Beat 1744

QUEEN KONG EMBRACE THE UNFAMILIAR: MELBOURNE FRINGE FESTIVAL TAKES ART TO THE EDGE

SEPTEMBER 2026 #1744

BEAT.COM.AU NAARM/MELBOURNE’S VOICE IN MUSIC, ARTS & CULTURE

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Spring feels different at the Queen Victoria Market.

Tables back outside, jackets over the backs of chairs. Strawberries you’ll start on the walk home, because you’re not going to make it. Asparagus, finally. Someone at the deli passing you something to try before you’ve asked. Open Tuesday, and Thursday to Sunday.

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EDITORIAL NOTE

1744

At the centre of Melbourne Fringe this year is Fat Fruit, the queer Naarm duo behind The Legend of Queen Kong.

EDITOR Lucas Radbourne ASSISTANT EDITOR Frankie Anderson-Byrne GRAPHIC DESIGNER Riley McDonald

Æ 12 years in the making, three music videos premiered this month, every frame sign-sung by deaf artist Asphyxia. They call it freedom in the fringes, and they mean the access as much as the art.

GIG GUIDE Jacob Colliver CONTRIBUTORS Molly England, Dom Lepore, MJ Kim, Rob Gee, Alex Carpi, Luke Carlino, Bryget Chrisfield FOR ADVERTISING OR SPONSORED CONTENT ENQUIRIES advertise@furstmedia.com.au ACCOUNTS accounts@furstmedia.com.au ENQUIRE ABOUT HAVING BEAT MAG DISTRIBUTED AT YOUR BUSINESS OR VENUE distribution@furstmedia.com.au

Around it, Swapmeet haul their Adelaide noise and debut record Mount Zero to a country that’s finally listening; harminia drags Japanese Visual Kei into the local guitar underground and finds a crowd already fluent in it; and Robert Forster brings Strawberries back to Thornbury Theatre on 12 September, still writing love as a set of small habits.

While Body Type hit a decade and keep moving, Celent takes his first bow at the Toff, and Máquina Peligrosa smuggle out a surf-punk seven-inch with help from some puppets.

On the shelf there’s new work from Miss Kaninna, DMA’S, Grace Mitchell, Noah Hill and Rowena Wise. The windows are open. Go get amongst it.

PUBLISHER Furst Media Pty Ltd FOUNDER Rob Furst

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.

MELANIE CHARLES

FOALS

Their danceable new era ushers in a Heaps Good new year.

The radical, rebellious force lands at MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL

BAKER BOY

The Yolŋu artist talks tokenism, finding his truth and BLAKTIVISM at ALWAYS LIVE

OCTOBER 2025 #1734

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BEAT.COM.AU NAARM/MELBOURNE’S VOICE IN MUSIC, ARTS & CULTURE

NOVEMBER 2024 #1724

BEAT.COM.AU NAARM/MELBOURNE’S VOICE IN MUSIC, ARTS & CULTURE

DECEMBER / JANUARY #1714

DISTRIBUTION

COVER

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

Our cover star in September is Queen Kong, photographed by Alexis Desaulniers-Lea.

BEAT.COM.AU NAARM/MELBOURNE’S VOICE IN MUSIC, ARTS & CULTURE

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CONTENTS NEWS

10–14

MELBOURNE FRINGE 16–17

MÁQUINA PELIGROSA

18

A

The Espy

B

Festival Hall

FESTIVAL GUIDE

20

C

Memo Music Hall

REGIONAL GUIDE

22

D

The Substation

SWAPMEET

24–25

HARMINIA ROBERT FORSTER

A Miss Kaninna

26

B

DMA’S

C

Grace Mitchell

28–29

D

Noah Hill

E

Rowena Wise

30

CREATURE FEAR

32

HIGH FIDELITY

33

JACK GRAY

34

CELENT

35

09

38–39

ALBUM REVIEWS A

BODY TYPE

36–37

VENUE GUIDE

STAGE GUIDE

35

BLACKPRINT mixtape DMA’S Daughter Of The King Ok ok now Bad Things Feel Good

GIG GUIDE

40–43

Never miss a Melbourne event. beat.com.au

BEAT 1744

NEWS THE SONGS OF JOHN FARNHAM FILL ROD LAVER ARENA

A NINE-DAY WRITERS’ FESTIVAL TAKES OVER MELBOURNE

ALRIGHT HEY ADDS ENCORE DATES TO BRING BACK GLAMOUR The comedian and High Scrollers host has piled 13 extra shows onto a run that sold out almost instantly, digging into never-before-told stories from his life and career. The Leadbeater Hotel date on 4 September has already gone, but Bendigo on 3 September and Geelong on 5 September have final tickets left.

RESET BRINGS A FREE MONTH OF SUSTAINABILITY TO FED SQUARE Fed Square hands spring over to its free sustainability festival, opening 5 September with a planting party before a zero-waste day, a daytime book rave, clothes swaps, junk journaling and outdoor cinema. It winds through the school holidays and closes on 17 October with a community waterways forum.

WHAT’S ON IN SEPTEMBER? AT YOUR LOCAL INDEPENDANTLY RUN MUSIC VENUE

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The Emerging Writers’ Festival hits its 23rd year with nine days of new writing across the city and online from 10 September. It opens with a night of Blak horror at Trades Hall, takes poetry to Fitzroy Pool, and runs a two-day national conference at the Wheeler Centre before closing on 18 September.

A GIANT 80S SUPERCOMPUTER TAKES OVER A HAWTHORN MUSEUM The National Communication Museum opens Radical Computing, tracing the personal computer from room-sized machine to bedroom tinkerer’s toy. At its heart sits a restored Connection Machine CM-2, a 1.5tonne 1980s supercomputer with 65,536 processors behind blinking lights. It runs 19 September to 21 February.

MONDAYS TUESDAYS WED 02 FRI 04 SAT 05 SAT 05 SUN 06 THU 10 FRI 11 SAT 12 SAT 12 FRI 18 SAT 19 SUN 20 THU 24 FRI 25 SAT 26 SUN 27 WED 30 OCT 01 OCT 03 OCT 04 OCT 09 OCT 10 +11 OCT 16

A one-night-only Melbourne tribute gathers 120 artists, a 38-piece orchestra, a choir and the John Farnham Band around the great man’s songbook, with Vanessa Amorosi, Rob Farnham and Dannielle Gaha the latest to sign on. Farnham won’t sing; the night raises money for Head and Neck Cancer Australia.

20 September.

SAMMY J LEADS A FREE THREE-WEEK FESTIVAL FOR THE BIRRARUNG Birrarung Riverfest returns for a fourth year with more than 70 free events along the Yarra from 27 September to 18 October, and comedian Sammy J signs on as ambassador.

Expect platypus-spotting, riverbank performances and a big community paddle hauling litter out of the water downstream.

MARK WILKINSON TAKES NEW EP LOVE AND LOSS ON TOUR The Australian singer-songwriter threads grief, old baggage and hard-won hope through the five stripped-back tracks of Love and Loss, out now via Nettwerk. His acoustic playing and a close, unhurried vocal carry the record, and the national run lands in Melbourne at Bird’s Basement on 1 October.

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BEAT 1744

SIMONA CASTRICUM ANNOUNCES A NATIONAL VILLAIN TOUR

AN EVENING WITHOUT KATE BUSH RETURNS TO ARTS CENTRE MELBOURNE

MEN AT WORK RETURN TO MARK 45 YEARS OF BUSINESS AS USUAL

The Naarm underground fixture threads post-punk and dream-pop through synthwave, touring new album Villain and its single Outgrown, out 4 September on her own Trans-Brunswick Express. She performs as a duo with drummer Anetta Nevin. Northcote Social Club, 2 October, with Our Carlson.

Sarah-Louise Young’s cult cabaret is back in the Fairfax Studio after a sold-out run, part loving tribute, part theatrical mischief. Expect Running Up That Hill and Cloudbusting alongside curious bootlegs, B-sides and reworked deep cuts. It plays 13 to 18 October, so dust off the red dress.

Colin Hay brings his LA-based Men At Work band back to the Palais 45 years on from the debut that spent 15 weeks atop the US charts. Down Under, Who Can It Be Now and Be Good Johnny still travel, and the set spans the band’s whole catalogue. 4 November.

THE AUSTRALIAN MUSIC VAULT OPENS A BAR FOR ITS 10TH YEAR

MARYSVILLE MUSIC WEEKEND RETURNS WITH HENRY WAGONS The mountain town north-east of Melbourne hands its halls and public spaces to a walkable weekend of music from 13 to 15 November, led by alt-country figure Henry Wagons and roots guitarist Jeff Lang. Born out of the Black Saturday recovery, it sits about 100 kilometres from the city.

Arts Centre Melbourne’s free music-history exhibition gets its own bar from 1 October, pouring drinks and snacks from 4pm among decades of Australian rock and pop artefacts. It arrives as the Vault, founded in 2017 by the likes of Molly Meldrum and Kylie Minogue, nears its 10th birthday.

STAND ATLANTIC BRING KNUCKLE PUCK ALONG FOR GODBREATH The four-piece named the tour for new album Godbreath, out 23 October, and hand support to Knuckle Puck, flipping the roles from the days they opened for them back in 2018.

Turn-of-the-century pop-rock meets modern pop-punk. The Forum, 28 October.

RUTH MOODY BRINGS THE WANDERER RETURNS TOUR TO ST KILDA

ECHO BEACH BRINGS THE DJS BACK TO A COLLINGWOOD FARM

The Wailin’ Jennys founder and two-time JUNO winner tours solo album Wanderer, a chronicle of motherhood, love and longing for home, her full trio in tow. The Victorian leg runs deep, from regional halls in Meeniyan and Castlemaine to a Melbourne date at Memo Music Hall on 11 October.

The riverside party at Collingwood Children’s Farm returns for a sixth edition after a year off, pairing international names like Midland and Jack J with locals Adriana, Andras and Moopie. Audiophile sound in the Barn, DJs under the trees and goats shuffled somewhere quieter. 31 October.

TALIB KWELI RETURNS FOR A FOUR-CITY NOVEMBER RUN The Brooklyn MC is more than 20 years and 780 million streams deep, with collaborations alongside Kanye West, Pharrell and J Dilla behind him. He last passed through in 2025 reviving Black Star with Yasiin Bey. Max Watts, 5 November.

66 GOLD ST COLLINGWOOD | GOLDYSTAVERN.COM.AU

LIVE MUSIC NOW EVERY SUNDAY! GIG GUIDE 06/09

DISCOVERY SESSIONS - JULIA WALLACE + RUPERT BULLARD

13/09

RUBY STREET BAND

20/09

WILL GIBB

27/09

COMMUNITY OPEN MIC

04/10

DISCOVERY SESSIONS - LEONARDO ERCOLE + MAXON

11/10

RUBY STREET BAND

04/10

APRIL GALLO

11/10

COMMUNITY OPEN MIC

12

RUBY STREET BAND

RUPERT BULLARD

ATTICUS FLYNN

cred: Al Parkinson

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GREENTEA PENG BRINGS HER HAZY SOUTH LONDON SOUL TO THE FORUM The vocalist folds reggae, dub and soul into something woozy and warm, her honeyed delivery sitting over reverb-heavy production.

She tours latest record Tell Dem It’s Sunny around a Strawberry Fields set, with a single Melbourne date at the Forum on 17 November.

PATRICK WATSON TOURS AGAIN AFTER MORE THAN A DECADE The Polaris-winning Montreal songwriter makes his first Australian visit in over 10 years behind Uh Oh, the 2025 album he handed to guest singers like Martha Wainwright after a vocal cord injury sidelined his own voice.

Northcote Theatre, 28 November.

QUEENSCLIFF MUSIC FESTIVAL ADDS A THIRD WAVE OF NAMES

SUZI QUATRO BRINGS DEVIL GATE DRIVE BACK TO THE PALAIS

The coastal weekender loads another 19 acts onto the bill, led by Babe Rainbow, The Pretty Littles, Merpire and Velvet Bloom, joining Matt Corby, Baker Boy and 70-plus others already announced. It runs 27 to 29 November on Wadawurrung Country, 90 minutes from town.

The Detroit-born trailblazer, one of the first women to shape rock rather than sit at its edge, returns with new album Freedom and a swag of hits from Can the Can to Devil Gate Drive. Baby Animals join as special guests.

Palais Theatre, 2 December.

BABY KEEM BRINGS THE CA$INO TOUR TO FESTIVAL HALL The Grammy - winning rapper opens the Australian leg of his Ca$ino Tour in Melbourne, riding his second album and the pgLang link to Kendrick Lamar that produced billion-streaming singles Family Ties and The Hillbillies. Festival Hall, 9 December.

MEREDITH 34 DROPS A STACKED, GENREHOPPING BILL The beloved bush festival returns to the Supernatural Amphitheatre from 11 to 13 December, led by Baltimore’s Dijon and joined by underscores, Fcukers, The Dandy Warhols and Hiatus Kaiyote. Melbourne’s own Eddy Current Suppression Ring make a welcome return to the Nolan farm.

SIX60 BRING NEW ZEALAND’S BIGGEST LIVE BAND TO THE GARDENS Fresh off a 40,000-strong stadium night in Christchurch, the highest-selling live act in New Zealand history plays Live at the Gardens at the Royal Botanic Gardens on 27 November, hits like Don’t Forget Your Roots in the bag.

Indie-reggae five-piece South Summit support.

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GOOD THINGS BRINGS THE HEAVY BACK TO FLEMINGTON Australia’s largest travelling heavy and alternative festival is back at Flemington Racecourse on 4 December, with Limp Bizkit topping a 30-plus bill alongside Simple Plan, Spiritbox, Polaris and Grinspoon. Fullalbum sets from Alexisonfire and Millencolin sweeten the deal.

JORDAN RAKEI BRINGS A BRAND-NEW ALBUM TO THE FORUM The New Zealand-born, London-based multi-instrumentalist tours seventh album A Safe Place To Be Wild, much of it written during a residency at Abbey Road. Neo-soul warmth, jazz improvisation and alternative R&B, all of it his own. The Forum, 10 December.

BEAT 1744

YIRRAMBOI RETURNS FOR 10 YEARS OF FIRST NATIONS ART

NADIA REID BRINGS HER BIGGEST AUSTRALIAN TOUR TO MELBOURNE The UK-based folk songwriter maps her most far-reaching run here yet, from regional Victorian rooms to a Melbourne stop at Northcote Social Club on 18 December, longtime collaborator Sam Taylor beside her.

It lands alongside a new live album recorded with strings.

THE SAINTS ’73-’78 TOUR A 50-YEAR-OLD LIVE ALBUM Punk pioneers Ed Kuepper and Ivor Hay mark half a century since their debut with Live at Club ’76, a 1976 cassette recording freshly unearthed and released. The Australian run reaches Croxton on 5 February, with Public Figures supporting.

COUNTESS LUANN BRINGS THE LOVE TOUR TO THE PALAIS The original Real Housewives of New York star turned cabaret act closes her Australian run in Melbourne, promising a full band, a Jovani fashion show and a few Housewife surprises. Expect Money Can’t Buy You Class and Chic C’est La Vie. Palais Theatre, 28 February.

Melbourne’s flagship First Peoples arts festival marks a decade with its next edition, running 6 to 16 May 2027 across the city.

Held every two years and built on fresh commissions rather than a touring bill, its name means tomorrow in Boon Wurrung and Woi Wurrung languages.

VICTORIA’S MUSIC INDUSTRY LAYS OUT ITS ELECTION DEMANDS More than 150 industry figures filled Melbourne Town Hall to launch Vote Victorian Music, asking every party contesting the 28 November state election to back a permanent, legislated Victorian Music Trust funded by a 1 per cent levy on major-venue tickets. Weekly live rooms have fallen from 813 to 655 since 2019.

WHEN PIGS FLY THROWS A FARMYARD NEW YEAR’S EVE The riverside knees-up returns to Collingwood Children’s Farm on 31 December with more than 20 acts across two stages, leaning on house, techno, dub and disco. Melbourne’s Tornado Wallace joins Pachyman, AceMo and Chicago house veteran RAHAAN. Numbers are capped, so move quickly.

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KEVIN BRIDGES BRINGS HIS NEW STAND-UP SHOW TO HAMER HALL The Glaswegian returns in 2027 with Here If You Need Me, a fresh hour from a comic who has sold out Glasgow’s biggest rooms dozens of times over and built a following past two million. His only Melbourne date lands at Hamer Hall on 22 March.

AUSTRALIA BUILDS A FREE NATIONAL MAP OF LIVE MUSIC VENUES The Australian Music Touring Network is gathering every original live music room in the country onto one free, searchable directory, so touring artists and bookers can pinpoint the right venue in an unfamiliar town. Registrations are open now, with the full platform due in October.

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Credit: Elleni Toumpas

Inclusion and accessibility collide with radically reclaimed art forms in QUEERING THE MUSIC VIDEO at this year’s Melbourne Fringe Festival.

WORDS BY MOLLY ENGLAND

Æ Queering the Music Video is the culmination of a twelve-year creative odyssey for Sarah Ward and Bec Matthews, the queer, Naarm-based duo behind Fat Fruit.

This year at Fringe, the pair will premiere three music videos from their full-length visual album The Legend of Queen Kong. The film will be followed by a superstar panel of queer, access-inclusive artists and conversation with audiences about the accessibility of their full-length proof of concept visual album.

“It is a premiere, panel and proof of concept all rolled into one inclusive, radical night,” Sarah said. “We want to know how can the form of the music video be queered?”

Since 2007, Bec and Sarah have been creatively pushing boundaries and breaking through expectations and rules of what it means to be queer, access-focussed artists.

“I often think that queerness means you’re already living outside of the conservative bounds of rules. By being queer, you’ve broke the rules. And so, in some ways, you can do whatever, because you actually cannot conform to the rules now,” Bec said.

“That fed through into our art making. In this case, the rules of what a film clip might be are going to get broken as well.”

The jewel at the centrepiece of Queering the Music Video is The Legend of Queen Kong, an accessible, “myth-making” space-rock odyssey through the heart of creativity and humanity.

16

Footage collected over twelve years will constitute the visuals of The Legend of Queen Kong, including works from a range of cinematographers and filmmakers: AACTA-winning Rainer Kelly, whose work includes the SBS Documentary Alone; Will Huxley of The Huxleys; and Aotearoa’s Finn Scholes of Carnivorous Plant Society, who created what Sarah calls the “beautiful, naïve animations” throughout the film.

With music by Queen Kong and the HOMOsapiens, all three clips have been sign sung by Fat Fruit’s collaborator, deaf queer artist Asphyxia, and accompanied by audio description and captions.

Bec and Sarah consulted with Asphyxia on accessibility and inclusion through breaking the mould of what music videos can be.

“We asked her what kind of access she was interested in, and it wasn’t Auslan just tacked on. Asphyxia gave a lot of insight into D/deaf culture and the D/deaf experience that we were able to incorporate into our work,” Bec said.

The premiere will be followed by a panel inclusive of Fat Fruit’s own Bec Matthews, Dr Stayci Taylor, The Huxleys and a surprise special guest. The event will be Auslaninterpreted by Dr Kirri Dangerfield and Khang Chiem, and moderated by former Melbourne Queer Film Festival Program Director, Cerise Howard.

“She’s a really exciting person to be running it,” Sarah said.

Audience engagement with The Legend of Queen Kong is vital to the future of the visual album.

BEAT.COM.AU

Credit: Alexis Desaulniers-Lea

“For us, independent theatre and fringe theatre are the beginning and the end.

It’s where we want to be.”

“We are trying to prove to ourselves and the audience that moving forward with the full-length visual album in the way we are doing it is the right way forward,” Bec said.

“Part of this is about getting feedback from the audience, the D/deaf and hard-of-hearing community, the queer community and the film and music makers. We want to know what they think of the film clips, whether they are accessible and interesting,” said Sarah.

Over their 20 years of creative collaboration, Fringe has been an anchor of Fat Fruit’s creative journey.

“Fringe has been a massive part of our art making.

Some people think of independent theatre as being the ‘journey’ somewhere. But for us, independent theatre and fringe theatre are the beginning and the end.

It’s where we want to be,” Bec said.

Sarah and Bec have worked across the main stages of Melbourne and beyond, but the duo say they have found “freedom in the fringes.”

“Mainstream doesn’t often work in areas where there are so many intersecting cultures and intersecting ideas. It can be very prescriptive. Whereas we can make things up as we go along,” said Sarah.

Bec said the same: “Mainstream has to stick to its script to some extent, whereas we don’t have to, we get to respond to what is happening around us.”

“We feel a freedom in the fringes. And that’s where queerness has always been. As soon as you take queerness into the mainstream and onto flagship

17

stages, you do feel like you are busting through a window, but it is compromising in some ways. We have done flagship venues before, but we find that there is more freedom in the fringes,” Sarah said.

Sarah and Bec haven’t forgotten the challenges of self-producing in the early days of fringe. Queering the Music Video was made possible by the Radical Access Fund, supported by Melbourne Fringe, RMIT University and the City of Melbourne.

“This scale of event isn’t possible without the support of those organisations and institutions,” Sarah said.

“This isn’t in some ways a fringe event; this is a fully funded and supported event that we’re able to open up to the community because of the support of these organisations.”

“Access costs. Often people say, why aren’t more people putting access in — it is because of time and money. It’s a factor. There’s a lot of burnt-out artists, and there’s only so much we can do, so it is great when organisations and festivals come on board and we all partner up to make something amazing,” the duo said.

QUEERING THE MUSIC VIDEO WHERE:

THE CAPITOL THEATRE

WHEN:

16 OCT

TICKETS:

$10

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STAGE GUIDE

KOREABOO

A BEAUTIFUL NOISE: THE NEIL DIAMOND MUSICAL

THE JUNGLE AND THE SEA

Broadway’s Will Swenson has crossed the Pacific to slip into the sequins for the Australian premiere of the Neil Diamond story, and he is not going anywhere in a hurry – the Princess season has already stretched its run out to 25 October. The show splits its subject in two, with Swenson playing Diamond in his pomp and Terence Crawford as the older songwriter looking back on the lot.

Melbourne Theatre Company’s biggest swing of the winter is nearly done, with the S. Shakthidharan and Eamon Flack drama closing in the Sumner on 12 September. The pair behind Counting and Cracking again build from real testimony, this time following a single family scattered across oceans by the Sri Lankan civil war. It works on a large canvas but stays fixed on the small, unbearable choices a war forces on the people caught inside it.

PRINCESS THEATRE

SOUTHBANK THEATRE

UNTIL 25 OCT

Fresh off a sold-out Sydney season with Griffin, Michelle Lim Davidson’s first outing as a writer lands at Malthouse from 24 September to 10 October. Davidson performs too, under Jessica Arthur’s direction, in a story that travels from Australia to a convenience store in Seoul as an adopted woman goes looking for the family and culture she was raised away from.

MALTHOUSE THEATRE

FROM 24 SEP

UNTIL 12 SEP

ELIZA

BODYTORQUE: GRAVITY

SIX THE MUSICAL Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss’s pop reckoning for the wives of Henry VIII has proved sticky enough to earn an extension, now holding the Comedy Theatre until 4 October. The conceit is simple and lethal: six queens, a microphone each, and a scramble to out-sing one another over whose marriage went worst.

COMEDY THEATRE

UNTIL 4 OCT

PRETTY WOMAN: THE MUSICAL

Across three days the Australian Ballet hands its development program over to the dancers themselves, with Bodytorque returning to the Lawler at Southbank Theatre from 3 to 5 September. Six emerging choreographers, pulled from inside the company and the wider dance community, each make a short new piece around this year’s brief – gravity, read as both a physical force and an emotional one.

SOUTHBANK THEATRE

FROM 28 SEP

DRACULA: BALLET AT ITS DARKEST The company behind August’s Ballet International Gala is back with something considerably moodier, parking Dracula at Her Majesty’s from 10 September through to 25 October. BIG Live’s reading of the Bram Stoker novel leans all the way into the gothic, setting the count’s hunt for love and forever against music raided from Debussy, Liszt, Saint-Saëns and Mussorgsky and threaded together by Emmy winner Jason Fernandez.

REGENT THEATRE

HER MAJESTY’S THEATRE

18

SOUTHBANK THEATRE

3–5 SEP

The clock is running on the Regent’s stint with the Pretty Woman musical, which takes its final bow on 13 September. Samantha Jade fronts the show as Vivian, steering the Hollywood rags-to-romance through a score written specially by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance.

Two-time Tony winner Jerry Mitchell directs and choreographs, keeping the whole thing bright, brisk and unabashedly crowd-pleasing.

UNTIL 13 SEP

Melbourne Theatre Company closes the month with a world premiere that could hardly be more on the nose, opening Tom Holloway’s Eliza in the Sumner from 28 September. Drawn from real events, it follows Joseph Weizenbaum, the MIT professor who built one of the first chatbots in the 1960s and then spent years unsettled by what he had made. Dan Spielman takes the lead, with Manali Datar as the secretary whose private life quietly feeds the machine, and Paige Rattray directs.

FROM 10 SEP

THE TURN OF THE SCREW Victorian Opera shuts September down in properly eerie fashion, staging Benjamin Britten’s chamber opera at the Palais from 29 September. Adapted from the Henry James novella, it drops a young governess into a remote manor with two unnervingly poised children and a mounting suspicion that the dead have not entirely left.

PALAIS THEATRE

29 SEP–1 OCT

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COLLINS IN THE AIR TONIGHT PHIL COLLINS TRIBUTE SHOW

IN FULL BLOOM

17/10

4/9

LANCE LIPINSKY

(USA)

12/9

ROGUE TRADERS “THE ANTHEMS” 21ST ANNIVERSARY TOUR

22/10

ROSE TATTOO – FINAL VICTORIAN SHOW

18/9

MC PAT FLYNN (IRE)

31/10

PETIT BISCUIT (FRA)

19/9

OCEAN WISDOM (UK)

5/11

SARKODIE

9/10

RU PRETTY ENUFF TOUR: ENUFF Z’NUFF AND PRETTY BOY FLOYD (USA)

6/11

BUCKSHOT (IRE) WITH SIDNEY PHILLIPS, OSCAR18

27/11

JUST BECAUSE

4/12

THE HIGHSTOOL PROPHETS (IRE)

21/1

GUTTERMOUTH “ONE LAST TIME” FAREWELL TOUR STELLA LEFTY (USA) LIVE FROM AUSTRALIA

10/10 SOLD OUT

GHOSTS OF GRUNGE: THE VOICES THAT LIVED LOUD AND DIED YOUNG

!

11/10

16/10

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FESTIVAL GUIDE GRAMPIANS BBQ FESTIVAL The inaugural Grampians BBQ Festival sets up in Halls Gap over the Father’s Day long weekend, pitching itself as beer, blues and ‘ques in the heart of Gariwerd. At the centre sits an Australian Barbecue Alliance-sanctioned pitmaster competition, surrounded by craft beer, small-batch spirits, live blues and roots, and regional makers. Fire pits, smoke and about three hours of driving.

HALLS GAP

MELBOURNE FESTIVAL OF PUPPETRY

4–6 SEP

SPRING IN THE GLADE Gasworks marks the turn of the season with the spring instalment of its quarterly Seasons in the Glade program, 5pm to 9pm across the Albert Park precinct. One evening bundles live music, light shows, art and craft markets, food trucks, kids’ workshops, interactive exhibitions and open artist studios. Free entry.

GASWORKS ARTS PARK, ALBERT PARK 5 SEP

ACCORDION FESTIVAL The Victorian branch of the Accordion Society of Australia compresses its festival into a single day after spreading across two in 2025.

Past editions have set concerts alongside workshops covering French musette technique, reed tuning and bellows repair, with an accordion corner for trying instruments and rifling through second-hand sheet music.

The society has been going since 1970 and remains entirely volunteer-run.

KENSINGTON TOWN HALL

Lemony S Puppet Theatre spreads six days across separate strands for children, teens and adults, with workshops, masterclasses aimed squarely at grown-ups, roving performances and a free community day billed as the Puppet Picnic. ACMI screens a night of shorts from independent puppet film and theatre makers, which went on sale ahead of everything else.

ACMI + VENUES ACROSS TOWN

22–27 SEP

12 SEP

GEELONG FOLK FESTIVAL The Geelong Folk Music Club puts a folk festival back on the map after a gap of more than three decades, filling the Geelong West Town Hall from 11am to 9.30pm. Eighteen acts span traditional and contemporary material, among them Nick Charles, Fiona Ross, Apolline, Suzette Herft, Velvet Sledgehammer, Carl Dickens, The Ch00ks and Bellarine Banshees. Three workshops come from Marie Goldsworth, Colin Mockett and Fiona Ross.

GEELONG WEST TOWN HALL

6 SEP

MELBOURNE ROYAL SHOW

WINE AND VINE FESTIVAL Elite Events Australia parks more than 30 wineries in the convent grounds across two days, with every tasting folded into the ticket price. General admission buys a three-hour session, a tasting glass and a tote bag; the VIP tier stretches to all-day tasting and throws in a goodie bag. Live music and food trucks handle the rest.

ABBOTSFORD CONVENT

MELBOURNE SHOWGROUNDS, ASCOT VALE 24 SEP–4 OCT

12–13 SEP

HOT ROD AND STREET MACHINE FESTIVAL

NFL KICKOFF FESTIVAL Melbourne Park spends three days doing its best impression of an American tailgate, wrapped around the first regular-season NFL game ever played in this country — the 49ers and the Rams at the MCG on 11 Sep. For anyone who couldn’t care less about the football, there’s a headline act every evening plus daily music performances across the precinct.

The Victorian Hot Rod Association’s flagship show arrives at Caribbean Park for the first time, doors at 10am both days. For 55 years it was fixed to the Royal Exhibition Building and the Australia Day long weekend, until the pandemic broke a run that had held unbroken since the association formed in 1966. It came back in 2024 at the showgrounds and has now moved east and rebuilt itself as a festival.

MELBOURNE PARK

CARIBBEAN PARK, SCORESBY

20

Eleven days of livestock competition, showbags, carnival rides and fireworks at Ascot Vale, spilling out of September and into the first weekend of October. Melbourne Royal bills it as Victoria’s largest annual community event and puts patronage north of 400,000.

10–12 SEP

12–13 SEP

FREQUENCY FESTIVAL Fomo Events stretches eight hours of psytrance over two stages by the water, 2pm through to 10pm. Ten headliners make up the bill: Astrix, Danger, Ghost Rider, Interactive Noise, Liquid Soul, Morten Granau, Ranji, Ritmo, Shanti People and Sighter. Pricing is tiered, so the cheaper DJs go first.

RIVIERA BEACH CLUB, ELWOOD

26 SEP

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Regional GUIDE

SKYSCRAPER STAN Naarm-based troubadour Skyscraper Stan brings his brand of storytelling roots-rock to the Bridge Hotel, a room he knows well from years crisscrossing regional Australia.

Backed by his band the Commission Flats, expect richly detailed lyrics and the roadworn charm of a songwriter who’s built his following one small-town gig at a time.

WORDS BY

FRANKIE ANDERSON-BYRNE

FESTIVALS MILDURA WENTWORTH COUNTRY MUSIC FESTIVAL 2026

CASTLEMAINE

Five days of country music across the twin river towns of Mildura and Wentworth, where pubs, clubs and outdoor stages open up for touring acts and local talent alike. Expect line dancing, busking competitions and a program that runs from big-name headliners to emerging singer-songwriters, all set against the Murray River backdrop.

MILDURA/WENTWORTH

25–29 SEP

BENALLA YARN BOMBING ANNUAL FESTIVAL Local volunteers spend months knitting and crocheting hundreds of pieces to dress trees, bollards and pergolas across town in colourful textile art. The result turns Benalla into a walkable outdoor gallery, with each year’s display built around a chosen theme. A relaxed, community-driven project that rewards a stroll around town with unexpected pops of colour.

BENALLA

UNTIL 5 SEP

DEAN KITE FESTIVAL 2026 A family day out built around kite flying, with hands-on workshops teaching visitors to build their own kite to take home. Skilled kite flyers put on a colourful display overhead, and there’s a sausage sizzle and homemade afternoon tea on hand for the classic country-fair touch. Simple, low-key fun just outside Daylesford.

DEAN

TESSELAAR TULIP FESTIVAL 2026 Silvan A month-long celebration of spring with over a million tulips in bloom across the Dandenong Ranges property. Daily live entertainment shifts through themed weekends, Turkish, Dutch, jazz and Irish among them, alongside market stalls, garden games and a tractor train ride. A colourful day trip under an hour from Melbourne.

TESSELAAR

12 SEP–11 OCT

TOURS DICE The Perth indie-rock four-piece return to the Torquay Hotel, a venue they’ve made something of a home away from home on past national tours. Known for anthemic hooks and a sound that nods to The Killers and Two Door Cinema Club, DICE bring the energy from their ARIA-charting debut album Midnight Zoo to the surf coast.

TORQUAY

4 SEP

6 SEP

SHOCK CORRIDOR Melbourne six-piece Shock Corridor bring their self-titled debut album to the Bridge Hotel as part of a national tour spanning Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide and Castlemaine.

Blending post-punk, trip-hop and orchestral textures into something cinematic and dark, the band have drawn comparisons to Massive Attack and PJ Harvey on the strength of their sold-out Melbourne shows.

CASTLEMAINE

THE DARTS (US)

18 SEP

ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER Melbourne’s beloved jangle-pop exports return to the Torquay Hotel, bringing their driving guitar interplay and three-way vocal harmonies to the surf coast. Since breaking through with Hope Downs, the band have built a reputation as one of the country’s most consistently acclaimed live acts, and a regional pub crowd is exactly where they cut their teeth.

TORQUAY

GEELONG FOLK FESTIVAL 2026

12 SEP

24 SEP

BODY TYPE

Returning after more than three decades away, this festival brings together some of Australia’s leading folk performers for a full day of traditional and contemporary sounds.

Acts include Nick Charles, Fiona Ross and Apolline, alongside interactive workshops and food and drink from along Pakington Street, a welcome revival for Geelong’s folk scene.

Seattle’s all-female garage-punk outfit touch down at The Barwon Club Hotel, bringing the fuzzed-out, paisley-era sound that’s carried them from Phoenix beginnings to stages across Europe and the US. Expect vintage slips, Farfisa organ and a full-throttle rock and roll show from a band who’ve shared stages with The Damned and Billie Joe Armstrong’s The Longshot.

Sydney/Illawarra post-punk four-piece Body Type wrap up a run of shows with a stop at the Bridge Hotel, touring behind their tenth-anniversary album Tally. Expect jagged riffs, moody hooks and the sharp, self-assured songwriting that’s carried the band from local pub stages to festival slots at Roskilde and Rock Werchter.

GEELONG WEST

SOUTH GEELONG

CASTLEMAINE

22 22

6 SEP

12 SEP

25 SEP

BEAT.COM.AU

THE

RIVER FOLK FESTIVAL

STIFF GINS NATALIE HAAS + HANNEKE CASSEL (USA)

THE STRING CONTINGENT NORIKO TADANO EMILY-ROSE &THE WILD ERNEST AINES HOMEBRU RIVER FOLK RESTRUNG THE LOST CLOG CALABASH STRINGMANIA JOEL HAVEA & THE FAMILI CHOIR ALICE HURWOOD SAIJE CORN 23 NUT CREEK FELICITY DOWD WARBURTON - YARRA VALLEY

OCT 2-4

16 - 20 SEPTEMBER

ARTS CENTRE MELBOURNE

T I C KE TS AT Z E R I A L .C O M . AU BEAT 1744

S WA P M E E T The Adelaide alt-rock four-piece’s noisy explorations of young adulthood have already touched many hearts in Australia and beyond.

WORDS BY DOM LEPORE

Æ As far as homegrown rock bands go, few have had the magnetic pull that Swapmeet has. Multi-instrumentalists Venus O’Brion, Maxwell Elphick, Jack Medlyn and Josh Doherty met in high school, steadily perfecting their craft within Adelaide’s tight-knit music scene.

Their intimate 2024 EP, Oxalis, first left them as a best-kept secret. As the buzz grew for their debut album, Mount Zero, which was released in July, so did their stature. Its coming-of-age tunes recall Melbourne’s Armlock, and indie juggernauts Sonic Youth, Pavement and Alex G. That combination is delectable and has universal appeal: Starting September, Swapmeet are taking on Australia, the US and Europe with heaps of dates, following massive achievements like Winspear signing them as the LA label’s first international band.

The newfound urgency on Mount Zero, then, is something they just fell into.

“We just wanted to have more fun when playing live,” Jack says. “We’ve been doing it so much, and having really fun songs to play live was just like, ‘Wouldn’t that be fun?’”

“I feel like we’re all a little bit ADHD and perfectionists where we need something to grab on to,” Venus adds. “We can’t really stand being bored when making our own songs.”

The blown-out riffs across Mount Zero show such, like those in earworms I Know! and 2 C U, which will leave anyone floored. Venus credits Maxwell’s “knack for great guitar riffs, hooks and being loud” for granting them that energy.

They’ve obviously performed a lot to be so in tune with each other. Their ascension has already led them interstate and to the US, but getting comfortable enough circles back to playing in Adelaide.

“There’s an element of being from Adelaide that has definitely prepared us,” Venus says. “We’re always going to feel a bit of, ‘Oh, what are we doing here? We’re not supposed to be here,’ even if it’s Melbourne.”

They’ve remarkably ended up between music scenes. “It feels cheeky, like, how are we getting away with this?” Venus asks with a laugh.

Yet when I ask about their place in the Adelaide scene when they turned old enough to go to pubs, Venus interestingly points to COVID: “The relevancy of where you lived wasn’t really there anymore.”

“I love so many bands from Melbourne, Sydney and overseas, but I wanted to work out how to make music that sounds like all that crazy cool stuff.”

24

BEAT.COM.AU

Images credit: David Milan Kelly

“Having the internet as a source of community and access to music that you weren’t seeing in pubs before naturally informed what we like and gravitate to as artists.”

Speaking from his perspective at the time, Jack felt that few Adelaide bands were making the music he really liked.

“I love so many bands from Melbourne, Sydney and overseas, but I wanted to work out how to make music that sounds like all that crazy cool stuff,” he says. “I feel like that really pushed me to try to do it with Swapmeet.”

Their broadened musical horizons are within their sound. Mount Zero isn’t only hooky alt-rock for days, but an exercise in meticulous sound collaging in DAWs like Logic and Ableton. Maxwell and Jack take on that responsibility, drawing from everyone’s love for electronic music.

“A lot of those weird ways that you can make weird electronic sounds become the only ways you can add interest to your music sometimes,” Jack explains.

Venus agrees, citing the contrast between the studio and live versions as what keeps everyone “feeling excited about the songs.”

“We treat the recording more as the meticulous art project and the live thing as the fun expression. That’s probably why we like to experiment more.”

Even where they recorded Mount Zero, in a serene Port Noarlunga beach house, it accommodated all their needs. Though Jack quickly reveals that the weather was horrible while they were there in the dead of winter.

“It wasn’t like we were surfy legends.

It was miserable. It was the music that kept us warm,” Venus deadpans.

That paradox, embodying young adulthood, is fitting for Mount Zero. Perhaps that’s why Swapmeet have struck a chord with young people worldwide – they move them physically and emotionally.

Venus has her two cents on why they’ve been so embraced: “I feel like we’re quite accessible, but not intentionally. With songwriting, we all care about being ourselves in a lame way, whether or not that’s cringe.”

At the end of the day, it’s nice to see a person behind the music, which feels more important than ever today. With Swapmeet, four people get to be seen.

SWAPMEET

25

WHERE:

NORTHCOTE SOCIAL CLUB

WHEN:

17, 18 SEP

BEAT 1744

“It was unexpected to meet someone for the first time, and realise they knew the entire lore of Visual Kei.”

HARMINIA harminia fuses Japanese theatricality with Melbourne’s guitar underground — and she’s finding an audience that was already waiting.

WORDS BY LUCAS RADBOURNE

Æ There’s a word for an image so warped it only makes sense from one precise angle. It’s called anamorphosis, and it’s the title harminia chose for her debut single — a track that treats the great abyss of human experience like an old acquaintance you keep bumping into at the shops.

“Everything is a puzzle, gnarly and contorted, until one day you wake up on the wrong side of the bed and you finally see the shape of the abyss and its pretty eyes staring back at you,” she says. “Only then will you fall into its mouth.”

That kind of imagery - clinical yet dreamlike, violent yet strangely tender - is harminia’s whole deal. The Melbourne-based singer-songwriter occupies a sliver of the local scene that nobody else has really claimed: the intersection of Japanese Visual Kei and Western alt-rock, delivered with the intensity of someone performing surgery on their own emotions.

Scan her tracklist and you’ll find song titles that read less like a setlist and more like a pathology report. osteotomy. nacl. 72°C. She describes her writing process as forensic work - pinning abstract feelings bare on the paper and examining them under clinical light.

“My writing is naturally drawn to scientific language,” she explains. “I think it stems from my habit of wanting to surgically open an abstract feeling, thought, or theory - to pin the specimens bare on the paper and look at them.”

Visual Kei - the highly codified Japanese rock movement built on theatrical costuming, elaborate stage personas, and emotional maximalism - might seem like an unlikely fit for Melbourne’s pub circuit.

But harminia argues the fusion actually gives audiences a way into both worlds: the curated spectacle of Vkei and the rawer, guitar-driven energy of local alt-rock.

A new release called nana nods directly to the cult manga series of the same name, a touchstone of 2000s Tokyo culture intertwined with Vivienne Westwood fashion and the Vkei scene. It’s a deep-cut reference that rewards fans who already know the lore - and harminia has been surprised to discover how many of those fans are hiding in plain sight across Australia.

“One of the things that surprised me was discovering that people who come to my shows were already Vkei fans,” she says. “It was unexpected to meet someone for the first time, and realise they knew the entire lore of Visual Kei - or more endearingly, that it was the reason they supported my project.”

That hidden audience has given harminia something to build on. Her debut launch at Bar 303 back in March pulled 46 attendees for a 45-minute headline set with full band. The live show blends the costumed theatricality of Vkei with the volume and sweat of a Northcote rock gig.

She describes it as a win-win dynamic. Vkei devotees recognise the depth and references baked into the project. Alt-rock fans connect with the grungy songs, shoegaze guitars, and sheer spectacle of the stage show. Neither camp needs to fully understand the other to get something out of it.

HARMINIA WHERE:

BERGY BANDROOM

WHEN:

19 SEP

ncm.org.au

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28

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ROBERT FORSTER Robert Forster writes lyrics like a storybook, non-fiction as a pseudo autobiography, music journalism posed as a rulebook.

WORDS BY MJ KIM

Æ His lyrics are questions left unanswered by an adjacent phantom incapable of reciprocating; the listener is left longing, ‘stranded at low-tide where the river bends’.

He describes love in small habits, as action.

The Go-Betweens began with Lee Remick — a song about romance before he’d experienced it; a Hollywood actress is cast as the love interest, though he has no time for clichés.

Six albums later, the five-piece band fissioned into a duo with the explosion of two inner-band relationships. Now, on 12 September at Thornbury Theatre, Forster returns to Australia with a Swedish band.

Perusing the ensemble, I am immediately struck by the presence of Peter Morén (of Peter Bjorn and John) who also commanded a producer credit on Forster’s latest release.

Perhaps this betrays my age.

I am of the generation which explored genre back to front. I’d click through tabs open to Tumblr blogs, YouTube mixes, 8tracks playlists; the vast library of musical reference points laid out before me like a buffet to pick away at.

The albums of my virtual adolescence — such as Peter Bjorn and John’s Writer’s Block — paved the way towards their jangle-pop predecessors like The Go-Betweens, who I reinvestigated in adulthood. These journeys in genre felt as much a rite of passage as coming of age; as formative as one too.

Where the internet serves as an open access archive, Forster’s discography acts as a chronological documentation of his relationship with love.

Both hit singles that launched Morén and Forster’s bands into mainstream popularity — Peter Bjorn and John’s Young Folks and The Go-Betweens’ Streets Of Your Town — were multi-tracked romances.

Yet, their latest collaboration was tracked live at Stockholm’s INGRID studios. The Swedish band’s active performance was considered from the inception of its recording, in its arrangements. Overdubs were kept to a minimum.

The result is a refreshingly humble album with an engrained sense of intimacy; the closeness that comes with a romance reflected in an equally intimate song structure.

There lies the sensation of sharing a room with a lover; a mirror to the experience of an audience cramped together in a venue with their favourite band.

Much like the trepidation of entering into the great unknown of a new relationship, embarking upon a new body of work is a great unfurling; a blossoming of oneself.

29

Everything in Forster’s faithful lyricism circles round the round-about. Every sight within the neighbourhood has been seen. The world of suburban Brisbane is small, the country in which it sits isolated; its recycled imagery symptomatic of these realities.

The listener still walks the train tracks of 1986’s Little Joe in 2025’s Breakfast On The Train.

Where affection was once described in the daily ritual of washing your lover’s hair in the 1986 Go-Betweens single Head Full Of Steam, it now re-emerges in Forster’s present-day kitchen as Strawberries. Tenderness is in the inherent knowing of one another’s habits.

“I’ve written a song on guitar and I’ve got a melodic idea,” Forster reflects.

“I’m standing in the kitchen and I’m eating another punnet of strawberries all to myself. My wife is there, and she has joked to me that I always eat the whole punnet … and so I’m standing there, doing it again, and suddenly I realise, ‘Well, this is the song.’”

The first track off Strawberries is an affecting three-minute song entitled Tell It Back To Me. Forster requests of the listener: ‘Tell me what you see / Tell it back to me / What do you see in the distance? / New love is old love is good love / We see it all’. It’s a song that is optimistic about all the possibilities of the future, as Forster himself is.

The track epitomises what I find so poignant about Forster’s work. There is an acceptance of the human experience as a hotel room in the grand scheme of things that we have the keys to only once.

His songs are open-plan living. It’s returning to the quaintness of your hometown after time away; stagnant, yet changed.

It is Brisbane, it is Sweden — it is universal.

“I’m standing in the kitchen and I’m eating another punnet of strawberries all to myself. My wife is there, and she has joked to me that I always eat the whole punnet … and so I’m standing there, doing it again, and suddenly I realise, ‘Well, this is the song.’”

ROBERT FORSTER WHERE:

THE THORNBURY THEATRE

WHEN:

12 SEP

BEAT 1744

BODY TYPE WORDS BY DOM LEPORE

Credit: Jack Saltmiras

This year marks the Sydney indie rock fourpiece’s 10th anniversary, and they’re still moving in new directions.

Æ What began on a whim – four friends finding each other in the right place and time to form a band – has become such a rewarding musical journey.

“The funny thing is we never had any expectations. We were just taking it as it comes,” the band’s Annabel Blackman says. “It’s been such a brickby-brick thing.”

Alongside Annabel is Sophie McComish, Georgia Wilkinson-Derums and Cecil Coleman, who comprise Body Type. Together, they’ve put out numerous releases, played many grassroots venues and shared larger stages with Foo Fighters, Sleater-Kinney and Warpaint.

Coinciding with their 10th anniversary is their third record, Tally, which stands out for several reasons: they recorded it in Los Angeles with Warpaint’s Stella Mozgawa; COVID didn’t disrupt the recording process as it did on their last two; and their music has never sounded so expansive and considered.

“Our previous records felt like there was something we were dealing with or talking to directly,” Annabel says.

“Being frustrated or having these overarching narratives, but we felt kind of rushed.”

The pandemic certainly curtailed their earlier momentum. With Tally not affected by any insurmountable force, it’s their first record where they were “more relaxed in a lot of ways.”

“I think we have finally gotten to a point where we can be a little bit more liberal with our time and creative expression,” Annabel says.

30

“After 6pm, it’s pretty much a lost cause. Soph and Stella would just be laughing as if there’s laughing gas in the room. Something was going on in the air. I was like, ‘You guys, I think you need to leave.’”

On the latter, that’s true. Much of their beloved scuzzy, jangly post-punk has been cleaned up for richer textures and luminous melodies. Lead single Mulberry particularly chimes brightly, Annabel providing spoken word as the others sing tenderly with her during its shimmering coda.

“We have Stella to thank for a lot of that refinement,” Annabel mentions. “It’s really hard to act on that intentionally when you’re recording and self-producing as a band. You’re questioning everything.”

Annabel explains they usually worked rapidly out of necessity – limited studio hours and funding and everyone having full-time jobs were contributing factors. Still, despite giving themselves around two weeks, honing the nitty-gritty can require more time: “It’s like, ‘Oh, we could have spent a month in the studio,’

but at the same time, it’s a delicate balancing act with your sanity and creative output.”

I add that some people thrive in the studio, but others can’t stand it for an extended duration. Annabel agrees with the latter, earnestly further touching on the sustainability of recording.

“Maybe you just have to be incredibly rich and stroll in, but something about that seems uncompelling to me. It can be boring doing it like Taylor Swift where it’s your daily life routine.”

The band do work well under pressure – after all, Tally sits at a tight 10 tracks – but even they’re susceptible to too much fun. “After 6 pm, it’s pretty much a lost cause. Soph and Stella would just be laughing as if there’s laughing gas in the room. Something was going on in the air. I was like, ‘You guys, I think you need to leave,’ Annabel recalls with a laugh.

Conceptually, the new record sees the band take the mundane and make it colourful and peculiar, doing so with playful and tongue-in-cheek lyricism. The best example is the title track, Tally, cruising along a chipper Pavement-esque groove, while humorously tackling money and the oppressive cost-of-living crisis. “Everyone’s got their take on it,” Annabel summarises.

“I think a lot of the best songs are rooted in reality, where you don’t have to reach too far,” she adds. “Once you start getting vague, it turns into something more generic. Anyone could have written a song like, ‘You probably have an American accent’ – it just becomes so nebulous.”

That appeal makes Body Type a fantastic fit as the opener for Courtney Barnett, a similarly grounded wordsmith, for her Europe tour this October.

“Courtney’s in her own stratosphere; she’s doing her own thing,” Annabel says in awe. “It’s a huge privilege to be asked to play her tour.”

With Tally, it seems like one dream after another has come true, even if it’s difficult to be a band in the streaming age. Sometimes the best thing, as Annabel says, is to “just go and play somewhere so people can see you and get an idea if they like you or not.”

Yet Body Type have persisted, and that feat is admirable: “If you can dream it, you can do it.”

BODY TYPE WHERE:

THE TOTE

WHEN:

24 SEP

BEAT.COM.AU

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BEAT 1744

“I feel like Louise and I are subconsciously always trying to make each other laugh on stage... Or at least, I'm trying to impress her with how lame I can be.”

CREATURE FEAR Naarm’s Creature Fear have spent the better part of a decade quietly becoming one of the city’s most reliably entertaining live bands.

WORDS BY FRANKIE ANDERSON-BYRNE

Æ Ahead of their new single and a hometown show at The Catfish, Creature Fear frontman Cameron Graham talks genre, character, and the band’s next left turn.

Fronted by songwriter Graham alongside co-vocalist Louise Gaul, drummer Larni Pearce, guitarist Jason Mercieca and bassist Liam Brennan, the band have built a reputation on witty, character-driven songwriting and a live show that’s as much theatre as gig.

With new single Mission To Love You out now and a Catfish show locked in for 12 September, I wanted to find out what’s actually driving the band at this point in its life.

I asked Cameron Graham a fairly simple question: what actually is “retro pop rock,” and is that what Creature Fear sound like?

“It’s always been so hard to answer what genre we are when people asked, and I guess that one felt like it had a bit of truth in it,” he says.

“We’re definitely not trying to sound retro. But it is what inspires me.”

That’s the thing his answers kept teaching me: Creature Fear aren’t a band that’s landed on a sound so much as one that keeps deciding, song by song, what kind of band they feel like being.

New single Mission To Love You is the latest proof. It’s a dual-vocal duet between Graham and bandmate Louise Gaul, about two people who keep almost finding each other and never quite do.

“The track is a dialogue between the two singers as they desperately chase each other through the night,” he tells me.

“Due to misfortune and bad timing, they never quite make it eye to eye. They reflect on their on again off again love, and plead that they don’t fall into the trap of being star-crossed lovers.”

It’s a heavier premise than you’d expect from a band whose live shows have a reputation for dogs, witches, and general silliness, and when I put that to Graham, he agreed it’s basically a rule for what makes the setlist.

“The upbeat silly stuff about dogs and witches generally makes the live show,” he said. “I do write slower songs too, but most of the time they just don’t make the set.”

Mission, though, was built for the stage from the start: “an excuse to get weird, put on a character and jump around a bunch.”

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I wanted to know where that instinct to perform, rather than just play, came from, and Graham’s answer surprised me a bit.

“I feel like the extravertedness of the live show maybe originated from not being that confident in my singing, so I felt like well, if I’m not singing well, at least they’ll still want to watch us.”

It’s not the answer you’d expect from a band that’s sold out headline shows, toured nationally, and played festivals like Beyond The Valley, Grapevine and New Years On The Hill alongside acts like Ball Park Music, Killing Heidi and Kingswood. But it explains a lot about why the shows feel the way they do: less “look at us,” more “come play along.”

A lot of that comes down to the dynamic between Graham and Gaul specifically, which he described in a way that made me laugh out loud reading it.

“I feel like Louise and I are subconsciously always trying to make each other laugh on stage,” he said. “Or at least, I’m trying to impress her with how lame I can be.”

I asked him, finally, what’s next, and whether Mission fits into something bigger. It was the most Creature Fear answer he gave in the whole exchange.

“We are aiming to take a hard left turn and release two folk songs I was originally going to do as a solo thing, but the band liked it,” he says.

“It’s definitely going to be the biggest genre jump for us release-wise, but I’m excited about it. Next year it’s probably back to the rock stuff.”

Ask this band to sit still in one genre, one mood, one version of themselves, and they simply won’t. That’s not indecision. By the end of his answers it felt more like a genuine method.

Catch it live when Creature Fear play The Catfish on Saturday 12 September, in support of Mission To Love You, out now.

CREATURE FEAR WHERE:

THE CATFISH

WHEN:

12 SEP

BEAT.COM.AU

HIGH FIDELITY

REVIEW

AUDIO-TECHNICA

AT-LP120XBT-USB DIRECT DRIVE TURNTABLE WORDS BY ROB GEE

Let’s face it, those online streaming services certainly offer a huge range of music at the press of a button, but what they don’t include is the feeling, the soul, the raw emotion, that can only come from dropping a record onto the platter, panning the tone arm across, and lowering the cartridge into a groove. Æ So, the question is, why aren’t you all listening to your favourite music on vinyl?

If it’s a case of not having the right turntable to suit your needs, well, come on… that’s a poor excuse. And Audio Technica are going to sort that out once and for all!

Let me introduce you all to the AT-LP120XBT-USB Direct Drive Turntable, your new vehicle to a better listening experience. All the other letters delineate the additional connectivity that is on offer, which is considerable.

But before we dig into all that, let’s have a look at what’s on offer.

The LP120XBT-USB has been touted as a modern-looking turntable, and that may be so when you focus on the finer details.

But, at its very essence is the look and style of some of the greatest DJ turntables of all time, and a silhouette that is instantly recognisable by any DJ from the past five decades!

Its classic chassis, button placement, tone arm mount and platter illumination are absolute standards for any vinyl DJ and will be warmly welcomed by users new and old. The Black option gives off a stealthy, classic feel.

If you’re after something a little more kitsch, the White/Bronze option screams out for attention, and is sure to be a popular addition to home hi-fi setups, as it looks so luscious on a wooden benchtop.

Now, the standard features are all there. 33, 45, and 78 RPM options with the two buttons found next to the On/Off, and a pop-up light to illuminate the edge of the stroboscopic platter.

There’s a 45 RPM adaptor up in the top left corner where you’d expect to find it, and a variable pitch control fader offset by a quartz pitch lock. A classic S-bend tone arm, with a height-adjustable mount and counterweights

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to perfectly balance your cartridge. Speaking of which, the LP120XBT-USB comes kitted out with an AT-VM95E cartridge and elliptical stylus on the headshell.

It’s a plug-and-play beauty that is ready to deliver pristine audio however you want it to. Because the options are plentiful.

That leads us to ponder, how will you be setting up YOUR LP120XBT-USB? Unlike the DJ turntable of old that required a Phono preamp and a load of stuffing around to get them operating, this is ready to go.

Audio Technica have a built-in Phono preamp inside the unit’s housing, so a line level signal can be sent from the RCA outputs if you want to connect to a line level input such as a mixer, amplifier or powered speakers.

So, that’s the analogue connection covered, but there’s more options designed to allow this turntable to be a more ‘home listener’ friendly.

A USB output is compliant with Windows 7 or Mac OSX or above. This offers USB 2.0 audio transfer into your device for playing through a media player, DAW, or recording software, allowing you to back up your favourite record in a digital format for future posterity.

However, the real beauty of the LP120XBT-USB is in its Bluetooth Version 5 capabilities. Now, you don’t even need to worry about Phono outputs, USB connections or finding an RCA cable that is long enough to reach halfway across the room, you can go wireless with your record collection.

The system allows for a line-of-sight signal to be transferred up to ten meters without a hitch. But it doesn’t stop there. If you want to fully immerse yourself in the blissful sound of vinyl, and hear every nuance, then it’s only a matter of connecting your favourite Bluetooth headphones and sitting back to ignore the world.

This way, it’s just you and the music.

The AT-LP120XBT-USB direct drive turntable is more than a DJ tool; it’s a home listening immersion into your music library.

So, if you’re vinyl curious, simply own a few records, or you have a serious vinyl collection, this turntable has the power to change how you listen to, hear, and feel your favourite music.

Get into an Audio Technica dealer today and give one a test run.

Because better listening makes for a better world!

This article was made in partnership with Audio-Technica.

BEAT 1744

A

C

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Credit all images: Grace Wethor

J

“I struggle to be proud of a lot of my work, and this is the first time that I feel that, which is really special to me.”

G

R

It’s hard not to be inspired when chatting to Jack Gray.

WORDS BY ALEX CARPI

Æ The 28-year-old singer-songwriter has a quiet confidence and ease about him that belies his age. We sat down to chat about his new album and subsequent tour, Swimming in Jeans A visceral image, the notion of swimming in wet denim, Gray landed on this album title late in the writing of his new body of work, but found it quite fitting. “[It’s a] metaphor for these last few years of mine and some of the stories that I’m telling, of that feeling of being weighed down and trying to stay above water and having this thing that’s pulling you under. It also just sounded poetic to me,” he says.

Gray finds a bulk of his inspiration from watching indie movies, labeling it one of his favourite pastimes, and the new release – in line with his previous work – is gorgeously cinematic, dripping in synths that feel nostalgic on first listen.

To credit for the production? None other than Gray himself, who self-produced and played almost every instrument on the record.

“When I sat down to write this album, I made a conscious decision to see if I could make an album that I’m really proud of and do it by myself.

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“I wrote a lot of the songs with friends, but when it came to the production, I really wanted to see if I could climb that mountain.”

Taking inspiration from some of his favourite producers, Gray set himself this challenge.

“Some of my favorite producers are people like Dijon and Mk.Gee. They make their own stuff and they’re great producers and instrumentalists. So they were big inspirations for me. [But] it wasn’t like ‘this person did it so I need to do it’.

“I kind of just wanted to prove to myself that I could do it.”

Even with the rare instrument he didn’t play on the album – the pedal steel guitar – Gray added his own touch, chopping the sample up and scattering it through the entire body of work, creating a sonic thread.

“I struggle to be proud of a lot of my work, and this is the first time that I feel that, which is really special to me.”

And there’s a lot to be proud of with Swimming in Jeans.

Gray is back on home shores for his headline tour, which kicks off in Auckland on 4 September. It’s another mountain he’s climbing by himself, and his excitement for the challenge is palpable.

“I’m trying to figure out all these different ways I can make it feel unique and interesting. I’m also going to try and figure out how to do my own lighting show – I want to bring up lamps and have them triggered from my laptop.

So lots to learn, lots to do.

“And there’s something we haven’t announced, happening before the tour. But I’ll leave that up to the imagination.”

The early singles from Swimming in Jeans have been resonating with fans, particularly Drive Her Home and Dumb Shit.

The former is an honest song about mental health that fans at his live shows have been singing back, one Gray has grown to love even more since release. The latter is a playful, syncopated pop track that’s near impossible to play live.

“I don’t know why I do it. It’s like you’re in the studio and you come up with this cool part and you’re like, great,

we’re going to put that in. And then you put that away and start writing to it, and you come up with this complex [vocal] melody.

“You record them individually, and you don’t think about it until the songs come out; and then I’m like, okay, now I’m going to learn how to play it and sing at the same time, and I suck at both those things.”

But Gray admits he loves any challenge that leads to him becoming a better musician and performer, “Now I have the muscle memory.

It’s actually one of my favorite things, it’s the most satisfying to play and sing. So, it works out in the end.”

At 28, Gray is still young enough to get away with doing the ‘dumb shit’... but old enough to know better.

On remaining career-focused through his 20s and looking forward to his next decade, Gray muses, “I’ve done all the dumb shit. To be honest with you, when I was in school, I was definitely not very career focused.

“I actually never thought it would be a possibility to make a living out of my music.

So I was kind of just messing around with music and also messing around in life, and I was just being a young, dumb kid, partying and exploring life. “[But] I’ve never been more content with myself or happy than I am now. So life at this age is amazing. At the end of the day, age is irrelevant and you just got to make great honest art, and that’ll speak for itself.

“I think I spend more time looking forward. I have a lot of big dreams and a lot of things that I’m excited for. There are a lot of things I want to achieve and…to write.”

Swimming In Jeans will be released on 11 September.

JACK GRAY WHERE:

NORTHCOTE SOCIAL CLUB

WHEN:

10 SEP

BEAT.COM.AU

Credit: 3chordimages

CELENT

MÁQUINA PELIGROSA

WORDS BY LUCAS RADBOURNE

WORDS BY LUKE CARLINO

Celent has spent most of his life in the front row of someone else’s show. On 18 September, at The Toff in Town, he gets the other side of the barrier.

The band drop the release next month, with a little help from some puppets.

Æ The Naarm artist plays You Should Be Concerned in full that night, before the record comes out. It’s billed as his live debut, which is a large thing to attempt in one go, and he seems aware of that.

“I’ve always told myself, go big or go home,” he says. “If you’re not willing to do the most, you won’t get the most out of it.

“I’ve been going to concerts since I can remember, I make sure I’m always there and front row,” he says. “I’ve been idolising performers and my favourite artists for too long, I could make a list over 100 names long.”

He describes the rollout as something he wouldn’t have pictured a year ago. Grateful is the word he keeps returning to - the clearest window into the record is a song called timberland in the rain, which he says gets read too literally.

“It’s less surface level than it’s perceived,” he says. “I wrote the song to show the indifference between myself and a Timberland boot, in the sense that the boots are waterproof and I am not. The metaphor speaks to the envy I feel about Timberlands not being able to feel the rain, yet I can feel the pain and everything happening to me, wishing I was waterproof…’reflect the pain to stop the soreness, never feel a thing at all, that’s a timberland in the rain.’

Kuna and Vanté Kay will open at The Toff. Celent calls them “two of the best artists this country has to offer” and points to their live experience rather than their catalogues. He’s fond of the venue, too: “The Toff is such a welcoming and lively venue, able and willing to support the show and the crowd that I’m bringing in for such a big event for me. The Toff is helping me bring the dream to life.”

Æ Whether you surf or not, we all kinda need surf music. It lubricates life. We may not be able to put our finger on why we need it, but just trust that we do.

This is why we need bands like Máquina Peligrosa, who channel the power of surf sounds from every corner of the genre, dark to light.

Their new music, two tracks titled Intro Venus and Pickled Snakes that arrive on a 7” next month, is more surf, punk & psych than straight-up surf, landing on the heavier side of the genre.

They have a groove, they may make you want to dance, and they are the perfect kind of sound to enjoy on wax.

We caught up with Logan Jeffs (Bass) and Felix Potier (Guitar), two-thirds of Máquina Peligrosa, to hear more about the new tracks.

“The start of the band was essentially 60s surf instrumental garage. That was the heavy influence that we had at the time, but we soon had various other elements such as Psych & Punk creeping in when we jammed and saw no point in limiting ourselves,” explains Potier.

“We were really attracted to that darker side of proper, actual 60s surf. Not like modern bands that might put reverb on their guitar and go, ‘we’re a surf band,’ but that’s not really what I’d pay as surf. And it’s not really the Beach Boys either.

“It’s more like the Sentinels or the Impacts or the Ventures that are the real 60s, quite gritty, quite dark.

“There are no rules around it, though; we may end up doing some chanting, we may end up doing some singing.”

“It just made complete sense to go with the vinyl thing,” states Poiter. “It’s tangible, everyone loves it, it’s forever.

Máquina Peligrosa will release the Intro Venus 7” vinyl and video with a launch on Sunday, 27 September at The Bergy Bandroom with guests: Plaster Of Paris, Pussy Horse, and Hot Milk Machine. Doors are at 3 pm, and tickets are available now via Oztix.

MAQUINA PELIGROSA

WHERE: WHEN:

35

THE TOFF IN TOWN 18 SEP

WHERE:

BERGY BANDROOM

WHEN:

27 SEP

This article was made in partnership with Máquina Peligrosa.

BEAT 1744

VENUE GUIDE

THE ESPY

FESTIVAL HALL

LIVE MUSIC: spills across the venue most nights, from open mics and comedy in the Basement to marquee names in the Gershwin Room.

LIVE MUSIC: the constant through a hundred-odd years of reinvention. What opened as a roller-skating rink and became a boxing arena has spent the past several decades doing double duty as one of Melbourne’s premier live venues, with a set-up flexible enough to run seated, mixed seated-and-standing, or full general admission, and capacities stretching from 1,100 up to 5,400.

The booking sheet these days runs the gamut: Justin Timberlake, Rage Against The Machine, A$AP Rocky, Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran, Lorde, Lewis Capaldi and Lily Allen have all worked the room, alongside the concerts, sporting events and other entertainment that keep the calendar full.

FAMOUS FOR: being the long-time home of RocKwiz – the music quiz filmed in the Gershwin Room for years, and still selling out live shows there today.

INFAMOUS FOR: its resident ghost. Philanthropist Alfred Felton saw out his final days at the hotel, and the hidden top-floor cocktail bar, the Ghost of Alfred, is named in his honour. Æ There’s nowhere in the south quite like the Hotel Esplanade – known to everyone simply as The Espy. It has watched over the St Kilda foreshore since 1878, looking straight out across the bay and Catani Gardens.

In its early years this was one of Melbourne’s grandest hotels, drawing guests as far-flung as Mark Twain. The ballroom that once hosted its seaside soirées is now the Gershwin Room, and it remains the beating heart of the building.

After sitting quiet for a spell, the whole place was restored and reopened in 2018 as a warren of bars, restaurants and live stages.

Sink a beer in the Main Bar, chase the sunset from the Sunroom, or catch the footy in the Public Bar. When hunger hits there’s Cantonese upstairs at Mya Tiger and coastal Italian tucked out the back at Louey’s. Add trivia nights, murder-mystery dinners and gigs most nights of the week, and a quick drink here has a habit of turning into a very late one.

For generations of Melburnians the Espy has been the backdrop to a thousand good nights – first dates, big reunions and a band you’ll never forget.

WHERE:

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11 THE ESPLANADE, ST KILDA

FAMOUS FOR: the West Melbourne Stadium years. Opened in 1913, the venue burned down in 1955 and was rebuilt in time to host gymnastics and wrestling at the 1956 Olympics. By the 1950s and 60s it had become the original House of Rock and Roll, its floor absorbing the pandemonium that met The Beatles, Bill Haley and Johnny Cash, plus Lee Gordon’s famous “Big Shows” and the classic stylings of Frank Sinatra, Liberace and Shirley Bassey. A 1990s refurbishment modernised the facilities and expanded capacity without touching the bones.

INFAMOUS FOR: surviving its own fire and coming back bigger.

Rebuilt from ash into an Olympic venue within a year, then handed a second life as a rock room that outlasted the sport it was built for. Æ Melbourne venues rarely get to claim both a boxing ring and a Beatles gig in the same building’s CV, which is part of why Festival Hall’s longevity reads as more than nostalgia. It’s hosted political rallies, community events and charity fundraisers as readily as headline tours, and the versatility that let it pivot from skating rink to stadium to stage keeps it booking arena-scale names in the heart of West Melbourne.

WHERE:

300 DUDLEY ST, WEST MELBOURNE

BEAT.COM.AU

MEMO MUSIC HALL

THE SUBSTATION

LIVE MUSIC: a fresh lineup rolls through most weeks, from classical recitals to down-and-dirty rock and roll, with theatre, cabaret and the odd film night thrown in.

LIVE MUSIC: contemporary and experimental practice with a mandate to match. The Substation’s multi-artform spaces exist to platform urgent contemporary art, work built to refigure problematic histories, imagine possible futures and forge new connections. It bills itself as the nation’s leader in multi-arts and experimental practice, connecting Naarm/Melbourne’s west, one of the continent’s most diverse pockets of local community, to the world through international, national and local presentation, development and engagement programs.

FAMOUS FOR: being a St Kilda fixture since the roaring ‘20s. The art deco hall opened in 1924 and has been pulling a crowd, in one form or another, ever since.

INFAMOUS FOR: its brief life as a recording studio. From 1961 to 1965 it ran as TELEFIL under legendary sound engineer Bill Armstrong, prized then – as now – for its remarkable acoustics. Æ Step inside Memo Music Hall and the past is almost audible.

Tucked behind the St Kilda RSL with its entrance on Albert Street, the art deco room has been given over to music and merriment since 1924.

It began as a memorial hall raising money for returned soldiers and their families after the First World War, hosting balls and screenings. It later became the Memorial picture theatre, doubled as a film and recording studio, and served as a rehearsal room – the 2003 film Ned Kelly, starring Heath Ledger, was put through its paces here.

Left dormant for years, the hall was reawakened in 2015 and now hosts a stellar mix of touring talent, tribute shows and comedy. The 400-capacity room suits a hushed, seated gig as neatly as a rowdier night.

The acoustics are famously crisp and there’s a clear view from just about anywhere in the room. Grab a drink from the RSL bars out front, settle in, and let the old hall do what it has always done best.

WHERE:

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88 ACLAND STREET, ST KILDA

FAMOUS FOR: the power station bones. Built in 1915 to power Melbourne’s suburban rail system, the building is a genuine landmark in the industrial history of the inner west, its brick and machinery hall predating almost every venue on this list. It ceased operating for its original purpose in the 1960s and sat derelict for three decades before a group of local residents restored it as the Hobsons Bay Community Arts Centre in 2008.

INFAMOUS FOR: the reinvention that followed the restoration. What reopened as a community arts centre was later reimagined and renamed The Substation, growing into a cultural precinct with national and international critical acclaim. Æ Few venues can point to a hundred-plus-year lineage that runs from powering trains to powering ideas, and that industrial-to-experimental arc is exactly what gives The Substation its identity. The determination of the local residents who fought to save the building through three decades of disrepair is still the spirit that runs through the site, now channelled into some of the country’s most significant contemporary and experimental arts programming.

WHERE:

1 MARKET STREET, NEWPORT

BEAT 1744

ALBUM REVIEWS

WORDS BY

BRYGET CHRISFIELD

DMA’S

DMA’S MISS KANINNA

BLACKPRINT mixtape Æ “I’m still a Tassie girl and ain’t a fuckin’ damn thing changed,” Miss Kaninna spits during MOB TIES. Once her BLACKPRINT mixtape drops, everything’s bound to pop-off: “It’s Blak Britney season,” bitch!

A proud Yorta Yorta, Dja Dja Wurrung, Kalkadoon and Yirendali sovereign woman, Miss Kaninna relishes in calling out “Aussie-Aussie-Aussie/ Oi-Oi-Oi” chanters (mad props) and gets dirty/freaky in a casually graphic way (eg. “Do the splits lickin’ back on a dick” – the Parental Advisory Explicit Content sticker is valid). “I ain’t afraid to take it there” is an understatement. Sorry not sorry, prudes, Miss Kaninna’s not for you.

She’s hilarious, too: “Mug too fug, I had to go celibate.”

BLACKPRINT mixtape is great party music, but it’s born from resistance. She’s all about educating people the world over on the true history of “so-called Australia”, with a focus on Indigenous land rights, preserving the oldest living culture on Earth and fostering Black power.

Every single word on here is worth memorising.

With its hi-hat-heavy beat, CHAT MY SHIT references old-school hip hop. This intro cut runs for one minute only, but cuts to the chase: “I’m Indigenous so you know you gon’ be feelin’ this and if you don’t then you’re prob’ly white supremacist… I got land back on my mind and I’m looking for a fight.”

The title track opens with a tweaky drone, before thwacking drums bring it home; the big-beat mayhem of Smack My Bitch Up by The Prodigy is referenced on this one. Listen out for the sound of silence, used to spectacular effect in the track’s final quarter.

Slinky bass glides through the creepy-hot LOOK AT ME NOW (feat. Kobie Dee). Sax is used sparingly, hitting like sprinklings of gold dust.

Bass notes played on piano, blazing electric guitar licks, clanking sounds that bring RATM to mind – her nuanced beats are delightfully unpredictable with a live-sounding edge.

“FUCK YOU, BITCH!” – HANDOUT, which features Waanyi/Gangaliida MC Jamahl Yami, opens with a bang. Miss Kaninna’s scattergun rapping astounds while she dismantles white Australia’s systemic racism. Inspired percussion drops later in the arrangement and the dancefloor beckons.

When her delivery hits boiling point, we hear Kelis’s Caught Out There choruses (the fuming “I hate you so much right now!” parts) as an influence.

“You hide behind your screen but ima meet you at your front door, BITCH!” – the hectic STOLEN WAGES veers into punk-rock territory while exposing cyclic dispossession.

A self-described “Black pop baddie”, Miss Kaninna is ultimately a truthteller. She’s furious about injustice, but also chic and unmesswithable.

Miss Kaninna’s braggadocio is warranted (“Deadly bitch ‘til the day I die”). Bring on the debut album!

Did you know? Miss Kaninna appeared on a Times Square billboard as part of Amazon Music’s Artists to Watch.

LABEL: RELEASE:

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SOUL HAS NO TEMPO OUT NOW

Æ Regarding DMA’S’ eponymous latest and fifth album, lead guitarist Matt Mason said “I want to make those day one fans happy”.

The verse in lead single My Baby’s Place was penned by Mason “about seven years ago”. He was single and yearning for a connection back then, while squatting – together with frontman Tommy O’Dell – in an abandoned building. The chorus flashes forward to 2026: Mason is married now – he found love.

Written with 3% rapper Nooky, opener El Alamein is classic DMA’s. After just a coupla strums, O’Dell’s distinctive beseeching timbre enters (“All my worries goin’ on/ Biting like a piranha…”. Crashing drums enter the mix and we’re off!

A lovelorn ballad (Windows), immediately memorable choruses (Hurracane – why misspelt, though?) – this is classic DMA’S, orright.

Standout anthem Heatin Park’s warped, elongated, ascending riffs amp up the euphoria. Emailz is built from a hopeful, singsongy circular hook. With its rhythmic, metallic riffs, One & Only is for mass pogoing with your arms around mates: “‘Cos you’re my one and only more than you ever knew!”

During the softly swaying Dancing Luck, O’Dell’s winsome timbre – like a lost lamb bleating in a field – is showcased to perfection; his upper register is pukka!

This year marks ten years since the Sydney trio’s debut record, Hill’s End, captured global attention (in the UK, especially).

They’ve always created Britpop-inspired guitar music. But DMA’S’ mad respect for ‘90s electronic music infiltrated their previous set – 2023’s How Many Dreams? (Orbital even remixed one track) – which, it turns out, was a temporary detour.

LABEL: RELEASE:

SONY OUT NOW

BEAT.COM.AU

GRACE MITCHELL

NOAH HILL

ROWENA WISE

Daughter Of The King

Ok ok now

Bad Things Feel Good*

Æ Being left on read, fixing feelings “with the whores”, lingering obsessions, smoking too much, ruining sheets (twice), “felony suburbs” – intrigued yet?

Grace Mitchell – a singer-songwriter/ multi-instrumentalist (keys, guitars, drums) – started penning the first of these compelling, raw tunes in Hollywood five years ago.

The Australian-born, American-raised artist has since relocated back to Melbourne, with daughter in tow, to reconnect with her paternal family.

Track one, Humiliation Nation, saunters in with casual guitar strumming.

Mitchell’s insouciant vocal delivery – even octave leaps are executed rather matter-offactly! – camouflages the album’s recurring unhealthy-attachment theme.

Head On is the kinda song that would lure festival punters away from neighbouring stages/food trucks in droves: “Making fun of both our exes/ Smoking on the patio/ I even said from the beginning/ I was freshly on my own…” – it all starts innocently enough.

But as this song’s arrangement gradually intensifies, a dark infatuation – underlined by double-tracked vocals – emerges: “Just ‘cause you couldn’t fuck her doesn’t mean you didn’t try” – ouch!

Close To Me, with its descending doom riff, reads like an important purging. With minimal, almost self-loathing verses contrasting crashing choruses, Feeling Something is a cautionary tale: heal, don’t move onto the next one too fast. A throbbing electronic pulse underscores Baseball Hat, which languishes in fuck-buddy purgatory.

“All that is over”, repeated 11 times, are the final lyrics sung and we sure hope so, for her sake.

Throughout her debut record, Mitchell sounds self-assured and anchored in her own truth, as if finally releasing music she’s 100% behind.

LABEL: RELEASE:

39

CHEERSQUAD RECORDS 4 SEP

Æ One fifth of the globally recognised vocal group Parcels, Noah Hill’s vocals sound like floating silk.

His debut solo record, resplendent with goosebump-inducing harmonies, commences with Lighting: a voice recording of a girl describing how dreamy someone looks wearing “an unbuttoned long-sleeved collared shirt”, catching the light just so.

Written over a ten-year period, Ok ok now documents Hill’s first great love, which didn’t go the distance. There’s forward momentum in this set of songs, which carry grace, softness, breakup regret and accountability.

“I lie awake some nights/ ‘Cause I’m not loving me sometimes…” – demoed in Hill’s parents’ garage in the Northern Rivers over Christmas, lead single It’s All In My Head reckons with a breakup, a serious health scare (“They told me that I could die”) and his ensuing wave of anxiety. Although inspired by “a rough year”, this song is a calming tonic to reach for whenever things start going awry.

Over meandering acoustic guitar, Sympathise observes, “The grief hurts more when you’re to blame”. Dehnga Place (which is in Suffolk Park) captures family banter alongside sonorous piano playing. The possibility of moving to Berlin – where Parcels relocated shortly after forming in Byron Bay – is mentioned here. After longing for simpler times (“Driving our parents’ cars ‘round town”), Love You Now lands upon a crushing realisation: “Maybe I could love you now that it’s too late to find out.”

We’re totally here for Hill’s intimate, vulnerable singer-songwriter era; listeners will get to know him a whole lot more.

LABEL: RELEASE:

BECAUSE MUSIC 4 SEP

Æ “Will they let me into heaven with a fake ID?/ The bad things are feelin’ good” – major contender for lyric of the year, or what!?

Measured and contemplative, Bad Things Feel Good* finds Rowena Wise processing uncertainty and moving gently towards self-acceptance: “It’s time for me to be alone and honest.”

“I’m dangling my feet into the water/ Playing with a blade of grass/ Looking at the clouds above” – (“I don’t feel at…”) Home In This World, the thrummed opener, immediately establishes this record’s rich, evocative identity.

A brilliant storyteller, Wise effortlessly captivates while shattering our hearts. Can love exist without possession or sacrifice?

Every single word on here is steeped in meaning.

“Running along the gravel as his car was taking off/ A father that didn’t hold you/ When leaving or coming home/ And so you were raised believing you should dry your eyes alone/ When your own son was broken/ When his life was down the drain/ Your only advice that one has gotta suffer for to gain.”

During Blood Ties – which is about as jaunty and upbeat as Wise fucks with – tightly coiled, tremolo-picked guitar parts flirt with thresholds.

Diamond In The Rough’s chorus overflows with deep mutual adoration thanks to Wise and Didirri’s timbral fusion: “So don’t believe what you’ve been told/ You’re made of flesh, you’re made of blood/ You are enough.”

Used sparingly, string arrangements deal final blows. A quietly devastating listening experience, Bad Things Feel Good* navigates the messy detritus of a human in progress.

LABEL: RELEASE:

REMOTE CONTROL OUT NOW

BEAT 1744

GIG GUIDE

IN THE MOMENT RADIO PRESENTS

THE EVELYN REIMAGINED

SEPTEMBER 2026

THU 03 SEP SUNSHINE TIP + JOHN MCALL Hotel Esplanade (aka The Espy).

St Kilda. 7.30pm. Free.

MOSETTE. RACH, FJ STEELE Brunswick Artists’ Bar. Brunswick.

8.30pm. Free.

KICK ON RESIDENCY WEEK 1

FT: The Groundswell, Ava Gerrard, Lune Ranger

Nighthawks.

Collingwood. 8pm. $12.

LUCID AT LAST. DEJURE, CASSETTES The Last Chance Rock & Roll Bar. North Melbourne.

7.30pm. $11.25.

SENES FLAMENCO

FT: Aya Kitaoji, Alejandro Flórez, Jethro Negrón

Barton Fink.

Thornbury. 7.30pm.

RACHEL CLARK Edinburgh Castle Hotel.

Brunswick. 7pm.

LUNAR MARIA. BLANCO TRANCO, JACKSON NEWITT Leadbeater Hotel.

Richmond. 8pm. $9.70.

FRESHLY SQUEEZED LIVE: NEXT GEN JAZZ

FT: Banksia. Girls Night In. Tom Eclect. Esai

Wax Music Lounge. Melbourne.

7pm. $16.45.

FRI 04 SEP GOOD MUSIC HOUSE PARTY

FT: Full Flower Moon Band, PARK RD, Laura & The HELL CUTZ, House Party DJs

Hotel Esplanade (aka The Espy).

St Kilda. 8pm. $15–22.95.

COLLINS IN THE AIR TONIGHT Prince Bandroom.

St Kilda. 7.30pm. $39.80.

DAVID MCCORMACK’S TRS80 The Last Chance Rock & Roll Bar. North Melbourne.

8pm. $34.20.

SEEDY JEEZUS Lulie Tavern.

Abbotsford. 9pm.

PASSAGE Howler. Brunswick.

7pm. $17.34–23.21.

DE CLEURB’S FIRST BIRTHDAY The Toff In Town.

Melbourne. 11pm. Free.

TONY J KING Wesley Anne.

Northcote. 6pm.

XANDER CUMING Baxter’s Lot. Fitzroy.

9pm. Free.

TOFF LIVE: LITERATURE. MORAG The Toff In Town.

Melbourne. 9pm. Free.

QUAID. JAPAN FOR, SIDESPLITTER, ROLLANOVA Creatures of Habit Bar & Bandroom.

Fitzroy. 8pm. $10.

COUNTRY STRUTS BOOT SCOOTING Quadraphonic Club.

Brunswick.

6.30pm. $19.80.

SPIRIT TRANE FT:

The Bruten Brothers

Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne.

7.30pm. $45.

CURATED X REVOLVER FRIDAYS

Christy McAllister, Flynn Bulman, Rob Anthony, Tilly Hardy, Tom Evans FT:

Revolver Upstairs.

Prahran. 10pm. $20.

Honey Smack, Borrowed CS, Chiara Kickdrum, Zjoso, neko.ea

DEAR SUNDAY. SPICI WATER Bergy Bandroom.

Brunswick. 7.30pm. $28.05.

Evelyn Hotel. Fitzroy.

8pm. $27.40.

FREYA & TOM MCGOWAN Wesley Anne.

Northcote. 5pm.

FT:

SLOWCUT. BURIAL PIT, TUMOUR Bergy Bandroom.

Brunswick. 8pm. $28.05.

FACES IN THE STREET The Thornbury Local.

Thornbury. 8pm.

CAROUSE Edinburgh Castle Hotel.

Brunswick. 8pm.

LUNA THE MOON Brunswick Artists’ Bar. Brunswick.

8.30pm. Free.

ALRIGHT HEY Leadbeater Hotel.

Richmond. 7.30pm.

QUENTIN ROTH. NEEKO Wesley Anne.

Northcote. 8pm. $22.

MEET @ THE MARKET: SESSION 2 Melbourne Meat Market.

North Melbourne.

7pm. $35–45.

KOLOR Brunswick Ballroom.

Brunswick. 8.30pm. $129.03.

BBPMS

FT: Baby G, Katie Pearson, Rakhi, Tina Disco

New Guernica.

Collingwood. 10pm. $16.45–21.95.

LIVE PIANO FT:

Valiant Von Thule

Daylesford Hotel. Daylesford.

6.30pm. Free.

LAGERSTEIN. ABLAZE, PIZZA DEATH Corner Hotel.

Richmond. 8pm. $35.30.

THOMAS DUNFORD Melbourne Recital Centre. Southbank.

7.30pm. $79–139.

INTERVAL: DAN NEWMAN Glamorama. Fitzroy.

10pm. $15–30.

BACHELOR GIRL: WAITING FOR THE DAY REDUX TOUR 2026 Frankston Arts Centre.

Frankston. 8.30pm. $60.

ASTRAL COLLECTIVE. SEB PERELLO, AGVAMIL, CHAOS THEORY ORCHESTRA Bar 303. Northcote.

8pm. $20.

MY FIRST RODEO. SEREN O, COME HEAVY SLEEP Cactus Room.

Thornbury. 8pm. $15.

PHASE! EMO, POP-PUNK, NU-METAL PARTY FT: Indigo Blaze.

Silverfang

Cherry Bar. Melbourne.

8.30pm. Free.

DR JAZZ & THE GANGSTERS PALACE FT:

Ruby Ray

Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne.

6.30pm. $45.

SAT 05 SEP SLOW EXPOSURE. ETHEREAL GONE KIDS, LITTLE BORED Nighthawks.

Collingwood. 2pm. $15.

HAIL FREYA. THE KIND REGARDS, TRASH & THE TREASURES The Workers Club.

Fitzroy. 7pm. $13–15.

LOOSE RAVE UNIT 2.0

FT: Steve Robbins, Lani G, Marilyn Matrix, Matt Radovich, WISER. Lucifia, more

My Aeon. Brunswick.

10pm. $17.19–38.37.

BABBA Hotel Esplanade (aka The Espy).

St Kilda. 3pm. $61.40.

SUNSHINE & DISCO FAITH CHOIR: RISE & SHINE. ALICIA, CROZIER, JESSE BOYD Revolver Upstairs.

Prahran. 7am. $40–50.

HIP HOP TAKEOVER AT LAST CHANCE

FT: DJ Rellik, Korboy, Rief, Don Pauly, Puff Justice, RDO, MC Remp, Jay Bob, more

The Last Chance Rock & Roll Bar. North Melbourne.

7pm. $16.35.

TOFF CLUB: KITI + COLETTE The Toff In Town.

Melbourne. 10pm. Free.

ORLANDO + MALIBU SPACEY Brunswick Artists’ Bar. Brunswick.

8.30pm. $18.36–20.

MORNING AFTER PRESENTS:

DIY ON HIGH

DOPPEL. THE ODDNESS, NOT JEN, KARL PILBROW Howler. Brunswick.

6pm. $35.75.

Cactus Room.

Thornbury. 1pm. Free.

LESLIE D KING + MISTY HARLOWE Lulie Tavern.

Abbotsford. 9pm.

FT: Loose Tooth, Techno 666, Bizarrgo, Kosmetika, Banksy

DIY ON HIGH

FT: R.U.B, Bughunt, Trap Card, Rat Bucket, Dibber Dobber

Cafe Gummo.

Thornbury. 6pm. Free.

40

LEWIS TOMS Baxter’s Lot. Fitzroy.

9pm. Free.

TYNE-JAMES ORGAN. JOELY, DREST Leadbeater Hotel.

Richmond. 8pm. $39.80.

BEAT.COM.AU

JAWA PITU BAND. SMALL FRY, SANGGAR LESTARI, SEKAR KIDUL Northcote Social Club.

Northcote. 8pm. $30.

STEAMBOAT WHISTLERS Edinburgh Castle Hotel.

Brunswick. 8pm.

MOOR MUSIC PRESENTS

THE JAZZ DOOF VOL. 9 Second Story.

Collingwood.

6pm. $35–45.

VANCOUVER SLEEP CLINIC. MTNS, SIDNEY Corner Hotel.

Richmond. 7.30pm. $30–35.30.

STICK MAREEBO & THE OUTSIDER’S BIG BIRTHDAY BASH

The Outsider, Jesse I, DJ Riqq, Stick Mareebo, Zare Demus, Itations FT:

Wax Music Lounge. Melbourne.

9pm. $27.40.

SOFIA, SVETLANA & ALANA Motley Bauhaus.

Carlton. 6.30pm. Free. ÖPEN HAÜS #007 FT: DJ JNETT. Horus Cope, Mara, Max Hammur, Monoot

Glamorama. Fitzroy.

4pm. $25.

SUCCULENT FUNK

Chucheewa, DJ Friday, Jasper Miles FT:

New Guernica.

Collingwood.

10pm. $15.

FUSE FESTIVAL: GANBU GULIN– BURNDAP, NETO!

Mo’Ju, Liv & The Dream FT:

Darebin Arts Centre & Ray Bramham Gardens.

VIC. 1pm. Free.

FOREVER ON HIGH. WHITT’S END, IMAGINE THE RAPPER, ALL REGARDS Cherry Bar. Melbourne.

9pm. $15–25.

REBECCA MENDOZA. MARK FITZGIBBON Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne.

9.30pm. $45.

41

THU 10 SEP KICK ON RESIDENCY WEEK 2

Dolls, The Moids, Supermodels FT:

Nighthawks.

Collingwood. 8pm. $12.

TECH HOUSE PARTY FT:

Tyrone

Barton Fink. Thornbury.

10pm. $10.

HARRISEN HUGHES Baxter’s Lot. Fitzroy.

9pm. Free.

SOFIA & SVETLANA Wesley Anne.

Northcote. 5pm.

PETROL WILLIAMS Bergy Bandroom.

Brunswick. 7pm. $16.85.

RHYS TOLHURST Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne.

7.30pm. $45.

ONE OF THESE NIGHTS: THE EAGLES ACOUSTIC TRIBUTE Bird’s Basement.

Melbourne.

7.30pm. $39.

AN APPOINTED TIME FOR EATING FT: Goblin Rave.

Tessellate Club

PARENTS BATTLE OF THE BANDS (INNER CITY BATTLE)

FT: Lost Property, The Thornberries, The Portals, The Ripoffs, Primary Scream, Rage Against the Canteen

Corner Hotel.

Richmond. 7pm. $37.35.

RACHEL CLARK Edinburgh Castle Hotel.

Brunswick. 7pm.

FRI

11 SEP

THE WHYB. ISABELLA MAHMOUD, KEIRA J & THE MICE Hotel Esplanade (aka The Espy).

St Kilda. 7.30pm. $22.95.

CROWN RULER + TRIBE SOUNDSYSTEM PRESENTS

TIMMY REGISFORD. ZEPHERIN SAINT Evelyn Hotel. Fitzroy.

7pm. $35–50.

TEJO D’CRUZ Baxter’s Lot. Fitzroy.

9pm. Free.

THE NEW CHRISTS. PENNY IKINGER’S MARBLES The Last Chance Rock & Roll Bar. North Melbourne.

8pm. $50.50.

DAREBIN FUSE FESTIVAL PRESENTS

Grace Darling Hotel.

Collingwood. 6pm. $80.

THE CUBE

JACK GRAY. JENZEN GUINO Northcote Social Club.

Northcote. 7pm. $25.

Preston Market.

Preston. 11am. Free.

THE BROKEN HILLS’ BRUNSWICK BALLROOM HOUSE BAND: COUNTRY STANDARDS & ORIGINALS Brunswick Artists’ Bar. Brunswick.

5.45pm. Free.

COUNTRY STRUTS BOOT SCOOTING Quadraphonic Club. Brunswick.

6.30pm. $19.80.

FT:

Born in a Taxi

CAMILLA BURROWS SINGS THE ELLA FITZGERALD + OSCAR PETERSON SONGBOOK Paris Cat Jazz Club.

Melbourne. 6pm. $45.

SIENNA SKIES. SAVING FACE, DOWN & OUT, CAUTION:THIEVES, AMBERFIELD Bergy Bandroom.

Brunswick. 7pm. $38.25.

ROSEWOOD Lulie Tavern.

Abbotsford. 9pm.

UNION HEIGHTS PRESENTS:

VILIANI + KIBBZ. JAKE & THE FATMAN, VINNIE HOOVER, HOMMY DEVITO, QUAID PEARCE, DJ DOC FELIX, DJ DECKTEKTIVE Revolver Upstairs.

Prahran. 8pm. Free.

FUÁ DO NORDESTE: A BRAZILIAN CULTURAL IMMERSION Bar 303. Northcote.

7pm. Free.

ASH Northcote Theatre.

Northcote. 7pm. $89.90.

TOWNHOUSE. PEPPER LA FLOYD, MELLOWING Nighthawks.

Collingwood.

7pm. $17.19.

TIM SCANLAN & MANA OKUBO Edinburgh Castle Hotel.

Brunswick. 8pm.

SAT 12 SEP CIRQUE LE STRANGE Hotel Esplanade (aka The Espy).

St Kilda. 6.30pm. $69.80.

LANCE LIPINSKY. JAKE & THE CADILLACS Prince Bandroom.

St Kilda. 6.30pm. $50.

GABRIEL’S DIARY Wesley Anne.

Northcote. 8pm. $30.

THE AGENTS OF REVERB Clifton Hill Brewpub.

Clifton Hill. 8pm. Free.

SHRED FEST 2026

THE NEW CHRISTS. MOLER The Last Chance Rock & Roll Bar. North Melbourne.

8pm. $50.50.

Corner Hotel.

Richmond. 6.30pm. $84.30.

GHOST CARE Bergy Bandroom.

Brunswick. 8pm. $22.95–28.05.

FT: Obscura, Fallujah, ASHEN, Anoxia, Munitions

THE ANTICS. PRINK, LOW MONROE The Old Bar. Fitzroy.

8pm. $23.50.

SWEENEY TODD Chapel Off Chapel.

Prahran. 7.30pm. $85.

SERVO FLOWERS FUNDRAISER

FT: Internet Romance, Drip Glaze, The Antisocial Band

Leadbeater Hotel. Richmond.

8pm. $23.75.

HELLERUIN. ORDER OF ORIAS, PETROL Northcote Social Club. Northcote.

8.30pm. $61.90.

PROTO EXOTICA PRESENTS:

CERRO. FREDDY GARDENS The Toff In Town.

Melbourne. 11pm. Free.

MELBOURNE BACH CHOIR & ZELMAN SYMPHONY: BRAHMS REQUIEM & SZYMANOWSKI STABAT MATER Melbourne Recital Centre. Southbank.

8pm. $69–119.

THE GREAT EMU WAR CASUALTIES. TINA GROWLS, XANDRI Brunswick Artists’ Bar. Brunswick.

8.30pm. Free.

VARUNI LILA. CHARLOTTE BRIDIE, LALU Grace Darling Hotel. Collingwood.

7pm. $15–20.

LIFE PILOT. DEADWEIGHT80, MISERYGUTS, ATRIOX Revolver Upstairs.

Prahran. 7pm. $15.

VANNA Howler. Brunswick.

2pm. $20–54.47.

KITA ALEXANDER. TOY SHAW Northcote Theatre.

Northcote. 7.30pm. $62.42.

AFRO SEXY FT:

44.S, Steel

Wax Music Lounge.

Melbourne. 9pm. $27.40–38.40.

BEAT 1744

RHIZ & THE SUGARPLUMS. THE COUNTRY & WESTERN RAMBLERS, PETER BAYLOR’S HANK WILLIAMS TRIBUTE SHOW Brunswick Ballroom.

Brunswick.

8.30pm. $35.

2026 GREAT ROMANTICS COMPETITION Melbourne Recital Centre. Southbank.

3pm. Free.

SISTINE GUNS. UNSCORED, FREUD & THE FAMILY SOLUTION The Old Bar. Fitzroy.

8pm. $13.30.

MELB BLITZ

Schism 21C. 90BPM, DJ Bricolage, DJ Randy Lipz XXX FT:

Odeon Richmond.

Richmond. 7pm. $20.

LEWIS TOMS Baxter’s Lot. Fitzroy.

9pm. Free.

SWERVEDRIVER. BROWN SPIRITS, CHIMERS Corner Hotel.

Richmond. 8pm.

JAAL. BILALLI, GSTEEZ John Curtin Hotel.

Carlton. 7.30pm. $25.40–27.95.

MY GIDDY AUNT. HARRIET WRAITH Northcote Social Club.

Northcote. 8pm. $15.30.

TRASH INDIE SLEAZE PARTY Cherry Bar. Melbourne.

11pm. Free.

STEAMBOAT WHISTLERS Edinburgh Castle Hotel.

Brunswick. 8pm.

NEW ROMANTICS. JESSE & THE BOYFRIENDS, THE ELLIOTTS Leadbeater Hotel. Richmond.

6.30pm. $28.85.

LIVE AT CITY HALL: DEBORAH CONWAY & WILLY ZYGIER Kingston City Hall. Moorabbin.

7.30pm. $55.

GRAND WAZOO: SOUL IN THE CITY Bird’s Basement.

Melbourne.

7.30pm. $55.

42

LIZ VIOLI & BAND Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne.

6.30pm. $45.

GAB OLIVER + SECRET LOCATIONS EVENT PRESENTS A DARK PROG HOUSE NITE. SOL FLARE Joey Smalls.

Brunswick. 4pm. $19.

LIVE JAZZ DINNER SHOW AT DOLLY FT:

Jordan Donnelly

DOLLY European Restaurant & Cocktail Bar. VIC. 6pm. $85.

THU 17 SEP KICK ON RESIDENCY WEEK 3

FT: Fur Blossom, Book Runner, Nonstandard Leisure

Nighthawks.

Collingwood. 8pm. $12.

MONTY PYTHON’S SPAMALOT Athenaeum Theatre. Melbourne.

7.30pm. $69.

THE TEEN TOWN QUINTET: TRIBUTE TO THE MUSIC OF JACO PASTORIUS Paris Cat Jazz Club.

Melbourne. 8pm. $40.

ZERIAL Arts Centre Melbourne.

Melbourne. 7pm. $59.

C.W. STONEKING Corner Hotel.

Richmond. 7.30pm. $67.

RACHEL CLARK Wesley Anne.

Northcote. 6pm.

JAKE MASON TRIO Bird’s Basement.

Melbourne.

7.30pm. $35.

SWAPMEET. DOGWORLD Northcote Social Club.

Northcote. 8pm.

KYLE CHENOWETH QUINTET Bar 303. Northcote.

8pm.

PIETER WISPELWEY WITH PIERS LANE: NIGHT II Melbourne Recital Centre. Southbank.

7.30pm. $79–139.

LOUISE MACGREGOR DUO Edinburgh Castle Hotel.

Brunswick. 7pm.

FRI

18 SEP

CHOPPED FESTIVAL 2026 Carisbrook Racecourse & Recreation Reserve.

Carisbrook. 9am. $60–308.40.

IVAN OOZE Hotel Esplanade (aka The Espy).

St Kilda. 7pm. $39.90.

OLIVER DOWNES Wesley Anne.

Northcote. 8pm. $25.

ROSE TATTOO: FINAL VICTORIAN SHOW. ROB RILEY Prince Bandroom.

St Kilda. 7pm. $65.

TILTMETER. AS A RIVAL, BATEMAN Corner Hotel.

Richmond. 8pm. $18.40.

THE CURE IN ORANGE: 40 YEAR CELEBRATION Corner Hotel.

Richmond. 8.30pm. $28.05.

YACHT ROCK REVIVAL Brunswick Ballroom.

Brunswick. 8.30pm. $55.08.

JODEE AND KIRBY’S 29TH ANNIVERSARY GIG

INTERVAL: NAI & FRIENDS Glamorama. Fitzroy.

10pm. $15–30.

SWAPMEET. DOGWORLD, EBOP Northcote Social Club.

Northcote. 8pm.

TALL TIMBER Wesley Anne.

Northcote. 6pm.

Silent Jay, DJ Jnett, Tuff Trax, Bonnita

GEORGIA RODGERS Edinburgh Castle Hotel.

Brunswick. 8pm.

THE EVELYN REIMAGINED FT:

Evelyn Hotel. Fitzroy.

8pm. $27.40–38.40.

TAMARA KULDIN’S TO ELLA WITH LOVE Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne.

6.30pm. $45.

MISS KANINNA Northcote Theatre.

Northcote. 8pm.

ZERIAL Arts Centre Melbourne.

Melbourne. 7pm. $59.

LEWIS CIAVARELLA Baxter’s Lot. Fitzroy.

9pm. Free.

PIETER WISPELWEY WITH PIERS LANE: NIGHT III Melbourne Recital Centre. Southbank.

7.30pm. $79–139.

VIOLET Lulie Tavern.

Abbotsford. 9pm.

JHE: THE JOHN HUTCHINSON EXPERIENCE. THE 1980S, DANGEROUS GOODS Leadbeater Hotel.

Richmond. 8pm. $17.85.

SEGRESSION: 30TH ANNIVERSARY. THE WITCHING HOUR, COMMON EVIL Bergy Bandroom.

Brunswick. 7.30pm. $22.95.

COMEDY AT THE SHIRLEY Shirley Burke Theatre.

Parkdale. 7.30pm. $30.

DRUID FLUIDS. BURIED FEATHER, ZOE FOX The Old Bar. Fitzroy.

8pm. $17.35–28.60.

The Last Chance Rock & Roll Bar. North Melbourne.

8pm. $22.

IN THE MOMENT PRESENTS

WINTERMELON. MISS COMMUNICATION, MAILEY The Last Chance Rock & Roll Bar. North Melbourne.

8pm. $16.35.

CELENT. KUNA, VANTE KAY The Toff In Town.

Melbourne.

6.30pm. $23.46.

FT: Relays, The Coolabahs, Monkey Butler, Madigans Wake, Sean O’callaghan

SAT 19 SEP SUNDAY LEMONADE Hotel Esplanade (aka The Espy).

St Kilda. 7pm. $33.15.

ODD MOB The Timber Yard.

Port Melbourne.

6pm. $89.90.

CAIRO CLUB ORCHESTRA Brunswick Ballroom.

Brunswick. 2pm. $24.48.

BENNY PAGE + DOKTOR Howler. Brunswick.

7pm. $12.24–47.94.

FUNKY KINGSTON

FT: Mohair Slim, Fabulous Fez, Housewife’s Choice, Selector Good Behaviour, Nick Hudson, Foey Man

Lulie Tavern.

Abbotsford. 8pm. Free.

HOBBLE20: HOBBLEDEHOY RECORDS 20TH BIRTHDAY PARTY

PETIT BISCUIT Prince Bandroom.

St Kilda. 9pm. $39.80–50.

FT: Deafcult, Luke Howard, Fourteen Nights At Sea, The Remotes

SUBSURFACE Second Story.

Collingwood. 6.30pm. $20–49.95.

The Old Bar. Fitzroy.

8pm. $23.50.

SHE MAKES NOISE

FT: The Refuge, Violet Tendencies, Laura & The Hell Cutz, Knight Rider, Mondo Cane

FT: LÂLKA, harminia, Sadie Mustoe, Girls Night In, Kaylah Thomas

Bergy Bandroom.

Brunswick. 6pm. $28.05–38.25.

WOODY SAMSON Baxter’s Lot. Fitzroy.

9pm. Free.

HEADBANGING FOR HOPE

Leadbeater Hotel.

Richmond. 7pm. $20.

JEMMA CHER Bird’s Basement.

Melbourne.

7.30pm. $38.

BEAT.COM.AU

SPILLWAY. EBI NORI, AMBER RICHMOND Brunswick Artists’ Bar. Brunswick.

8.30pm. Free.

NADIRA AND FRIENDS PRESENT:

SONGS OF DINAH WASHINGTON Paris Cat Jazz Club.

Melbourne. 6pm. $45.

JEM CASSARDALEY. KAITLIN KEEGAN, GYPSY LEE Northcote Social Club.

Northcote. 8pm. $40.40.

ZERIAL (MATINEE SESSION) Arts Centre Melbourne.

Melbourne. 3pm. $59.

DOUBLOONAPALOOZA PIRATE FEST

Projectile Dysfunction.

Captain Hellfire & The Wretched Brethren, The Rum Runners, Vessel, Burn In Hell, Mystery Daughter, Melbourne Sea Shanty Society FT:

John Curtin Hotel.

Carlton. 6pm. $38.70.

MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: HANDEL & BACH Melbourne Recital Centre. Southbank.

7.30pm. $43–115.

GUITAR KINGDOM FT: Rose M González.

Dan McKay, Ben Dix, Sophie Marcheff

Bar 303. Northcote.

5pm.

NEXT NOTE Kingston Arts Centre.

Moorabbin. 2pm. $15.

THU 24 SEP KICK ON RESIDENCY WEEK 4

Pepper La Floyd, SHUM, Mr Doily FT:

Nighthawks.

Collingwood. 8pm. $12.

TOFF CLUB: MIZHAP + HIJACK The Toff In Town.

Melbourne. 10pm. Free.

THE LAZY EYES The Night Cat. Fitzroy.

8pm. $29.49.

43

LAHGO The Last Chance Rock & Roll Bar. North Melbourne. 8pm. $26.55–28.60.

CLOZEE. CHAMBERLAIN, LO.TESS Northcote Theatre.

Northcote. 7.30pm. $57.32–72.62.

MARCUS MILLER Baxter’s Lot. Fitzroy.

9pm. Free.

EVIL EDDIE RICHARDS. RED & RICHIE, JUST ALICE, RUBY LOU, JACKSON WALLAS, FROSTY & BONES, MILLA Glamorama. Fitzroy.

9pm. $20–35.

WADE LAWRENCE The Bay Hotel.

Mornington. 9pm.

DOLLY’S DISCO BINGO Daylesford Hotel.

Daylesford. 6.30pm.

VICTORIA K. WALLET INSPECTOR, BEAUTIFUL BEDLAM, ALIEN FINGERS Bergy Bandroom.

Brunswick. 7pm. $22.95.

FRI 25 SEP TERRESTRIALS. VERONA LIGHTS, WHAT MOST YOU FEAR Shotkickers. Thornbury.

8pm. $23.80.

ANIME MUSIC FESTIVAL 2026

FT: ep.12, Mouikkai, 35Low of Moonflare

Leadbeater Hotel.

Richmond. 7.30pm. $20.

LPFOUR Wesley Anne.

Northcote. 6pm.

STRAWBERRY JAM DUO The Bay Hotel.

Mornington. 9pm.

IN THE MOMENT PRESENTS

THE EVELYN REIMAGINED FEAT: KUZCO, ALLYSHA JOY, AKA ZEB, SURANA, MIKE GURRIERI, ZEPHERIN SAINT Evelyn Hotel. Fitzroy.

8pm. $27.40.

MOUSSE CANNON. LXRP, FRONS, QUEEN HYENA The Last Chance Rock & Roll Bar. North Melbourne.

7.30pm. $11.25.

BROKENCHORD. UBERWENCH, HOLY TRINITY Grace Darling Hotel. Collingwood.

7.30pm. $25.

OVERNIGHT. SUNDAY HONEY, BITE MY TONGUE Bergy Bandroom.

Brunswick. 7.30pm. $28.05.

PRESS CLUB. DAY DREAMERS Brunswick Ballroom.

Brunswick. 8pm. $35.

TIM SCANLAN & MANA OKUBO Edinburgh Castle Hotel.

Brunswick. 8pm.

HIDE & SEEK

NAKED MANNEQUIN. BLACKJACKS, IMMORTAL FISH, THE BLUEBIRDS The Old Bar. Fitzroy.

8pm. $13.30.

FT: Clara Darcy & The Medicine Women, Kaytlyn Johnson, Miguel Brooking, Sammy Snide

Revolver Upstairs.

Prahran. 7pm. $15–18.

BEN LEE & GEORGIA MAQ Melbourne Recital Centre. Southbank.

7.30pm. $69–79.

CHECKERBOARD Bar 303. Northcote.

8pm. $20.

KIER STEVENS Edinburgh Castle Hotel.

Brunswick. 7pm.

CARCASS. NEMBUTOLIK Northcote Theatre.

Northcote. 7.30pm. $92.

GALLERY

FT: Secret Headliner + Cousin, FUKHED, Hannah D, Guy Contact, Char

Second Story.

Collingwood.

7pm. $40–70.

SUPERMODELS Lulie Tavern.

Abbotsford. 9pm.

ENTR’ACTE Motley Bauhaus.

Carlton. 7.30pm. $25.83.

SKY DISCO

FT: Andy Van, Eric Powell, Journey Man, Mark Pellegrini, Trent Rackus, more

Howler. Brunswick.

4pm. $41.77.

MONOCHROMIA. JUST FOR A DAY, VELORA, BRATZILLA Brunswick Artists’ Bar. Brunswick.

8.30pm. Free.

THE BEEFS Northcote Social Club.

Northcote. 8pm. $24.

THE LAZY EYES The Sound Doctor.

Anglesea. 7pm. $35.

SHANNON NOLL Corner Hotel.

Richmond. 8pm. $67.

THE COUNTDOWN YEARS Bird’s Basement.

Melbourne.

7.30pm. $40.

SOPHISTICATED LADY: A TRIBUTE TO JAZZ’S FIRST LADIES OF SONG Paris Cat Jazz Club.

Melbourne. 6pm. $48.

BRYCE DESSNER X SYDNEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Melbourne Recital Centre. Southbank.

7.30pm. $79–139.

SAT 26 SEP DECADANCE The Toff In Town.

Melbourne. 10pm. Free.

THE IANS. INDTIKO, WALLS & WAVES Hotel Esplanade (aka The Espy).

St Kilda. 7.30pm. $22.95.

AUS DANCEHALL DANCE COMP: NAARM PRELIMS Inflation Entertainment Complex. Melbourne.

6pm. $20–33.

THE ORIGINAL BNS SHOW WITH ASHANTHI, RANDHIR & UMARA Festival Hall.

West Melbourne.

5.30pm. $95.

HARRISEN HUGHES Baxter’s Lot. Fitzroy.

9pm. Free.

GRAND FINAL WEEKEND FT: Andrew Sill, Alex Hughes, DJ Alee, The Lonely Weekenders The Bay Hotel.

Mornington. 5.45pm.

PIAF–A TRIBUTE FT:

Noria Letts

Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne.

6.30pm. $45.

COHEN NOIR Melbourne Recital Centre. Southbank.

7pm. $89–107.

DISGRACELAND Northcote Social Club.

Northcote. 8.30pm. $25.

CHANEL LOUISE Brunswick Artists’ Bar. Brunswick.

8.30pm. Free.

FATALE FEST

FT: Penalty, Funkytown Fish, G-String Nicotine, red40painclub

The Last Chance Rock & Roll Bar. North Melbourne.

8pm. $13.30.

INDIGO TURNS 4 New Guernica.

Collingwood.

10pm. $4–10.

FLAVOUR Northcote Theatre.

Northcote. 7pm. $57.32–129.74.

THE LISTENER LOUNGE #2 Brunswick Ballroom.

Brunswick. 8pm. $100.

ARAMINTA. KAVIITÁ, JAVIERA DIAZ Bergy Bandroom.

Brunswick. 7.30pm. $28.05.

WHAM BAM, THANK YOU JAM Motley Bauhaus.

Carlton. 9pm. Free.

NEXT NOTE Kingston Arts Centre.

Moorabbin. 2pm. $15.

LOUISE MACGREGOR DUO Edinburgh Castle Hotel.

Brunswick. 7pm.

2000S EMO NIGHT Leadbeater Hotel. Richmond.

8pm. $25.75.

BEAT 1744

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