue. The editors who lived it can laugh now. Jaymz, who’d vacated the chair the year before, counts his timing as a blessing. Taryn, on staff at the time and keen to establish her innocence, files the whole episode under “the Great Beat Cover Hi-Jacking of 2012 (still laughing, and I swear I didn’t know).”

The punchline nobody saw coming? It worked. Looking back on the stunt, Taryn remembered the fallout with something close to glee: “The week after that, Beat had more ads than it had in months. We were the most talked about thing in town. It was glorious.”

LIKE THE CENTRE OF THE UNIVERSE

Ask these editors what Melbourne felt like during their Beat years and the answer is unanimous: enormous. The scene wasn’t a backdrop to the job. It was the whole point.

Melbourne felt “like the centre of the universe,” James (Di Fabrizio) says, and “for some reason, we all dressed like members of the same imaginary band.”

Mary has the anecdote that proves the point. Sing Sing Studios sat in the backstreets near the Richmond office, and one night she felt a vast rumble of bass roll down the lane. She followed it to Gordon Street and found the kerb lined with limousines.

Inside, Dr Dre and Aaliyah were recording – Aaliyah in town to film Queen of the Damned, only months before her death in 2001. The centre of the universe, give or take a few hundred metres of laneway.

For Ali, her era was a high-water mark for live music. “My stint at Beat, which wrapped up in mid-2014, feels in hindsight like the golden age of music festivals,” – a time when Big Day Out, Splendour, Falls, Soundwave and Bluesfest were all in their prime.

Taryn, who lived the Melbourne of the early 2010s as a writer and editor, frames it as a wave she got to ride at exactly the right moment – part of “the cresting wave of the insanely good music scene that was Melbourne in the 2010s.” Then, almost as an aside, she lands the truest line about this city: “though it’s perpetually A+, hey.”

The nights themselves have outlived the venues that hosted them. James’ pick for a room he’d resurrect is gloriously specific: “The 12am set at Ding Dong Lounge was everything you could want from a sticky, delirious bandroom.”

WHAT BEAT GAVE BACK

Jaymz rattles off everything he loved about working at Beat in a single breath. “I loved the people. I loved the vibe. I loved what our magazine meant to people. I loved supporting the bands and industry that supported us. I loved being a part of the fabric of Melbourne.”

For Taryn, the job didn’t just shape a career – it built a whole life. The boss she works for now? She met him at Beat: “I met my now-boss because he was a scrappy skateboarder who’d just moved from the UK and wanted to join

my writers list.” One of her closest friends came via a CD handover at a business coffee. And the man who designed the magazine each week during her tenure became, after a chance reunion at a Total Control gig, something rather more. “Now, we’re 13 years, a home, two kids and a puppy into our shared life together,” she says. “So when I say Beat Magazine gave me everything, I really mean everything.”

It’s a sentiment Ali echoes from a different angle. Looking back, it’s not the festivals or the famous names that surface first – it’s the colleagues. “when I think about Beat, it’s the people I worked with who come to mind for me,” she says, before her thoughts turn to the everyday silliness of the office and the beloved comrades down the hall at Fashion Journal and Mixdown.

That instinct to put people first never switched off, even when the city did. When I stepped into the role in August 2021, Melbourne was deep in lockdown and the office was reduced to a grid of faces on a screen. Faceto-face introductions took months, only happening as the city reopened and people began drifting back to their desks. The payoff for all the hard work came in May 2022, when Beat print returned in a new monthly format, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever fronting a bespoke cover shoot at Brunswick Ballroom. After two years, there was something triumphant about holding a fresh issue again.

“Beat never missed an issue, which still seems slightly miraculous.”

FORTY YEARS, AND COUNTING

A milestone like this invites the big, sweeping statement. “Beat is an absolute institution,” Taryn says. “I reckon not just for me, but for most people who passed through its doors, it played an outsized role in our becoming,” she writes. Then she raises a glass to the lot of it: “So cheers to the covers, the colleagues, the readers, the venues, the deadlines, the gigs, the bands, the chaos and the way all of these things have threaded together to bring life to blank pages, to Melbourne’s music scene, and to us all. But especially me.”

James reaches for the cosmic. “40 years of Beat is a testament to grassroots music journalism, community, and grand visions played out on local stages,” he says. “Media empires will come and go: but the indomitable spirit of Beat is forever. Viva la Beat!”

For Ali, the milestone is personal: she’s turning 40 this year too. “It’s nice to be sharing a significant birthday with Beat! Having just turned 40 myself this year, I’ve found myself somewhat sentimental about life recently, and that extends to my feelings about Beat, too.”

Rob takes a more deadpan view. He was, he admits, “never entirely convinced about all that stuff we ran between the ads. What’s it called again? Oh yes. Editorial.” His version of the story is blunter than the editors’: “Beat was always powered by advertising,” he says – the ads “kept the whole circus on the road”.

Beat, of course, is still free – which loops Furst back to the question he put to readers in his very first editorial: “What do you expect for nothing?” His verdict: “Apparently, quite a lot. And somehow, Beat delivered.”

40 years on from that first issue in July 1986, the bands have changed, the festivals have come and gone, the CDs have given way to streams, and Beat’s HQ has moved plenty of times. But the thing we all keep circling back to hasn’t shifted an inch – a scrappy, fiercely loved magazine that gave a generation of Melbourne music obsessives their start, their friends, and in at least one case, their whole family.

Here’s to the next

40.

FESTIVAL GUIDE

FIRELIGHT FESTIVAL

The City of Melbourne’s free winter festival takes over the Docklands waterfront for three nights of fire performers, illuminated sculptures, flame jets, live music and roving entertainment across NewQuay Promenade, Victoria Harbour Promenade and Harbour Esplanade. No tickets required — just show up after sunset and eat your way through a village of pop-up food trucks and fire pits. Fire-breathing, storytelling, dance groups and community performers light up the harbour from 5pm each evening. Easily accessible via Southern Cross Station or tram routes along Harbour Esplanade.

DOCKLANDS 3–5 JUL

CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL

A new addition to Melbourne’s classical calendar, this four-day festival brings chamber music into an intimate suburban setting at St John’s Anglican Church. The program spans ensemble performances, matinees and a family-focused children’s show, featuring groups like Qualia Ensemble and Trio Conté. Designed for close listening and accessibility, it delivers world-class repertoire in a strippedback, community-oriented format.

MALVERN EAST 9–12 JUL

LEAPS AND BOUNDS MUSIC FESTIVAL

The City of Yarra’s flagship winter music festival expands to a ten-day format in 2026, taking over pubs, clubs and band rooms across Melbourne’s inner north. Built as a venue-led program, it brings together gigs, club nights, record fairs and pop-up events curated by local bookers and promoters. Expect a dense, walkable circuit of live music that champions homegrown artists and the ecosystems that sustain Melbourne’s live scene.

CITY OF YARRA 16–26 JUL

EAST GIPPSLAND WINTER FESTIVAL

A month-long regional takeover brings East Gippsland to life with more than 100 events spanning lakes, forests and coastal towns. Lantern parades, projection art, winter feasts, live music and wellness experiences unfold across the region, timed around the Winter Solstice and school holidays. Expect glowing installations, long-table dinners and community-led events that turn the far east of Victoria into one of the country’s largest winter festival programs.

EAST

TESTAMENT

Ministry of Sound’s Testament series returns with a warehouse-scale tribute to 90s club culture, transforming The Timber Yard into a full-scale rave environment. The Melbourne 90s session runs from 3pm to 10pm and features era-defining DJs including Danny Tenaglia, Darren Emerson, Brandon Block and Altern 8. Part of an 11-show international tour, the concept dives into the roots of modern electronic music through heavyweight lineups and industrial production.

THE TIMBER YARD, MELBOURNE 25 JUL

WINTON FESTIVAL OF SPEED

Historic motorsport takes over Winton Raceway for four days of racing, showcasing more than 300 classic cars spanning the 1960s through to the 1990s. The 2026 program introduces the Porsche ‘Fitzy Cup’ alongside Group C & A touring cars, endurance races and twilight sessions. With open paddock access, car displays and camping on site, it’s a full immersion into Australia’s racing heritage just a few hours from Melbourne.

WINTON MOTOR

BRIGHT WINTER FESTIVAL

Victoria’s High Country leans into winter with a town-wide festival of lights, food and community events set against an alpine backdrop. Bright’s streets glow with fire pits, live music and late-night shopping, while markets, family days and pop-up experiences run throughout the week. Anchored by signature moments like Winter in the Village and a closing Winter Ball, it’s a classic regional winter escape built around atmosphere and local produce.

BRIGHT 24 JUL–1 AUG

LIGHTSCAPE

The illuminated winter trail through the botanic gardens continues nightly through the school holidays and beyond, with 15 installations across a 2.1-kilometre after-dark walk. The two-time Gold winner at the Victorian Tourism Awards features work by international and Australian artists including First Peoples talent. Walk through Bifrost’s 20-arch light tunnel, watch 200 glowing points dart across the grass in Firefly Field, and warm up with mulled wine under the reimagined Winter Cathedral. Timed entry sessions every 15 minutes from late afternoon keep the trail from getting too crowded.

ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS UNTIL 2 AUG

Wesley Anne Wesley Anne

STAGE GUIDE

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE*

(*SORT OF)

Final weeks of the Olivier Award-winning musical comedy’s Melbourne season before it transfers to Sydney Opera House. McArthur’s audacious retelling of Austen turns men, money and microphones into the stakes as five women play every character in sight, powered by pop classics and the kind of energy that won it Best Comedy at the Oliviers. If you’ve been meaning to go, this is the last chance before Melbourne loses it to Sydney.

ATHENAEUM THEATRE UNTIL 12 JUL

PRETTY WOMAN: THE MUSICAL

Samantha Jade stars as Vivian and Ben Hall as Edward in the dazzling stage adaptation of the 1990 film that made Rodeo Drive famous. Featuring direction and choreography by two-time Tony winner Jerry Mitchell and an original score by Grammy winner Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance, this joyous musical brings a Hollywood classic to life with sharp choreography and glamour to burn. Michelle Brasier plays Kit De Luca and Tim Omaji takes the dual role of Happy Man and Mr Thompson. An unlikely love story where nobody stays in their lane.

REGENT THEATRE FROM 14 JUL

VISTA

Choreographer Stephanie Lake returns to Malthouse with the world premiere of her latest contemporary dance work. Lake’s signature physicality and poetic imagery collide in a shape-shifting production where monochrome discipline meets kaleidoscopic, joyful release. A brand-new large-scale work from one of Australia’s most celebrated choreographers, presented by a theatre company that has been championing boundary-pushing performance for 50 years.

MALTHOUSE THEATRE 22 JUL–1 AUG

SIX THE MUSICAL

The global pop-concert phenomenon returns to Melbourne with a fresh Australian cast remixing 500 years of Tudor history into an 80-minute electrifying show. Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anna of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Catherine Parr step out of the shadow of their infamous husband and reclaim their own stories through high-energy pop anthems. Sarah Murr, Mia Paris Scalise, Cara Bessey, Kadesa Honeyhill, Angela Brischetto and Lorinda May Merrypor wear the crowns. Two Tonys, a Grammy nomination and 38 major international awards. Strictly limited.

COMEDY THEATRE FROM 24 JUL

CIRQUE DU SOLEIL: KOOZA

Final call for Melbourne’s Big Top season. KOOZA follows the Innocent through an exotic kingdom of comic clowns, a Mad Dog and a Trickster with mysterious powers, all held together by nail-biting acrobatics and a Wheel of Death rotating at heart-stopping speed. The live band blends funk, orchestral arrangements and Indian music while 56 artists from 19 countries push the limits of what the human body can do. Extended by three weeks due to exceptional demand, the Melbourne run closes mid-July before the production moves to Brisbane.

FLEMINGTON RACECOURSE UNTIL 19 JUL

GREY GARDENS

Helen Dallimore and Deidre Rubenstein become Big and Little Edie Bouvier Beale — Jackie Kennedy’s aunt and cousin — in the first Melbourne staging of this Tony-winning musical since 2011. Drawn from the cult 1975 documentary about two glorious eccentrics holed up in a once-grand East Hampton mansion, Tyran Parke’s production lands in a Flinders Lane basement that already does dilapidated grandeur for free.

FORTYFIVEDOWNSTAIRS 19 JUL–2 AUG

UNCLE VANYA

Joanna Murray-Smith reworks Chekhov’s country-estate misery for the present in MTC’s first crack at the Russian in decades, directed by artistic director Anne-Louise Sarks. Daniel Henshall returns to the stage after more than a decade as the title malcontent, opposite Catherine Văn-Davies as the wife everyone’s quietly unravelling over.

ARTS CENTRE MELBOURNE, PLAYHOUSE 21 JUL–22 AUG

THE EDINBURGH CASTLE

Regional GUIDE

WORDS BY

FRANKIE ANDERSON-BYRNE

FESTIVALS

2026 OCEAN FILM FESTIVAL

Presented by the Island Whale Festival, this stop on the Ocean Film Festival World Tour brings a stunning line-up of ocean-themed films to Berninneit. Now in its 13th year, the tour features three films from Australian filmmakers alongside three international features, spanning high-stakes adventures, record-breaking journeys and intimate portraits of marine life. Expect breathtaking cinematography and a shared love of the sea across all three evening screenings.

JUL COWES 2, 3 & 5

BALLARAT WINTER FESTIVAL

A three-week celebration of all things winter across Ballarat. The festival’s drawcards include an ice-skating rink, a hot chocolate trail, dazzling light displays and immersive theatrical experiences, plus a showcase of work from local designers. The full program is available on the Ballarat Winter Festival website.

BALLARAT UNTIL 19 JUL

WINTER BLUES FESTIVAL

A four-day blues and roots festival through the historic Port of Echuca precinct on the Murray River. Multiple venues and outdoor stages along High Street host touring and local blues acts across the long weekend, alongside the riverside heritage backdrop the town is known for.

ECHUCA 23–26 JUL

BRIGHT WINTER FESTIVAL

A ten-day winter celebration through the High Country town on the Ovens River. The standout music night is Winter in the Village, when Barnard Street is strung with lights and fire pits, with live music, carollers and food trucks running late into the evening. The festival wraps the following weekend with a Winter Ball featuring live entertainment.

BRIGHT 24 JUL–1 AUG

REGIONAL TOURS

YOU GOT IT! A SALUTE TO ROY ORBISON

Direct from Las Vegas, this touring tribute stars “The Voice” John Stephan, who has sold over 10 million albums and is officially endorsed by Roy Orbison’s son Wesley Orbison. The show works through Orbison’s catalogue of orchestral pop ballads and rock’n’roll hits, including Pretty Woman, Crying, In Dreams and Running Scared, and is woven with spoken-word narration from Wesley sharing a personal account of his father’s life, staged at Sale’s performing arts theatre in Gippsland.

SALE, THE WEDGE (JOHN LESLIE THEATRE) 24 JUL

ALEXANDR MISKO: INTERNATIONAL GUITAR

SENSATION

Hailed by Total Guitar as “the future of guitar,” self-taught virtuoso Alexandr Misko brings his groundbreaking solo show to Australia for the first time, fusing classical precision with jazz, rock and modern fingerstyle. Expect lightning-fast fingerpicking and percussive tapping as he turns a single acoustic guitar into a full musical universe, live and with no loops, at Ballarat’s heritage Mechanics Institute, part of a broader regional Victoria run.

BALLARAT MECHANICS INSTITUTE 5 JUL

MICHAEL JACKSON HISTORY SHOW

Showtime’s touring tribute production returns to Australia to mark 30 years since Jackson’s final HIStory world tour. Garth Field leads as Jackson, backed by a live band, choreographed dancers and full theatrical production, including lighting, vision effects and authentic costuming, running through hits including Thriller, Billie Jean, Smooth Criminal and Beat It, at Geelong’s Play House theatre.

THE PLAY HOUSE, GEELONG 3 JUL

LOVE AND FORGETTING – A DINNER CABARET

The RARE BIRD ensemble returns to Victoria’s High Country with this intimate cabaret blending live jazz and immersive storytelling, staged at Beechworth’s speakeasy-style Last Supper Club. The evening is paired with a dinner from the Last St. team, following sell-out shows the previous summer, as part of the town’s winter entertainment calendar.

THE LAST SUPPER CLUB, BEECHWORTH 24 JUL

EMMA DONOVAN

“I yarn a lot in this show, because there’s a lot about the connection to the songs.”

Emma Donovan reunites with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for Take Me to the River at Hamer Hall this NAIDOC Week.

Æ For Emma Donovan, it has never been a question of if she would make and perform music, but which style of music would best represent her during different periods of her life.

Donovan, a Gumbaynggirr and Yamatji woman, has been performing since she was a child, starting out in her family’s country band, The Donovans, alongside her mother Agnes, her five uncles, and her grandparents, Micko and Aileen. She later co-founded the harmonising folk band Stiff Gins with Kaleena Briggs and Nardi Simpson, and released her solo debut, Changes, in 2004.

Donovan then entered a decade-long partnership with funk and neo-soul combo The Putbacks, which gave rise to the AIR and Music Victoria Award-winning albums, Dawn, Crossover, and Under These Streets. Donovan returned to her country music roots on her 2024 solo album Til My Song is Done, which featured guest appearances from Liz Stringer and Paul Kelly.

Donovan – who frequently collaborated with the late Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter and has also released songs with Kee’ahn, The Teskey Brothers and Radical Son – now finds herself in another moment of personal and artistic transition. After more than a decade in Melbourne, Donovan has moved back to Gumbaynggirr Country and is raising her kids in Nambucca Heads.

“Mum is originally from this way,” Donovan says, chatting to Beat over the phone. “It’s good just being in the valley around fam since last year. We’re loving it. I’m not going to have to put up with another Melbourne winter ever again.”

The significance of Donovan’s move back to her mother’s Country is reflected in the content of her new show, Take Me to the River, which revolves around soul classics by the likes of Al Green, Ann Peebles, Bill Withers, Aretha Franklin, and Archie Roach. She’ll perform Take Me to the River with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra at Hamer Hall on Friday 10 July.

“I just kind of pocketed some of my favourite classic soul tunes,” Donovan says. “It’s a little bit different for me, doing the cover thing, but my little spin on it all is just extending my story again, my connection to them songs, what they mean to me.”

The show includes many songs that audiences will be intimately familiar with, such as the titular Al Green song, Ann Peebles’ I Can’t Stand the Rain, and the oft-interpreted Here Comes the Sun and Blowin’ in the Wind. But Donovan has also selected some deeper cuts from the soul songbook.

“I do some back to back of people’s tunes,” she says. “Like, probably a lot of people would know I Can’t Stand The Rain, but there’s another really awesome [Ann Peebles] song, that I should have wrote, called Do I Need You. It’s one of my favourite tunes, with my story all the time about relationship, sacrifice, and trying to come out strong.”

Donovan has released studio recordings of Do I Need You, Take Me to the River, and Bill Withers’ Grandma’s Hands.

Her connection to these songs goes deep.

“Take Me to the River, it reminds me a lot of an Archie Roach song called Get Back to the Land,” she says.

“In the verses, he’s talking about relationships and where to go when he’s troubled. He talks about going back to the land, and that’s where I kind of land with a song like Take Me to the River. I think, not just for Aboriginal Mob, outside the Aboriginal community [too], I think a lot of people are looking for that sense of sustainable life outside of big cities.”

Withers’ Grandma’s Hands is another song that mirrors Donovan’s own story.

“I’m going back on memory there, just talking about all the strong nanas that I always had,” she says. “Like, Blackfellas never really grew up with the one nan, we always claim the sister or claim all these other nans.

So I talk a little bit about family connections.”

During the performance at Hamer Hall, Donovan will share stories about her relationships with the songs on the setlist, and the stage design will also be representative of this moment in her life.

“I yarn a lot in this show, because there’s a lot about the connection to the songs,” she says. “Some of the venues have been really beautiful, like theatrical style, so we present the show with some nice footage, images from the Nambucca Valley, like all the rivers and the connections that way, as well as me yarning about what songs mean to me about going back to Country.”

EMMA DONOVAN X MSO: TAKE ME TO THE RIVER

WHERE:: HAMER HALL

WHEN: FRI 10 JUL

This article was made in partnership with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

PITCHFACE

WORDS BY LUCAS RADBOURNE

120 denim-clad voices are coming for the Palais — and they want you to dress the part.

Æ Pitchface would like you to know they are not a normal choir. They don’t audition. They don’t require you to read music. Their uniform is double denim and a bold red lip, and they have a way of describing what they’ve built that makes the whole thing sound deceptively casual.

“The way we described it to people joining is that the group is like a low maintenance friend - not too much pressure, no drama, but a safe space to be yourself,” the founders say. “The fact that we end up making a sound we’re really proud of is mostly down to the mix of trust, chutzpah, energy and talent (possibly in that order!).” What started six years ago as a half-baked idea between four mates over dinner in Footscray has swelled into a 120-voice singing squad of women and non-binary performers from Melbourne’s inner west. They’ve backed Coldplay at Marvel Stadium, sung at the Australian Open Women’s Final, and performed alongside Sarah Blasko, Liz Stringer and Dave Gleeson at Hamer Hall for RocKwiz.

The Coldplay invitation arrived without warning. “We were just minding our own business when we got an unexpected email from someone connected to their tour needing a community choir,” they say. “The story goes that they were searching through an online list of choirs in Melbourne, saw our name and thought, ‘Well, they sound like fun.’ Things have undeniably changed since then, but with every new twist and turn we’re looking at each other with wide eyes and mouthing ‘WTF’.”

On 25 July, they headline Palais Theatre with special guest Kate Miller-Heidke — a booking made possible by the City of Port Phillip’s one-dollar venue hire initiative for community groups. The Miller-Heidke connection came together through what the founders describe as “all luck and bolshiness, really.” Co-founder and ABC News anchor Tamara Oudyn cornered the singer at an event late last year, talked up the choir and walked away with her email address. One of the Pitchface singers had already arranged one of Miller-Heidke’s songs, giving them something concrete to send through. “Kate was gracious and generous enough in that moment not to fob us off and gave Tam her email address,” the founders say. She’ll join the choir on stage for a few numbers, including a track from her forthcoming album.

The group’s evolution also traces back to the pandemic, when singing with other people was effectively banned. The founders started hiring female musicians for private Zoom concerts, and through that process connected with Marilen Tabacco, manager of Vika and Linda Bull, who encouraged them to book a proper show at Brunswick Ballroom once restrictions lifted.

“Things have undeniably changed since then, but with every new twist and turn we’re looking at each other with wide eyes and mouthing ‘ WTF’.”

The double denim look was the brainchild of co-founder and hair and makeup artist Harriet O’Donnell. “There was a little bit of resistance (mostly from Tam) who was worried about looking too mumsy, but we’ve learnt never to quibble with Haz when it comes to the aesthetics,” the founders say. “It’s much more than just bunging on a denim jacket with jeans. The more denim the better - there’s no such thing as too much, as you’ll see when we’re on stage.”

They’re also gunning for a record. The current Guinness benchmark for the largest gathering of people wearing double denim is 357, set in Japan in 2024. Pitchface want to smash it and set the first Australian record via the Australian Book of Records — and they’re enlisting the audience to help. “Sometimes all you really need is an enabler… and we’re encouraging our audience to go all out for this show. It’s a safe space!”

PITCHFACE CHOIR WITH KATE MILLER-HEIDKE

WHERE: PALAIS THEATRE

WHEN: 25 JUL

MILO EASTWOOD

Milo Eastwood continues his 24 Hours of Milo residency at The Night Cat this winter.

Æ There’s a deep catalogue of tracks Milo Eastwood is always keen to revisit in the right moment.

Eastwood, the host of PBS FM’s The Breakfast Spread, has become known for his open-air day parties in recent years. In February, he played his biggest headline show to date, selling out the Coburg Lake Reserve with his second annual On the Lake party. He has also supported Hot Chip, Nightmares on Wax and Cut Copy, and played the ever-iconic Meredith Music Festival. Eastwood plays six-hour sets at the venue, settling in from 9pm to 3am on the first Saturday of the month until winter is over.

“I’m always amazed at the diversity of the crowd that comes to my things.”

“I used to play at the Night Cat heaps,” Eastwood says. “From 2023 through to the end of 2024, I did maybe five Night Cat shows that all did pretty well. But I got to a point where I wanted to move on and try other spaces and not get pigeonholed as the Night Cat resident DJ – which is quite ironic because that’s exactly what I’m about to be. But I do love playing in the middle of the room and just the energy in there is really special.”

Eastwood has been presenting a three-hour breakfast radio show week in, week out for the last nine years. The morning radio format allows him to dip into areas of his music taste that wouldn’t make sense in a dance floor setting. He similarly stretches out beyond his signature sound during The Night Cat residency.

“I feel like people broadly know me for uplifting, sunshine-drenched, hands in the air, big vocals, happy, disco-adjacent house music,” he says. “That’s a huge part of the sound that I navigate around as a DJ, but there’s just so much more to it. So, the idea was to do long extended sets and take people on a bit of a journey from downtempo stuff to higher tempo, maybe a little bit harder on the more techno, trance side of things.

“I have the opportunity to bring it right down with some slow jams at the end of the night, and just try and attract a crowd that’s kind of up for anything.”

As a result of the breakfast radio gig and his preference for open-air day parties, Eastwood has already attracted what he calls a “wildly diverse” audience.

“I’m always amazed at the diversity of the crowd that comes to my things,” he says. “At Fairfield Amphitheatre two years ago, there was an entire family that came – mum, dad and their three sons. I also met a couple in their early 70s who said they hadn’t been to a rave since the early 90s and that they wanted to come out because they listen to me on the radio. I also meet people who’ve just finished school or they’re in university or in their 30s and 40s.”

Eastwood is a canny organiser. He keeps a log of all his radio playlists and all his party sets. He’s been digging through the archive in preparation for the Night Cat residency.

“I spend my life collecting music for radio and DJing. This actually forces me to go through the terabyte and a half of music I have on my drive and the record collection I have at home, to rediscover some stuff that I’ve found in the past and have forgotten,” he says.

Eastwood prefers to come into a DJ gig feeling as prepared as possible. That way, he says, he can fully enjoy the experience and invite the crowd to join him.

“For me, especially in a space like The Night Cat with a 360-degree stage, the best sets are the ones where there’s a real connection between the DJ and the dance floor.

“It’s a shared thing. You’re in it together. I love when you can feel the DJ actually enjoying it too. It kinda invites everyone else to come along for the ride.

“If I’m spending the entire time, head in the CDJs, just scrolling around of all my music, I personally won’t walk away from it with a sense of enjoyment. I have a DJing MO of spending as little time mixing as possible and as much time dancing as possible.”

MILO EASTWOOD’S 24 HOURS OF MILO

WHERE: THE NIGHT CAT

WHEN: 4 JUL

MOOPIE

Melbourne DJ and A Colourful Storm label boss Moopie shares his thoughts on crate-digging culture and the city’s thriving dancefloors.

BY LUCAS RADBOURNE

WORDS

Æ Melbourne DJ and A Colourful Storm founder Moopie has spent the best part of a decade unearthing forgotten records and putting them back into circulation. The label, which he launched in 2016 after it began life as a mix series, has become one of the most distinctive imprints in electronic music, releasing everything from reissues to new work by artists including Valentina Magaletti, Christoph de Babalon and Klon Dump. Behind the decks, Moopie has played sets at Dekmantel, Berghain Kantine and SustainRelease, and regularly goes back-to-back with Ben UFO and Helena Hauff.

Running a reissue label means making constant calls about what deserves a second life and what doesn’t. Moopie doesn’t overthink the distinction. “What’s been unfairly lost isn’t up to my label to dictate,” he says. “The only question I ask myself when releasing new music or reissuing older stuff is how I felt after hearing it for the first time.”

That gut instinct carries over to the way he approaches DJing, particularly in Melbourne’s lounge bars, where the DJ booth is often an afterthought. He’s measured about what those gigs actually teach you. “Not nearly as much as environments with actual crowd engagement,” he says. “But bars still offer sound systems that are better than most home setups, which makes for excellent listening practice.”

“There’s surely something unique about how far Australia is from the rest of the world.”

Melbourne’s geographic isolation plays a role in shaping both the music being made and the culture around collecting it. Asked whether there’s something about the city that breeds crate-diggers, Moopie acknowledges a quality he can’t quite pin down. “There’s surely something unique about how far Australia is from the rest of the world that permeates into the music being created and left here,” he says. “I don’t know what it is exactly and if its traits are exclusive, though.”

What he is certain about is the health of the city’s electronic music scene. “I feel electronic music is in the strongest position it’s been in since I started involving myself in it,” he says. “It’s so much more popular with younger crowds now, which is a positive thing.”

Those younger crowds are bringing a refreshing irreverence with them. “I love how blissfully unaware some of them are when showing these reference points,” he says, “like playing old tunes by artists whose significance they don’t care for, or downloading low-quality rips of rare records. Things that seem to annoy the right people.”

Even the cost-of-living crisis has shifted what audiences want to hear when they go out. “There has been a shift in appetite towards higher energy levels,” Moopie says. “That’s not a bad thing — I love looking for compatible music, or music with unexpected potential, to work for these crowds.”

MOOPIE

WHERE: MAX WATT’S, SOLACE

WHEN: 3, 11 JUL

THE ROOKIES

WORDS BY BRENDON HARGREAVES

Wednesday nights in Fitzroy

with the band that refuses to leave the room that made them.

“12 years of this bullshit, yet we still enjoy it, and more so” was the opening call from Greg Sher, frontman of The Rookies, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

The Rooks Return, at the sleepier end of Brunswick St, Fitzroy, didn’t take long to adopt me as an advocate upon my move to Melbourne. Worn in just the right amount with a smokers to die for.

I’d followed common whispers of the Wednesday night jazz before, but I’d always time it fashionably and have little patience for the queue hosting a ten shopfront tour.

We forget about the special relationship between patience and gold.

“I think there’s something fundamentally radical about attending cultural things. I think there’s a revolution that’s always been burning and it happens in spaces like these.”

Like perfect dusk, a circular keys riff begins the crossfade from the soft aroma of conversation to the first page of the night. Those well-seasoned ease in their shoulder rocks and hip sways, and it’s not long before I catch someone beaming at their friend after absorbing half a sax solo; perhaps she’d never experienced such a thing within what would usually be described as personal space.

“The beautiful thing is you can only fit a certain amount of people in the room,”

Greg tells me when discussing the night’s reputation. “We’ve had heaps of offers to move to much bigger venues for much more money, but what we do is so embedded into the bricks and mortar of this space, we would never move ... I mean, we have the greatest gig in Melbourne every single week of the year.”

It’s hard to contest.

“One of the owners who was working was like “The Rookies” and we were like, fuck it, we’ll be named after the bar,” he reveals amidst the origin story. “But it’s come to mean, almost retroactively, quite a lot to us. People talk about potentially becoming a master, where we now see ourselves as internal rookies, internal beginners, internal students ... it’s a life’s journey and we kind of know there’s no way to arrive.” In a time embellished with ‘fake it till you make it’ mentality, this was warming to hear. After a string of contorted faces processing a language they barely understand and yelps reminiscent of old hard bop recordings, the boys in bloom take us up to the skies, monetising delays, cymbal shimmers and long brass tones to create something you could slot into a Safdie movie. It’s the kind of moment that makes you consider a fork in the road.

At the break, I witness a compliment thrown from stranger to stranger, an interaction with an essence that only has the band to thank. But my focus quickly shifts as my chain bracelet is caught in the hair of someone slipping past, I manage to rip it out before she moves on, unaware.

I’ll come here when I miss London.

We begin again, but no one can predict the narrative. Scattered calls in soft moments are echoes from past peaks, sustaining a thread, and taking us into the next rush; a give and take between punter and band, one could not survive without the other.

“If you can have one eye on the audience and how they’re feeling, you can make them a part of it,” I hear from Joel Trigg on the keys.

“I can even have a conversation with people behind me, like, I can hear them making a joke and respond to it. That’s really unique, not a lot of jazz gigs you get to do that.”

The Rookies created a world but have taken on the responsibility to talk about the one outside. “We share intention for a world that’s better than the one we live in now.” They, like many artists across Melbourne, use the time when their voice is loud to help steer the ship in the right direction.

“The future is here it’s just not yet evenly distributed” is met with support of all different pitches.

“I think there’s something fundamentally radical about attending cultural things. I think there’s a revolution that’s always been burning and it happens in spaces like these.

“And I’m not pissing in our own bucket here, we just play jazz. I think it’s what you do. Maybe just going out to more things and doing more stuff with your mind and your body and your body-mind and your mind-body is perhaps more revolutionary than you think it is.”

And maybe we all need to hear some forgotten truths over a good-natured trumpet once a week.

THE ROOKIES:

Greg Sher Sax and Vocals

Tom Sly Trumpet

Joel Trigg Keys

Anton Schulz Double Bass

Chris Cameron Drums

WHERE: ROOKS RETURN, FITZROY

WHEN: EVERY WED

CONWAY SAVAGE

Conway Savage has been Australia’s answer to a piano man since he was thirteen. While most musicians are inducted into the pub circuit as emerging adults, Savage was already seasoned behind the swinging door.

WORDS BY MJ KIM

Æ Raised by publican parents and fortified by an art school sensibility, these watering holes served less as a stage and more an extension of Fish Creek; a locale where music was just as much a part of one’s daily ritual as clocking off and grabbing a pint.

When speaking to his collaborators Suzie Higgie (Falling Joys) and Mick Harvey (The Birthday Party, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Bleak Squad) ahead of These Are The Waves: Celebrating the Music of Conway Savage, it becomes clear that working with Savage felt as organic as the open country permeating their individual and collective works. On July 18, these songs will be carried into St Kilda’s Memo Music Hall; the very threshold where the shore kisses asphalt. Here, music becomes as much a form of escapism as hunkering down in the outskirts.

For one, Higgie and Savage’s Soon Will Be Tomorrow from 1998 was recorded in an old rambling schoolhouse up in Mount Victoria. Rainfall litters the soundscape of singles such as The Letter, the cadences of climate as much an accompanist as Savage’s piano is to the sensitive life; the acoustics of a bathroom considered as impressive as that of an exorbitant studio.

After all, this was an album built beside the fire — its endoskeleton composed of 16-track reel to reel recorders, old microphones, valve amplifiers and Higgie’s ‘nun’ guitar; a nylon stringed acoustic she’d been devoted to since the age of nine.

Similarly, Mick Harvey remembers recording Savage’s debut solo project in an antiquated wooden church somewhere in upstate New York. One forgets that the music industry is, in fact, an industry in Savage’s presence.

His collaborations with Harvey and Higgie fell into place in the aftermath of more commercialised recordings. Savage’s 1992 self-titled debut occurred almost incidentally, in anticipation of the sessions that would become Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds’ Henry’s Dream.

“The person who’d been designated as the producer — which we normally never had — he just kept not arriving,” Harvey recalls.

“So, we had these three or four days that were booked that we couldn’t cancel. And so [we had] nothing to do. I just said to Conway, ‘Well, why don’t we record some of your songs?’. That was it, basically.”

The improvisational spirit is the soul of Savage; a river unconfined by a levee. The songs meander with no fixed destination. After all, music to Savage was an intrinsic way of being, no different to breathing; the piano simply an extension of his limbs. As Harvey encapsulates it:

“He was never very interested in, you know, pushing his profile … or try[ing] to get attention for [his songs] or pump up his own tyres, or anything like that.”

These very sensibilities may explain the quiet affinity Savage’s work has found in Ireland. Both at home and north of the equator, geography is rarely just geography. It is memory, mythology and identity — a truth understood by Savage and his collaborators.

Where one sees Nick Cave’s Australian gothic imagery as intrinsically tied to his Wangaratta origins and his father’s deep involvement in the cultural mythology surrounding Ned Kelly, or Higgie’s affinity for the scrub linked to her close association with the ‘bush capital’, Ireland’s manner of story-telling has been similarly shaped by its landscapes. The rolling hills and craggy coastlines have been sculpted by ancient deities, giants and mythical heroes; they have served as portals to the Otherworld, akin to Indigenous Australian Dreamtime stories of the Rainbow Serpent carving out rivers, creeks, mountains and gorges.

It is no wonder then that in the wake of Savage’s death, The Bad Seeds paid homage with the 2019 studio album Ghosteen — a title suffused with the Irish-language suffix ‘ín’, translating to ‘benevolent’. Perhaps for many listeners, Conway Savage is still known merely as the band’s pianist. Yet, the breadth of musicians gathering in his honour suggests a much larger legacy — one which extends beyond the limitations of a set list. The tribute at Memo Music Hall will not so much resurrect his presence as unearth what is already undeniable: his essence lingers in the cross section of everything.

CONWAY SAVAGE

BRUNSWICK BALLROOM, BRUNSWICK 17 JUL

MEMO MUSIC HALL, ST KILDA 18 JUL

Credit: Bleddyn Butcher

AT-ERP3 & AT-ERP5 EARPLUGS

WORDS BY DANIEL WRIGHT

When it comes to experiencing high quality sound our ears are obviously our greatest assets, which is why protecting them in loud and overwhelming environments is all the more important.

AT-ERP3 $34.95 RRP

Made for anyone that is overwhelmed by general day-to-day noise, the AT-ERP3 earplugs have specifically built eartips to reduce environmental sounds in places like busy streets, cafes, offices and during commutes.

The discreet shape which hugs your ear allows the user to reclaim a sense of calm while looking natural with a comfortable fit that lends itself to long hours of wear.

As someone that has experienced their fair share of earplugs, I can definitely say that these are as comfortable as any pair I’ve used. I found the level of noise reduction really impressive. I still felt as though I could hear quite clearly, but the more harsh sounds of everyday life, such as ambient construction noise and the scraping of cutlery on plates, were much less distracting.

Weighing in at 1.2 grams per earplug, the light and flexible silicone build makes for a very comfortable experience, so much so I forgot I was wearing them.

The AT-ERP3 earplugs have been made to meet EN (European Norm) and ANSI (American National Standards Institute) safety standards, with an SNR (Single Number Rating) of 26dB and an NRR (Noise Reduction Rating) of 19dB. Available in black, grey and coral, the earplugs come with a colour-matched carry case and replacement eartips in 4 sizes.

AT-ERP5

Æ Audio-Technica, one of the most trusted names in music hi-fi for more than 60 years, has just launched their latest generation of earplugs shaped by the idea of “Always Safe Listening.”

The AT-ERP3 and AT-ERP5 earplugs were made by Audio-Technica to treat your ears with the same care that the brand gives to sound.

$44.95 RRP

Specifically made for filtering live sound, the AT-ERP5’s shape draws on Audio-Technica’s acoustic expertise to create earplugs for use at concerts, festivals and any loud environment.

Sharing the same sleek, ear-hugging shape as the AT-ERP3, the soft, flexible silicone build makes wearing the earplugs for hours on end at a music festival much easier than trying to convince your entire friend group to come along and see an obscure indie band that only you like.

Containing dual-layer filtering dampers and fitted music-focused ear tips, the AT-ERP5 earplugs help protect your ears by keeping sound at a safe level while preserving sound quality.

Sometimes it can feel like you’re not getting the full experience when wearing earplugs at a live show, but that wasn’t the case here. I wore these to a local rock show and was amazed at how clearly I could hear the band. It didn’t feel like I was missing out on any of the energy of the performance; the vocals and guitars still had so much clarity.

The same as the AT-ERP3, these are also built to meet EN and ANSI safety standards, with respective ratings of SNR 21dB and NRR 14dB. Made to give off the vibe of an accessory, the metallic accented earplugs come in two colours, black and gold, with a colour-matched carry case and 4 sizes of replacement eartips.

Hearing health is something that we often take for granted, but a little bit of effort now can go a long way towards enjoying your favourite music and live events for a long time to come.

The simple change of wearing hearing protection to live music or having it on hand in case you’re in a loud environment is a game changer that future you will thank you for.

This highly affordable range of earplugs from Audio-Technica allows you to experience your favourite live events at a safe volume without feeling like you’re missing out on the full experience, or simply to bring down the volume of day-to-day life.

This article was made in partnership with Audio-Technica.

D.B LONGING

WORDS BY FRANKIE ANDERSON-BYRNE

For close to 15 years, Dom Buckham has lent his hands to other people’s songs without quite handing over himself.

Æ Bass in RAT!Hammock, drums in Porpoise Spit, a touring slot with Merpire, sessions with Elizabeth M Drummond and Fan Girl. He has played other people’s truths fluently while keeping his own carefully out of reach, unsure he was ready to say anything that honest in his own voice.

That readiness has a name now: d.b. longing, his solo project, and a single called Soft Light, the first signal from a debut EP titled Good Grief, out on June 26.

The songs were largely written across lockdown and the long, disoriented stretch that followed it, a period Buckham describes without flinching.

“A lot of it deals with grief and anxiety, the grief and anxiety of having to let a lot of stuff go during covid, I also left a lot of bands because I spread myself way too thin and none of it pays and there’s only so far the love of the thing will get you.”

There is an industry myth he no longer entertains, the one insisting failure if you haven’t arrived by 30.

“Thinking of all my favourite artists ever like Sharon Bennet, The National, a lot of these people didn’t write my favourite records until they were in their late 30s. You need to live a life to be an artist.”

That recalibration is what made Good Grief possible. Buckham had spent years inside other songwriters’ sentences, lending his playing to stories that belonged to someone else, a kind of quiet erosion that comes from handing your instincts over again and again.

“I think because I’d played in so many bands that were very collaborative, lots of other lead songwriters, fantastic singers and lyricists and storytellers, so working with them was amazing but I never got to really be honest, always masked by a character which I used as a crutch to avoid how I really felt.”

Going solo meant recording unguarded, exposed to his own reflection in a way he hadn’t been before.

“It was terrifying. I haven’t released them since 2021 until now because I couldn’t, it was excruciatingly open.” The EP’s closing track, written about his family, was the hardest to let go of.

“I was scared for my family to listen to that but they thought it was amazing.”

There is a particular mercy in turning a feeling into a song, a way of setting grief down somewhere outside the body. “I think I feel more removed from the negative feelings that I was processing by writing the songs,” he says. “Looking back I just remember those feelings that I can be distant and safe from, it’s really valuable.”

That distance comes with its own quiet dread, the fear that the honesty might not return.

“I’ve actually been really scared I’ll never be able to write anything as honest ever again.”

“I don’t remember a lot of these songs, so I don’t know how to replicate it. Sweet Boy, I really don’t remember writing that at all, just mixing it afterwards, it just happened.”

“I’ve actually been really scared I’ll never be able to write anything as honest ever again.”

Buckham isn’t alone in that particular dread. His partner Rhi, who performs as Merpire, discovered one of her favourite authors, Trent Dalton, was a fan and it seems the feeling translates across art forms too. “He told her every time he finishes a novel he goes, well that’s it, that’s all I’ve got, I won’t be able to do that again.”

The recording process became its own quiet resistance to polish. Bedroom demos were carried into a proper studio in Brunswick and re-recorded, then handed to his World’s Best Neighbours songwriting partner Henry, who pushed back hard.

“He had been listening to them since they were demos and he said ‘to be honest, these just don’t have it, they’re too polished, lost all its soul’.” Buckham sat on that note for six months before conceding the point. The finished EP runs largely on second or third takes, guitar caught on an iPhone, vocals through a shoe (what he calls a terrible microphone), the grain left intact rather than smoothed away.

Singing itself took years to trust. Backing vocal sessions with Fan Girl frontperson Noah taught him to hear his own voice differently. “He said this was the most honest, the most me when he heard these demos, I owe a lot to him when it comes to my singing.”

Good Grief moves through liminal terrain, twilight, transit, the suspended interval between letting go and beginning again, alt-country and folk woven through its lofi indie pop frame. Buckham is already restless for what comes after, drawn now towards a live drummer having programmed his own beats throughout. “I don’t want the next thing to be the same,” he says, pointing to Beck and This is Lorelai as artists who reinvent themselves record to record while remaining unmistakably their own.

He will play these songs live with a full band for the first time, joined by Rhi, Henry and Elizabeth M Drummond, at Northcote Social Club.

“It’s the most vulnerable I’ve ever been, and it really is just remarkable how that resonates. A big lesson for me, and a big step in the right direction.”

D.B.LONGING

WHERE: NORTHCOTE SOCIAL CLUB

WHEN: 13 JUL

Credit: Jess Hauenstein

THE EMERSON

LIVE MUSIC: The Emerson splits its sound across three levels, with a different genre running on each. The Rooftop leans Top 40 and party classics, the Lounge runs House and Afro House, and the Club goes deep on Hip-Hop and R&B; so the night you have depends entirely on which staircase you take.

FAMOUS FOR: the rooftop above Chapel Street. It is the venue’s calling card; fully enclosed and heated through winter, part rooftop bar, part restaurant and part weekend party. Between the cocktails, food menu, DJs and drink specials, it has become one of South Yarra’s most reliable places to start a night that rarely finishes where you expected.

INFAMOUS FOR: starting with one rooftop drink and somehow ending up deep on the club dance floor hours later.

Æ Commercial Road doesn’t lack for bars, but The Emerson is built differently to most of its neighbours. It is a single venue stacked three storeys deep, each level running its own program rather than one room trying to please everyone at once. More importantly, it is not just a nightclub. Across its three levels, The Emerson combines dining, drinks, events and nightlife into one of South Yarra’s most versatile weekend destinations.

The Rooftop is the most accessible entry point. Fully enclosed and heated, it works year-round as a destination for food, cocktails and weekend parties. The menu is designed to work as comfortably for dinner and group catch-ups as it does for late-night drinks, while DJs soundtrack the room with Top 40 favourites, party classics and familiar dance records. Regular drink specials, including the venue’s popular Porn Star Martinis, help explain why so many nights begin upstairs.

THE BERGY BANDROOM

LIVE MUSIC: The Bergy runs live music and comedy seven nights a week across two connected spaces. The 200-capacity bandroom sits in the goldilocks zone for the local circuit — big enough to feel like an event, small enough that emerging acts can actually sell it out. Record launches, touring sideshows, cover nights, DJ sessions and open mic comedy all rotate through.

FAMOUS FOR: the sound. Owner David “Frankie” Cudmore is an audio-tech industry professional, and when the team gutted the old warehouse next door to the original Bergy Seltzer bar, they built the bandroom’s acoustics from scratch.

INFAMOUS FOR: being the scrappy sequel to one of Brunswick’s most mourned venues. Cudmore and Brümmer both worked at the Brunswick Hotel — the Brunny — for a decade before it closed permanently in 2019 after a car collided with a fire hydrant outside, flooding the building and triggering an unresolvable dispute with the landlord. The Bergy Seltzer opened 200 metres down the road as a stopgap. It became permanent. Then the bandroom arrived in early 2023 and suddenly Sydney Road had its mid-size live room back.

Æ The front bar is still the Bergy Seltzer you know — a snug, 100-capacity dive with a well-worn wooden bar, faded music posters and the kind of regulars who treat it like a lounge room. Burgers are now cooking out of the kitchen from Tuesday to Sunday. Behind it, the beer garden sits under a retractable roof with hanging greenery and a full bar, working year-round regardless of what Melbourne’s weather decides to do. The bandroom next door is the muscle. It’s fully accessible, has gender-neutral toilets, and stays open until 3am on weekends. For a venue born out of a flood and a landlord dispute, it’s doing pretty damn well.

WHERE: 141–145 COMMERCIAL ROAD, SOUTH YARRA

OPEN: THU 5PM–LATE / FRI 7PM–5AM SAT 3PM–5AM / SUN — CLOSED OVER WINTER

WHERE: 64–68 SYDNEY RD, BRUNSWICK

OPEN: SUN–THU 4PM–1AM / FRI–SAT 4PM–3AM

JACKET BAR

LIVE MUSIC: can turn a Wednesday night in Thornbury into something worth leaving the house for; Jacket Bar has landed on High Street with cosy vibes, community events, and a drinks list priced for regulars rather than occasion. The room runs warm and unhurried, with a courtyard out back and dogs welcome at the door.

FAMOUS FOR: a rich weekly music program. Wednesdays bring rotating jazz trios, Thursdays are given over to Funk ‘n Drunk with live funk grooves, Saturdays see soul, funk, jazz and R&B vinyl DJs take over, and Sundays feature rotating contemporary jazz, soul, blues and flamenco artists. It’s the kind of neighbourhood programming that used to define local bars before they all became cocktail menus and mood lighting.

INFAMOUS FOR: happy hour prices that aren’t really happy hour… they’re just the prices. Pints, wines and spritz at $10, running every day until 8pm. The Negroni and Old Fashioned sit at $18, which in 2026 qualifies as a public service.

Æ Jacket Bar also takes its cocktail program seriously; alongside the classics, the bar makes its own infusions and house-made ingredients for a range of signature cocktails that have become a defining part of what they do.

Jacket Bar isn’t trying to be a destination venue. It’s trying to be your bar; the one on the end of the street that has good music on a weeknight, lets your dog in, and doesn’t make you feel like you need a reservation to enjoy a drink. Thornbury has needed something like this, and the early programming suggests they know exactly what they’re doing.

COIL

LIVE MUSIC: Coil operates as a bar from 5pm before shifting into club mode from 9pm, with programming built around house, techno and electronic music. Resident DJs and international guests rotate through, with the venue positioning itself as an accessible alternative to Melbourne’s increasingly expensive club scene. Entry is capped at $15 for local nights and $20 for internationals.

FAMOUS FOR: the sound system. Coil runs Danley Sound Labs Synergy Horns — a patented loudspeaker technology out of Georgia in the United States, typically installed in arenas, concert halls and stadiums. The design places multiple drivers into a single horn so they behave as one full-range point source, producing phase-accurate sound that stays consistent wherever you’re standing in the room. It’s the kind of rig that has no business being inside a 175-person club on Chapel Street, and that’s the point.

INFAMOUS FOR: the no-phones-on-the-dance-floor policy. It’s a small rule that says a lot about what the room is trying to be — less content creation, more physical presence. Coil comes from the team behind Rumbler, the vinyl-focused listening bar across the road in Windsor, and the same obsession with how music actually sounds in a space carries over. The fit-out is stripped-back concrete, the tagline is “elation to the rhythm”.

Æ Chapel Street has had no shortage of nightlife turnover, but Coil feels like something built to stay. In a city that keeps losing dance floors, a new one that leads with its speaker specs and keeps the door price under $20 is making a specific kind of promise. It’s small, it’s loud, and it’s very deliberate about what it wants to be.

WHERE: HIGH STREET, THORNBURY

OPEN: WED & THU FROM 5PM / FRI, SAT & SUN FROM 3PM

WHERE: 116 CHAPEL ST, WINDSOR

OPEN: BAR FROM 5PM, CLUB FROM 9PM (CHECK @COIL.MELBOURNE FOR EVENT SCHEDULE)

THE VEILS

Fragile World

Æ Recorded live to tape over three consecutive weekends in Auckland’s Roundhead Studios, Fragile World feels instinctive – like an unburdening, both spiritually and musically.

Most songs were written before The Veils hit the studio, but decisions were yet to be made about how it would all sound. Finn Andrews and Tom Healy play most of the instruments, with drummer/percussionist Joseph McCallum joining them on occasion.

Aurora was inspired by, and named after, a geomagnetic storm that raged over parts of New Zealand. Written and recorded simultaneously the same day this natural light show transpired, Aurora opens with delicate piano. “Falling baaaack to Earth/ You’re so far from me now…” – Andrews sounds utterly crestfallen here. Sparse drum thwacks enter. Then meticulously played percussion motifs cut through, precise as recorded loops: “And I lose a little time/ And I gain a little back/ Trying to make it up for some/ Of every part of it I lack…”

The measured, piano-led High Hopes is giving Nick Cave: “Oh my love, my love, my love, my love/ I look on you like the ocean.”

“You’re not like anyone I’ve met/ You’re not like anyone I’ve seen” – with its hopeful, heart-racing keys (think: Arcade Fire), Lungs massages the heart’s inner chambers.

The haunting, Springsteen-esque Are You Awake Tonight? rolls out intrusive regrets: “Seems like all my ambition has arrived too late/ I left far too much up to the hands of fate…”

From birdsong and windchimes to gently jogging beats, New Day sweeps us off our feet: “The only part that feels right/ In this unjust world.” This song’s closing minute-and-a-half – driven by hopeful, propulsive drumming – truly takes flight, like running barefoot through a field with your favourite person/pet.

Andrews has described Little White Bird (Fragile World) as being “kinda like Nina Simone and Arthur Russell having a little dance”. We reckon they’re sharing a dancefloor with Bryan Ferry, too. “Oh, oh, oh oh,” Andrews vocalises, like a chirruping woodland creature, and it’s somehow not cringe.

The Widening Dark hovers like a blanket of smoke over a lake.

Atop stately piano, My Foolish Heart acquiesces at a swaying pace: “Take me to the edge I know I don’t wanna stay,” Andrews sings, sounding resigned. Shiny guitar lines soon bring glimmers of hope.

Sinéad O’Connor’s In This Heart – the first cover to appear on a Veils record – closes Fragile World in funereal mode, grieving the loss of a once-in-a-lifetime love.

Andrews is a genius wordsmith – his lyrics exquisite poems unto themselves: “You remind of all the lines I could not save/ You remind me of every lost dream I’ve had along the way/ Well, it’s a sentiment espoused in rhyme that I just can’t condone” – we’re not worthy.

BUDJERAH

Gentleman

Æ Budjerah certainly comes across as a Gentleman, which makes this album title apt.

We’ve hearted him since his so-humble, tearful ARIAs acceptance speech (for Breakthrough Artist back in 2021), during which Budjerah acknowledged, “Oh, I didn’t expect to cry, but I’m crying and I sound weird”

For his polished debut record, Budjerah worked with heavyweight songwriters/producers who have previously worked with the likes of Kylie, Jon Batiste, Ne-Yo and Bruno Mars, and it shows.

“Tonight you’re in the hands of a gentleman…” – with its suave bass, cowbell accents and elastic vocal lines, the opening title track is funky like Prince. Budjerah brings the heat to a spoken-word segment; we didn’t think he had it in him – prepare to blush!

Budjerah looks like a matinee idol, has collabed with Ed Sheeran and opened for Kylie. Furthermore, his vocals are pristine and untouchable, with the correct vibrato ratio (think: Pharrell-level awesomeness).

The ‘70s soul/R&B-inspired Could I Be, which captures the exact moment you realise you’ve fallen in love, shows off Budjerah’s super-smooth falsetto. Heavenly strings usher in the gospel-tinged Sinner, which is elevated by crisp fingersnaps and honeyed harmonies.

“Without you/ How am I supposed to make it through?/ ‘Cause living without you/ Feels like doin’ hard time” – Hard Time’s catchy chorus drips with heartsickness.

Elsewhere, “I don’t want to…” Want You Back captures that specific sense of longing, I Only Remember Your Name touches on reggae and the classy Lonely deserves top hat-and-cane routine.

We’re totally here for Budjerah’s respectful-yet-sexy Gentleman era.

LABEL: V2 RECORDS RELEASE: OUT NOW

LABEL: WARNER

RELEASE: 24 JUL

CHANEL BEADS

Your Day Will Come

Æ Violinist Zachary Paul is elevated to major player throughout Your Day Will Come – a series of dreamy sound collages.

This album’s title – which bears the same name as Chanel Beads’ preceding debut set (2024) – could be interpreted as an incoming come-uppance or a pep talk.

Shane Lavers, the musical mastermind behind Chanel Beads, has said he deliberately embraced spontaneity and imperfections on album number two.

The opening Drums Only floats in on an airstream of celestial “doo-doo-doo” harmonies, what sounds like discordant harmonica musings, beseeching strings and loose drumming. Wow. Consider me nailed to the chair, headphones firmly in place and engrossed for this record’s entire duration.

“To the water, lead me to the slaughter…” – the pedal steel-enhanced Song For The Messenger brings heavy themes and unstable thoughts.

Maya McGrory’s vocals read more like a spirit – the essence of something – rather than a single person, her matter-of-fact delivery softening emotional heft (eg. “Fuck this world I still have love for you”).

Sporadic yelled fragments highlight important words/phrases within Spirit Showing. Drunk Stupid In The Structure is invaded by a sound snippet as intrusive as a chainsaw – like Lavers checking that we’re still listening.

Elsewhere: sobbing punctuates the mid-point of Outside Your Life, which closes out in euphoric mode; whispering introduces Boss, before sawing violin dominates; and what sounds like a striking match catching flame opens Beaten With Sticks.

“I thought the music would save you like it saved me” – do these lyrics double as Chanel Beads’ statement of intent?

A curious, bewitching album like nothing we’ve ever heard before.

LABEL: JAGJAGUWAR

RELEASE: OUT NOW

SWAPMEET

RAGE

Æ

“Dearest darling, I know sorry is just a bandage on a limb that needs a thousand stitches/ God, why do you never do the dishes?/ Sorry, now I’m just bitchin’/ I got this scratch that you’re not itching/ And you don’t know what you’ve been missing/ So please accept this secret mission/ [whispers] Find out where the clit is/ Yours sincerely, me” – Kita Alexander’s hilarious, candid Sentimental Letter proves this ain’t no background music.

Musically, RAGE is deceptively upbeat and optimistic in tone, but Alexander’s lyrics are raw and edgy: “flipping ketamine”, Low Rise Jeans, “the one, shotgun, the kids, the debt. a night, a life…”

Banjo adds country spice to opener The Good House (“...on a shitty street”) – an evocative page-turner in sonic form.

Girlies need to memorise Worth It’s chorus: “A girl like me ain’t easy but I’m worth it… Can’t you just treat me right ‘cause I deserve it.”

(“How Am I Gonna…”) Tell My Friends – her lamenting duet with Christopher – ponders the difficult convos that follow reuniting with a deadbeat ex after bagging the crap out of him to your mates.

Miss Australia (“a little kid on tippy-toes”) addresses tall poppy syndrome and the unfair pressure on non-males to be perfect.

Alexander has said she’s trying to learn how to treat her anger more like an internal fire alarm instead of smothering it with toxic positivity these days. Throughout RAGE, she gives herself permission to be complex and struts towards radical self-acceptance: “My aura is a blessing and curse.”

Mount Zero

Æ Swapmeet’s debut album is named after a mountain range located between Adelaide and Melbourne. Since they often passed the Mount Zero sign en route to Melbourne gigs, this landmark symbolised the band’s musical aspirations – their own Hollywood Sign, if you will.

All four Swapmeet members – Venus O’Broin, Maxwell Elphick, Jack Medlyn and Josh Doherty – are vocalists, songwriters and multi-instrumentalists. As such, much instrument swapping went down while creating Mount Zero, for which the foursome also shared production duties.

Swapmeet approach their music-making with abandon. Defying conventional song structures is in the band’s DNA. They’re no strangers to loud-quiet-loud dynamics, either. You better brace yourselves for that burst of riffage in the many-songs-in-one title track.

During the standout, singsongy I Know!, riff melodies artfully echo vocal lines. “I drove all night to see you” – 2 C U throws caution out the car window to foster a connection. Then abrasive guitar noise kicks in like a dopamine injection.

Action unfolds in real time during Bonnie: “Act like you’ve got somewhere to go/ Promised you would come to the show/ I know you know I know you won’t” – a well-rehearsed avoidance dance between longtime friends.

“Why don’t you like me?/ Why don’t you care?” – bottled-up unrequited love crashes out in Seeds, with brazen distortion that dials up the drama.

Bold guitar figures, “crumbs in your pocket”, all-consuming romantic fixations –Swapmeet’s audio footprint is unforgettable.

LABEL: WARNER RELEASE: OUT NOW

LABEL: WINSPEAR RELEASE:

KITA ALEXANDER

GIG GUIDE

JULY 2026

THU 02 JUL

LIOR WITH STRING QUARTET

Frankston Arts Centre. Frankston. 7.30pm. $38–68.

DAWN HO PRESENTS THE SPACE BETWEEN Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 8pm. $40.

EAST GIPPSLAND WINTER FESTIVAL 2026 East Gippsland (Various locations). Victoria. 10am.

FOCUS ON GIORGIO MORODER

ACMI. Melbourne. 6.30pm. $20.

NCM X PSEUDO: STIGMERGY

National Communication Museum. Hawthorn. 10am. $18–24.

SCARLET FEVER

Edinburgh Castle Hotel. Brunswick. 7pm.

MOKSHA.

ANGLERR, CONTACT SPORT Bendigo Hotel. Collingwood. 7.30pm. SALTANAH Melbourne Recital Centre. Southbank. 6pm. $50.

MY FIRST RODEO. HANNAH POTTER Retreat Hotel. Brunswick. 7pm. Free.

GUERNS THURS New Guernica. Collingwood. 9pm. BEC SYKES Shotkickers. Thornbury. 7pm. $25.

CLAYTON DOLEY & THE FLASHY DASHBACKS

Bar 303. Northcote. 8pm. $20.

NON PLAYABLE CHARACTER. FORCE QUIT

The Motley Bauhaus. Carlton. 7.30pm. $15.70.

TRIBUTE THURSDAYS

FT: Use Your Roses

Cherry Bar. Melbourne. 8pm. $10.

WOMEN’S OPEN MIC NIGHT

The Merri Bar. Preston. 7pm. Free. THE FLOYD SHOW

Bird’s Basement. Melbourne. 7.30pm. $40.

MEISIE. MATILDA O’BRIEN

Brunswick Artists’ Bar. Brunswick. 7.30pm. Free.

SHY IVY. THE ROBBIES, THE ROUTINE Hotel Esplanade (aka The Espy). St Kilda. 7.30pm. Free.

FRI 03 JUL

PLASTER OF PARIS. SNAKE THIGHS, ROARCUSS, LOONEY MOONS

The Graveyard Bar. Coburg North. 6pm. $17.19–20.

KISS OF REALITY. MADAM NIGHTINGALE

Bar 303. Northcote. 7.30pm. Free.

STEVE SEDERGREEN & FRIENDS

Bird’s Basement. Melbourne. 7.30pm. $40.

DAN MCCABE

Prince Bandroom. St Kilda. 7pm. $73.95.

JIM E. BROWN. ANDY BURNS

John Curtin Hotel. Carlton. 8pm.

TE WEHI. THE WESTERN GUIDE

Northcote Social Club. Northcote. 7.30pm.

SUNNY MORRIS + WINTEN

Brunswick Artists’ Bar. Brunswick. 8.30pm. Free.

MIDWINTER REVIVAL

FT: Shot By Jane. Hannah Crossrose, Salvation Jane

Shotkickers. Thornbury. 8pm. $18.70.

SALSODROMO: LIVE BAND + SOCIAL DANCING Retreat Hotel. Brunswick. 8.30pm. $23.64.

BK OPERA: 10 YEARS OF DIRTY, SEXY OPERA

Brunswick Ballroom. Brunswick. 8.30pm. $46.92.

JAZZ

HARBINGERS: THE MUSIC OF ART BLAKEY & THE JAZZ MESSENGERS

Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 9.30pm. $45.

ABSOLUTE

ALANIS: THE AUSTRALIAN ALANIS MORISSETTE EXPERIENCE

Memo Music Hall. St Kilda. 7pm. $35–55.

BLOOD ON MY HANDS. END IT ALL, ABANDON ALL HOPE, SWITCHBLADE SERENADE, AS LONG AS IT BLEEDS

Bendigo Hotel. Collingwood. 7pm. $28.05.

DYSTINCT Festival Hall. West Melbourne. 7pm. $150.

CRITICAL FEELING X REVOLVER

FRIDAYS FEAT: KADEL, KELLY TEE, DÖRI, BRYN , M!A WALLACE, MORE Revolver Upstairs. Prahran. 10pm. $20.

LCO TRIO

Wesley Anne. Northcote. 6pm.

JETT BLYTON

Hotel Esplanade (aka The Espy). St Kilda. 7.30pm. $22.95.

TOFF CLUB WITH ADAM TRACE

The Toff In Town. Melbourne. 11pm. Free. TERESA DUFFY-RICHARDS

The Thornbury Local. Thornbury. 8pm.

THE HEAVY KICKS. THE TWO FACE TRIO, CIRCLE

THE SUN Leadbeater Hotel. Richmond. 8pm. $10.

TIM SCANLAN & MANA OKUBO

Edinburgh Castle Hotel. Brunswick. 8pm.

INVERNAL

Lulie Tavern. Abbotsford. 9pm. Free. CINDERELLA Hamer Hall (Arts Centre Melbourne). Melbourne. 7.30pm. $69.

KEYS OF GOLD 2026: FESTIVAL LAUNCH

Lauriston Chapel. White Hill. 6pm. $53.29.

BRITNEY SPEARS: THE CABARET

FT: Christie Whelan Browne

The Round. Nunawading. 7.30pm. $58.

NERVE

MELBOURNE 2026

Brown Alley. Melbourne. 10pm. $16.97.

GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES

The Motley Bauhaus. Carlton. 6.30pm. $35.96.

SOY.

MEDIA PUZZLE, DRAGNET, EQUESTRIAN FIELDS

The Old Bar. Fitzroy. 8pm. $17.35.

SAT 04 JUL

HUGERNAUT

The Merri Bar. Preston. 7pm. Free.

LONG LIVE OUR APARTMENT COMPLEX: A RACOONHEAD RECORD RELEASE PARTY FT: Racoonhead, Daydreamers, Bitimus Bar Open. Fitzroy. 8.30pm. $15.

CAPTAIN BEEPBOOP.

CLIT SPLIT, RHYS RENWICK

Cafe Gummo. Thornbury. 8pm. $13.30.

BURLYROCK

FT: 2JOOCEE, Adelaide Everheart, Bella Dejac, Ferri Maya, Florence Fable, Flynn V, Strawberry Siren Shotkickers. Thornbury. 8pm. $18.70.

BON BUT NOT FORGOTTEN Corner Hotel. Richmond. 8pm. $39.90.

ELLA THOMPSON Howler. Brunswick. 8pm. $38.76.

ASTRODEATH + FLAMING WREKAGE

Bendigo Hotel. Collingwood. 8.30pm. $33.70.

GOOD MUSIC PRESENTS ALL STAR Retreat Hotel. Brunswick. 5pm. $10.

POLLYMAN

John Curtin Hotel. Carlton. 5.30pm. Free.

COUNTRY STRUTS FT: Mika James, Tru Luv Club, DJ Gay Dad Northcote Theatre. Northcote. 8pm. $40.

DOWNBEAT FT: JXN Miles, MIA Wallace, Girl Whatever The Toff In Town. Melbourne. 11pm. Free.

KATE WATTS

Shirley Burke Theatre. Parkdale. 6pm. $38.50.

HOT CLUB SWING Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 6.30pm. $45.

KAZOO MAN GROUP. SAMUEL BLAKE

The Thornbury Local. Thornbury. 8pm.

JEMMA ROSE

Wesley Anne. Northcote. 8pm. $28.30.

MILO EASTWOOD: 25 HOURS OF MILO

The Night Cat. Fitzroy. 9pm. $39.90.

GURNAM BHULLAR Festival Hall. West Melbourne. 5.30pm. $59.

DOLE MANCHILD

Brunswick Ballroom. Brunswick. 8.30pm. $20.40.

EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE: A TRIBUTE TO THE POLICE

Revolver Upstairs. Prahran. 7.30pm. $38.76.

MATT MALONE & THE HOLY SPIRITS

Edinburgh Castle Hotel. Brunswick. 8pm.

THE TALKING HEADS EXPERIENCE

Northcote Social Club. Northcote. 7pm. $46.75.

KARAOKE

Lulie Tavern. Abbotsford. 9pm. HETEROPHOBES. OPERATION

KARMA, FILTHY MCNASTYS, THE CROP TOPS AND FUNKY TOWN FISH Bar 303. Northcote. 7.30pm. $15.

KANAN GILL: NOT THIS AGAIN Hamer Hall (Arts Centre Melbourne). Melbourne. 7.30pm. $49.

KEYS OF GOLD 2026: A MAJESTIC DUET

Forrest Street Uniting Church. Bendigo. 6pm. $53.29.

LUCID LOUNGE CABARET

The Motley Bauhaus. Carlton. 8pm. $41.52.

BEATLES LEGACY

FT: Denis Walter Clocktower Centre. Moonee Ponds. 7.15pm. $60.

TRASH INDIE SLEAZE PARTY Cherry Bar. Melbourne. 11pm. Free.

ELLY POLETTI SINGS THE A LIST: THE MUSIC OF AMY, ADELE, ARETHA & ALICIA Bird’s Basement. Melbourne. 7.30pm. $38.

THU 09 JUL

SPORTS

The Night Cat. Fitzroy. 7.30pm. $55.85.

JMQ THURSDAY JAZZ: ANASTASIA ASPELING + JAYDEN BLOCKLEY

Golden Gate Hotel. South Melbourne. 6.30pm. $20.

THE RESIGNATORS. BANJZIG

Hotel Esplanade (aka The Espy). St Kilda. 7pm. Free. STATION MODEL VIOLENCE. THE SHIFTERS, SEASON 2, CHATEAU, DJ BRIDGET SMALL John Curtin Hotel.

Carlton. 7.30pm. $29.50. DARK HOUSE II: (A)RISE

FT: Akala Newman, KP Hydes, Naomi Diane

Northcote Social Club. Northcote. 7pm. $18.40–29.10.

BLUE NOTE ‘60

Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 7.30pm. $45.

HENRY TOAST. STATIC COMPANY, AGVAMIL

Retreat Hotel. Brunswick. 7pm. $14.98.

HELEN RYDER. CATHERINE MCQUADE

Memo Music Hall. St Kilda. 7.30pm. $20–30.

THE BRONZE. ZE WISENHEIMER, CRANES AGAINST CLOUDS

Shotkickers. Thornbury. 7.30pm. $18.70. DEAFHEAVEN. NOTHING, SPY Forum Theatre. Melbourne. 7.30pm. $89.90.

LUME

Bar 303. Northcote. 8pm. $15.

TROY WILSON

Edinburgh Castle Hotel. Brunswick. 7pm.

AS OF YET + LEIGH THOMAS

Bendigo Hotel. Collingwood. 7.30pm.

KADE BROWN QUINTET

Bird’s Basement. Melbourne. 7.30pm. $35. SPEED QUEENS Lulie Tavern. Abbotsford. 8pm.

OLIVER JACH. SEAGULL

Wesley Anne. Northcote. 8pm. $15.

UNDER THE CANOPY

Melbourne Recital Centre. Southbank. 7.30pm. $75.

WINTER PARTY

FT: Underarts, The Huxleys

Brunswick Ballroom. Brunswick. 7pm. $22.44.

FRI 10 JUL

THE BIKIE TOUR

FT: Sidney Phillips, Skem, Choc, Adnam, Fokelore, Jani Cruz

Evelyn Hotel. Fitzroy. 7.30pm. $30.

KEYS OF GOLD 2026: QUITE THE LISZT!

Lauriston Chapel. White Hills. 6pm. $53.29. MELBOURNE STRING

ENSEMBLE: 40TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT

Melbourne Recital Centre. Southbank. 7pm. $69.

STATION MODEL VIOLENCE.

SLEEPER & SNAKE, SPITTING IMAGE, LIFE GIRL, DJ MIKEY YOUNG John Curtin Hotel. Carlton. 8pm.

TRAZ & DISCOURSE WITH LIVE BAND. PANG PRODUCTIONS, GRACE CHIA, THAMSON P, DJ PIERRE, DJ

VAWNAGRAPHIC

Northcote Social Club. Northcote. 8pm. $38.

FRIDAY NIGHT HARDCORE

FT: Identity Error, Chapel Hill, Detestor, Lockjaw, Rile

Bendigo Hotel. Collingwood. 7pm. $14.30.

TIM SCANLAN & MANA OKUBO

Edinburgh Castle Hotel. Brunswick. 8pm. VERSES

FT: DJ Jnett, Anyo, Matt Radovich Howler. Brunswick. 7pm. Free.

SPAWN. PAUL KIDNEY EXPERIENCE, THE ELECTRIC GUITARS

Shotkickers. Thornbury. 8pm. $17.84.

LAST EMBERS

Retreat Hotel. Brunswick. 7.30pm. $12.25–15.68.

STARCRAZY Hotel Esplanade (aka The Espy). St Kilda. 7.30pm. $15.85.

MADARASI & FRIENDS

FT: Okii, Jkongerz, Mohit. R

The Toff In Town. Melbourne. 11pm. Free.

THE STRIKE OUTS. PLASTIC SECTION, THE NOWA NOWAS

The Old Bar. Fitzroy. 8pm. $13.30.

WRESTLEROCK

FT: Elm Street Corner Hotel. Richmond. 8pm. $45.45.

ALICE ISABELLA. GRACIE MOORE, RUMIE

Brunswick Artists’ Bar. Brunswick. 8.30pm. Free.

MOTOWN REVIVAL & THE LEGENDS OF SOUL

Brunswick Ballroom. Brunswick. 8.30pm. $55.08.

RHYLEY MCGRATH

The Thornbury Local. Thornbury. 8pm.

FREAK MAGIC. MAGGIE & GALENA, RESTRAINT

Gem Bar. Collingwood. 8pm. $13.

COMEDY AT THE SHIRLEY

Shirley Burke Theatre. Parkdale. 7.30pm. $30.

JOEL SENA

Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 9.30pm. $45.

MOSHING IN THE ALT PIT

FT: Seven Pound Halo, Achey Peace, Deep Majestic Thunder, Blowhole Leadbeater Hotel. Richmond. 7.30pm. $17.85.

LEMONISE. BLACK WATTLE WITCHES, PONTOON

Lulie Tavern. Abbotsford. 8pm. Free. CASSETTES. LUCID AT LAST, CONNOR STANTON Bar 303. Northcote. 7.30pm. $13.30. THE YACHTSKI BROTHERS Bird’s Basement. Melbourne. 7.30pm. $40.

LOW KEY CHAOS CABARET & KARAOKE

The Motley Bauhaus. Carlton. 7pm. $25.83. EMMA DONOVAN X MSO

Hamer Hall (Arts Centre Melbourne). Melbourne. 7.30pm. $68.

SAT 11 JUL

MOKTAR

The Night Cat. Fitzroy. 9pm. $39.90.

THE GOLDEN AGE OF SOUND: OPENING NIGHT Cross Street Music Hall. Brunswick East. 6pm. $25.

OSCAR LADELL

The Merri Bar. Preston. 7pm. Free.

SO YESTERDAY: THE POP GIRLIES WHO RAISED US Prince Bandroom. St Kilda. 9pm. $12.25–18.90.

EVOCATION

FT: Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Assembly Hall. Melbourne. 3pm. $30–85.

DENNIS. JIM JIMS, GO GO TOBOGGAN Retreat Hotel. Brunswick. 7.30pm. $17.95–20.23.

KEYS OF GOLD

2026: CELESTIAL SOUNDS

Holy Trinity Church. Maldon. 4pm. $53.29.

THE CASANOVAS. DB4

Shotkickers. Thornbury. 8pm. $29.25.

THE WINFIELD ROAD EXPERIMENT

Edinburgh Castle Hotel. Brunswick. 8pm.

YEMO WANG

Wesley Anne. Northcote. 6pm.

ROCK THE BENDI

FT: Razor Burn, Groove Vultures, The Kind Regards Bendigo Hotel. Collingwood. 8.30pm. $12.25.

CRADLE OF FILTH + DEVILDRIVER Forum Theatre. Melbourne. 7pm. $129.

ROUND THE OUTSIDE

The Thornbury Local. Thornbury. 8pm.

MAGNITUDE

Revolver Upstairs. Prahran. 7pm. $41.82.

THNDO PRESENTS THE JILL SCOTT PROJECT

Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 9.30pm. $50.

BENEATH THE NOISE, VOL. 2

FT: Mailey, Elyzium Falls, Devil’s Darling Hotel Esplanade (aka The Espy). St Kilda. 7.30pm. $15.85.

RAGGED COMPANY + BLOWN CONES

Brunswick Artists’ Bar. Brunswick. 4.30pm. Free.

HUMAN FLY

MAGAZINE ISSUE

#3 LAUNCH

FT: Maquina Peligrosa, Pussy Horse, The Hybernators, DJ Diddy Wah

The Old Bar. Fitzroy. 8pm. $14.30.

CUT WORMS. JOHN ANDREWS Howler. Brunswick. 8pm. $59.67.

BIRDLAND

Leadbeater Hotel. Richmond. 1.30pm. $25.

LOST RAGAS

Brunswick Ballroom. Brunswick. 8.30pm. $36.72.

WYBIE. CAPTAIN BEEP BOOP, MOBY BEEFHEART

Northcote Social Club. Northcote. 8pm. $18.40–24.

SECOND HAND NEWS: A TRIBUTE TO FLEETWOOD MAC

Lulie Tavern. Abbotsford. 9pm. Free.

NAIDOC KICK ONS Corner Hotel. Richmond. 7pm. $15–35.30.

SEA WOLVES

HOWL

Arts Centre Warburton. Warburton. 7.30pm. $33.

G_TANO + MONKEY STICK

The Motley Bauhaus. Carlton. 7.30pm. $20.76.

RELAX WITH MAX Bird’s Basement. Melbourne. 7.30pm. $40.

FLAMENCOLLAB PRESENTS PULSO Clocktower Centre. Moonee Ponds. 3.30pm. $65.

VERA BLUE X MSO

Hamer Hall (Arts Centre Melbourne). Melbourne. 7.30pm. $78.

THU 16 JUL

THE TAILOR OF TIME: 40 YEARS OF ELISION

Melbourne Recital Centre. Southbank. 7.30pm. $55.

HARRY MITCHELL QUARTET FT: Carl Mackey

Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 8pm. $45. THE PUTBACKS Bar 303. Northcote. 9pm.

HEARTBREAK

HOTEL

Arts Centre. Melbourne. 7pm. $69.

JOE CHINDAMO TRIO

Bird’s Basement. Melbourne. 7.30pm. $39.

SPEED QUEENS

Lulie Tavern. Abbotsford. 8pm.

HOWLING WALSHE

Edinburgh Castle Hotel. Brunswick. 7pm.

MEISIE. THE RAYES

Brunswick Artists’ Bar. Brunswick. 8.30pm. Free.

NINAJIRACHI.

LUCY BEDROQUE, DAINE Forum Theatre. Melbourne. 7.30pm. HEADPHONES

JONES

Shotkickers. Thornbury. 8pm. $12.75.

MUTUAL FRIENDS OF FORMER

LOVERS. BACKO The Toff In Town. Melbourne. 9.30pm. Free.

FRI 17 JUL

THE VICAR. FRESH MEAT, UGLIEBOY

The Old Bar. Fitzroy. 8pm. $13.30.

WINTERLIVE: KASINDA PRESENTS AGARACHA ORCHESTRA

Abbotsford Convent. Abbotsford. 7.30pm. $49. THE WRAYLETTES. EL ROLLO Retreat Hotel. Brunswick. 7.30pm. $17.95.

CURTAIN CALL: THE HITS OF BROADWAY

The MC Showroom. Prahran. 7.30pm. $53.

GRACE ROBINSON. ELENA JONES, INDIGO KING

Shotkickers. Thornbury. 8pm. $25.

BLUE BAYOU & BEYOND: CELEBRATING LINDA RONSTADT’S 80TH BIRTHDAY

FT: Lisa Mio & Wild Dreamers

Memo Music Hall. St Kilda. 7pm. $35–50.

INTER.SONIX 15 FT: Kilat, 2K88, YL Hooi John Curtin Hotel. Carlton. 8pm. $22.85.

KEYS OF GOLD 2026: THE BOLD, THE BEAUTIFUL & THE BIZARRE!

St Andrew’s Uniting Church. Bendigo. 6pm. $53.29.

NIRVANNA

Prince Bandroom. St Kilda. 7pm. $69.90. AREA-7. PREVIOUS FUTURE, OPERATION BIG JAKE BOSSTONE

Bendigo Hotel. Collingwood. 8pm. $25–28.05.

100 YEARS OF COLTRANE: JAMIE OEHLERS QUARTET

Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 9.30pm. $45. THATBOYKWAME

Northcote Social Club. Northcote. 8.30pm. $29.10.

HARD BOP

The Thornbury Local. Thornbury. 8pm. TONY J KING

Edinburgh Castle Hotel. Brunswick. 8pm.

REPENTED: BRING ME THE HORIZON APPRECIATION NIGHT

Hotel Esplanade (aka The Espy). St Kilda. 9pm. $15.85–22.95.

REDD

Lulie Tavern. Abbotsford. 9pm.

DEAN HILSON & THE SKA VENDORS PLAY TOMMY MCCOOK

Bird’s Basement. Melbourne. 7.30pm. $38.

NERVE MELBOURNE 2026

Brown Alley. Melbourne. 10pm. $16.97.

TOFF CLUB

FT: DJ Gay Roberto, FreshXPrincess

The Toff In Town. Melbourne. 11pm. Free. “THESE ARE THE WAVES”: THE MUSIC OF CONWAY SAVAGE

Brunswick Ballroom. Brunswick. 8.30pm. $57.63.

SAT 18 JUL

CLAIRE ROUSAY + LISA LERKENFELDT

The Substation. Newport. 7pm. $35–49. NO REASON FOR THIS PARTY #5 FT: Dibs, SystemDisco, Piere Le Fontaine, Crimemaster GoGo, Braek, Meneaupauz

Caz Reitop’s Dirty Secrets. Collingwood. 7pm. Free.

CONVERGE

MELBOURNE 2026

FT: Tobacco Rat, Vijay Thillaimuthu Secret Location. Kensington. 6pm. $34–57.

KICK ON FEST 2026

FT: Arabella & The Heist, Propaine, The Salmon Sisters, Dolls, Billy Cart, Mudbath, Fur Blossom, Cass Aware Leadbeater Hotel. Richmond. 5pm. $28.85.

MID WINTER POJAMA PARTY

FT: Deadlips, Dog Watch, Invisible Pyramid, Jack Harlon & The Dead Crows, Junkyard Wizards, Mote, The Black Heart Death Cult, Winternationale Shotkickers. Thornbury. 4pm. $29.25.

GOOD MUSIC PRESENTS ALL STAR Retreat Hotel. Brunswick. 5pm. $10.

THESE ARE THE WAVES: THE MUSIC OF CONWAY SAVAGE

FT: Mick Harvey, Martyn P. Casey, Charlie Owen, Bruce Kane, Robert Tickner, Mark Corcoran, more Memo Music Hall. St Kilda. 7pm. $49–60. HIATUS KAIYOTE. WAARI Forum Theatre. Melbourne. 7pm. $79.90.

COPPER FEEL

Lulie Tavern. Abbotsford. 9pm.

SHOUSE LIVE! COLLECTIVE ECSTASY

Howler. Brunswick. 8pm. $28.56–49.47.

DREST.

MATILDA PEARL

Hotel Esplanade (aka The Espy). St Kilda. 7pm. $22.95. TANYA LOSANNO.

JACQUI RICHARDS, TRISH HURLEY

Brunswick Artists’ Bar. Brunswick. 5.30pm. $28.56. LEAPS AND BOUNDS

PRESENTS:

OLD BAR FEVER + ZINE FAIR

FT: Sick Visor, The Limited, Operation Karma, Projectile Dysfunction, Forklift Assassins, Heterophobes, Munted Chunts

The Old Bar. Fitzroy. 3pm. $23.50.

THE DUSTY DIMES

The Thornbury Local. Thornbury. 8pm.

THE WINFIELD ROAD

EXPERIMENT

Edinburgh Castle Hotel. Brunswick. 8pm.

WINTERLIVE: WILDFLOWER

FT: Queenie, WILSN, Nkechi Anele Abbotsford Convent. Abbotsford. 7pm. $59.

EVOCATION

FT: Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Assembly Hall. Melbourne. 3pm. $30–85.

CURTAIN CALL: THE HITS OF BROADWAY

The MC Showroom. Prahran. 7.30pm. $53.

DAFT WEEKND X LASER HIGHWAY

Brunswick Ballroom. Brunswick. 8.30pm. $29.58.

KEYS OF GOLD

2026: THE FOUR SEASONS

St Augustine’s Church. Inglewood. 11pm. $53.29.

SCIENTIST COMEDY SHOW

The Motley Bauhaus. Carlton. 7pm. $10.63.

CHASING LANA

Cherry Bar. Melbourne. 8pm. $15.43.

STAUNCH

The Toff In Town. Melbourne. 9pm. $17.34.

ANDREA

LAM PLAYS

TCHAIKOVSKY

Hamer Hall (Arts Centre Melbourne). Melbourne. 7.30pm. $75.

DAVE HOLE

Bird’s Basement. Melbourne. 7.30pm. $50.

THU 23 JUL

DON GIOVANNI

The Round. Nunawading. 7.30pm. $88.

JONATHAN

BUFALINO

Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 8pm. $40.

WINTER BLUES FESTIVAL 2026

FT: 19-Twenty, Cam Walter Blues, Cass Eager, Eddy & The Exciters, Elly Poletti, The Frank Sultana Blues Band, more Various Venues. Echuca-Moama. 10am.

ASHLEY NAYLOR SPACESHIP.

BURIED FEATHER

Northcote Social Club. Northcote. 8pm. $30.

CYNTA

Bird’s Basement. Melbourne. 7.30pm. $30.

AVA GERRARD.

EMMA LIN, JULIETTE MIOT

Leadbeater Hotel. Richmond. 7pm. $20.95.

OPEN MIC NIGHT

The Merri Bar. Preston. 7pm. Free.

HEMENE ET HEL

Edinburgh Castle Hotel. Brunswick. 7pm.

FLIRYTE

Wesley Anne. Northcote. 6pm.

LEBANON FUNDRAISER Howler. Brunswick. 7.30pm. $35.

FRI 24 JUL

PERUVIAN INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATION

FT: Del Barrio, La45, Lazaro Numa, Nicky Rousse, Mistura Ensemble, Eche, Hugo Salcedo Bodriggy Brewing Company. Abbotsford. 7pm. $45.

STREET CARP. LOWLINE

Tanswell’s Commercial Hotel. Beechworth. 8.30pm. Free.

MERPIRE. LOOSE TOOTH

John Curtin Hotel. Carlton. 8pm. $35.

THE LITTLE BOURKE BIG BAND PRESENTS

THE MUSIC OF COWBOY BEBOP

Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 9pm. $48.

KEYS OF GOLD 2026: DUO IN DIALOGUE

Lauriston Chapel. White Hills. 6pm. $53.29.

ENSEMBLE Q AUSTRALIA WITH ED LE BROCQ

Melbourne Recital Centre. Southbank. 7pm. $75.

LESTOPIA

Brunswick Ballroom. Brunswick. 8.30pm. $36.72.

SHOCK VALUE. SWEDISH MAGAZINE, W.O.M.B.A.T, LOUTS

Gem Bar. Collingwood. 7.30pm. $13.

PHIL MANNING & SARAH CARROLL

Odeon Richmond. Richmond. 7pm. $35.

LEBANON FUNDRAISER

Howler. Brunswick. 7.30pm. $35.

STARS

Bird’s Basement. Melbourne. 7.30pm. $45.

BASEMENT SPACEMAN

Edinburgh Castle Hotel. Brunswick. 8pm.

GUTHRIE

The Thornbury Local. Thornbury. 8pm.

DRAG BINGO

FT: Gabriella Labucci, Abra KaDebra

Kingston City Hall. Moorabbin. 7.30pm. $20.

KAARST. IN THROES, LILY OF THE VALLEY, FALSE FATE

The Old Bar. Fitzroy. 8pm. $23.50.

SAT 25 JUL

KEYS OF GOLD 2026: BENJAMIN BRITTEN–ANTIPHONS & ANTHEMS

St Paul’s Cathedral. Bendigo. 3pm. $53.29. MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: OLD IDEAS, NEW STORIES

Melbourne Recital Centre. Southbank. 4.30pm. $35.

BAGGY TROUSERS: THE SOUND OF MADNESS & THE SPECIALS. LOONEE TUNES

John Curtin Hotel. Carlton. 7.30pm. $43.80–54.15. PITCHFACE’S BIG WINTER SING FEAT: KATE MILLER-HEIDKE

Palais Theatre. St Kilda. 7pm. $50. NANA KOIZUMI QUARTET PLAYS THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK

Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 9pm. $45. THE RAMIFICATIONS + CITIZEN ZANE

Brunswick Artists’ Bar. Brunswick. 4.30pm. Free.

NEGOMI

The Merri Bar. Preston. 7pm. Free. BORDERLINE

Northcote Social Club. Northcote. 8pm. $40.70.

BLUEMODE

Edinburgh Castle Hotel. Brunswick. 8pm. LEBANON FUNDRAISER

Howler. Brunswick. 7.30pm. $35.

GRAND WAZOO

Hotel Esplanade (aka The Espy).

St Kilda. 7pm. $64.80.

ODD BALL 3: MARTHOUSE FOREVER

Brunswick Ballroom. Brunswick. 8pm. $29.58.

BAKER, MELLONIE & ADAMS. THE DELVENES

The Thornbury Local. Thornbury. 8pm.

30 YEARS OF STONES THROW RECORDS

FT: Peanut Butter Wolf, Knxwledge, Mndsgn, Michi Northcote Theatre. Northcote. 7pm. $62.42–83.84.

HOMEBASS

Bar 303. Northcote. 8pm.

THE BIGO: ROY ORBISON TRIBUTE SHOW

FT: Joe Piastrino & The JP Band Bird’s Basement. Melbourne. 7.30pm. $38.

HOUSE FULL OF SQUIRRELS PRESENTS: SQUIRREL SITUATION + BAILLIES BAZAAR

The Motley Bauhaus. Carlton. 7.30pm. $20.76.

DISTANT WORLDS: MUSIC FROM FINAL FANTASY

Hamer Hall (Arts Centre Melbourne). Melbourne. 7.30pm. $89.

EQUALISER: A DISABILITY PRIDE PARTY

FT: Kaiyah Mercedes, Charlie Lane, Saint Ergo, Clean Beast, Cabin Fog Leadbeater Hotel. Richmond. 2pm. $23.75.

LITTLEPALOOZA

FT: Twine, Platonic Sex, Leroy Macqueen, Mika James, Romanie, The Brakes, CCTV Lulie Tavern. Abbotsford. 5pm. Free.