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melbourne books

  • i ll be goneI’ll Be Gone: Mike Rudd, Spectrum and How One Song Captured a Generation

    By Craig Horne (
Melbourne Books)

    Craig Horne’s biography of New Zealand-born musician Mike Rudd comes with a lofty sub-titular proposition: "How One Song Captured a Generation". That song is Spectrum’s chart-topping 1971 hit, "I’ll Be Gone".

    Horne’s biography is a valuable contribution to Australasian musical history. While Rudd’s trajectory as a musician and songwriter is common to many musicians, Horne’s methodical research and oral history charts the highs and lows of Rudd’s career in impressive detail.

    Save for a few cursory mentions in John Dix’s chaotic history of New Zealand music, “Stranded in Paradise”, Rudd’s Christchurch r’n’b band, Chants (or Chants R’n’B), the frenetic band whose parochial popularity provided the basis for Rudd’s move across the Tasman in the late 1960s, is largely absent from the pages of musical history.

    Rudd’s tenure in Ross Wilson’s Party Machine, covered previously in Horne’s biography of Daddy Cool, is recounted from a more nuanced, Rudd-oriented perspective. Spectrum rises, plateaus, recalibrates and fades away. Ariel teeters on the edge of commercial success, only for the record company to lose interest.

  • spirits of the hoey bookSpirits Of The Hoey. A Love Letter To The Hopetoun Hotel
    By Liz Giuffre and Gregory Ferris
    Images by Bryan Cook
    Melbourne Books

    By The Barman

    Love letters aren’t meant to be literary works; they’re words from the heart. That’s as apt as any descriptor for “Spirits Of The Hoey”, a 208-page softcover ode to a Sydney pub that closed its doors 16 years ago.

    Every city should have a Hoey. Back in the ‘80s and ‘90s, Sydney had a few of them. I was always more of an Excelsior person, but The Hoey had something that it and other pubs lacked (maybe with the eventual exception of The Sando at Newtown) and that was a clientele that regarded it as a second home.

    Back then, cheap rents and plentiful run-down inner-city housing meant the Sydney underground musical scene’s nexus was a handful of postcodes spanning Darlinghurst, Surry Hills and maybe Paddington.

    You could have thrown a blanket over them (preferably black - as someone sonce said, it wasn't a colour but a way of life.) The Hoey was “the local” for many musicians in the scene. It may not have been Ground Zero for the city's underground rock but you could see it from there.  

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The Living Eye


Right eye
The New Christs
+ Jupiter 5
+ The Stallers
Marrickville Bowlo, Sydney
- June 19
Tickets

Sister Paul (JP)
Australian Tour
MAY
21 - Kindred Studios, Yarraville, VIC (lunchtime)
22 – Medusa, Geelong, VIC
23 - Trash Cult, Eaglehawk, VIC
24 - Social Club Balnarring, Balnarring, VIC
25 - Northcote Social Club, Nothcote, VIC
28 - The Espanade Hotel, St Kilda, VIC
29 - The Painted Lady, Ballarat, VIC
30 - The Belgrave Hotel, Belgrave, VIC
Tickets

Black Flag
Australian Tour 2026
MAY
30 – Crowbar, Brisbane
31 – Vinnies Dive Bar, Gold Coast, QLD
Tickets

Lydia Lunch
The Songs of Suicide and Alan Vega
featuring Andrew Coates (Black Cab)
JUN
14 - Meow, Wellington, NZ (as part of Lōemis)
17 - The Tote, Melbourne (with Black Cab)
+ Belle Phoenix & Jeffrey Wegener
18 -  The Tote, Melbourne (with Black Cab) 
+ Tongue Dissolver
20 - Brisbane Powerhouse, Brisbane
21 - Factory Floor, Sydney
+ Rebel Yell
24 - Ed Castle, Adelaide
+ Messianic Gloss
25 - The Milk Bar, Perth
+ Streets of Separation
Tickets

FEAR
Australian tour
JUNE
26 - Marrickville Bowlo - Sydney
27 - Thrashville Festival - Hunter Valley
28 - La La Las - Wollongong
JULY
3 - The Tote - Melbourne
4 - Vinnies Dive Bar - Gold Coast
5 - The Brightside - Brisbane
Tickets

Indie Sounds of the Harbour City Vol 2
Launch Tour
JUL
3 - Dissent Bar, Canberra ACT
4 - Ryans Hotel, Thirroul
5 - The Marlin Hotel, Ulladulla
10 - Hamilton Station Hotel, Newcastle
11 - Six String, Erina
12 - Deadsset, Darlinghurst, Sydney
17 - Lou Lou Room, Wynnum, QLD
18 - Coffs Harbour Hotel, Coffs Harbour, NSW
19 - Blah Bar, Lismore, NSW
24 - Crowbar Sydney
25 - Vi-Nil HQ, Ourimbah, NSW
26 - Link & Pin, Woy Woy, NSW
31 - The Vic, Orange, NSW
AUG
1 - Crossroads, Dubbo, NSW
7 - Diamond Dogs, Dapto, NSW
8 - Wings & Tins, Dee Why, NSW

Amammoth + None For One
+ Old Heathens + Buzz Wagon
+ The Limited + Headspacer
+ My Velvet Exit
Lazy Thinking, Dulwich Hill, NSW
2.30-11PM
- July 25 

Smoked Salmon
Totally Sick!! Tour
JULY
24 - Mojo's, Fremantle, WA
25 - Prince of Wales, Bunbury, WA
31 - Bridge Hotel, Castlemaine, VIC 
AUG
1 - Shotkickers, Thornbury, VIC 
2 - Wheatsheaf, Adelaide, SA 
6 - La La La's, Wollongong, NSW 
7 - Petersham Bowling Club, Petersham , NSW 
8 - Link & Pin, Woy Woy, NSW 
9 - The Oak Tighes Hill, Newcastle, NSW
(free)
14 - Tanswells, Beechworth, VIC
(free)
15 - Smiths Alternative, Canberra, ACT    
21 - Republic Bar, Hobart, TAS 
22 - Royal Oak, Launceston, TAS 
28 - Junk Bar, Brisbane, QLD 
29 - Blah Bar, Lismore, NSW 
30 - Cabarita Beach Club, Cabarita, NSW (free)    
SEP
4 - Young St Tavern, Frankston, VIC 

The Exploding Universe of Ed Kuepper
Ed Kuepper 50 Years Retrospective
JULY
30 - Avoca Theatre #
31 - Canberra, The Street
AUG
1 - Wombarra Bowlo
6 - Adelaide, The Gov 
8 - Melbourne, National Theatre 
9 - Barwon Heads Hotel 
15 - Fremantle, Freo Social
20 - Brisbane, The Princess
21 - Coffs Harbour, The Jetty Theatre
22 - Murwillumbah, Regent Theatre
27 - Sydney, Enmore Theatre 
Tickets

Huxton Creepers
12 Days To Paris Tour
AUG
7 - Sooki Lounge, Belgrave, VIC
+ Icecream Hands 
8 - Croxton Bandroom, Thornbury, VIC 
+ Icecream Hands  
14 - Marrickville Bowling Club, NSW
+ The Johnnys  
15 - Marrickville Bowling Club, NSW
+ The Johnnys
16 - Hamilton Station Hotel, Newcastle, NSW
(afternoon show)
+ The Johnnys 
21 - Norton Music Factory,
Caloundra, QLD
+ The Johnnys  
22 -  Crowbar Brisbane, QLD
+ The Johnnys
+ Mick Medew and Ursula 
23 - Wallaby Hotel, Mudgeeraba, QLD
(afternoon show)
+ The Johnnys 

The Damned
Final Damnation 50
Australia and New Zealand
SEP
8 - AUCKLAND, Powerstation
10 - SYDNEY, The Opera House
11 - BRISBANE, The Tivoli
13 - MELBOURNE, The Forum
Tickets
Pre-sale: Wednesday April 22d at 9:00am Local
General Public: Friday April 24 at 9:00am Local

 

 

 

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