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Lest We Forget: Sydney salutes The Stems

_{Dom Mariani and Jules Matthews.}

The Stems
The Rinehearts
Sydney Crowbar
Thursday, April 24, 2025

An annual run of shows by The Stems should be inscribed indelibly on the Australian musical calendar. Better still, make it bi-annual.

Last year, The Stems notched their 40th anniveresary and marked it with gigs all around Australia, and a tour of Europe. This show, on the eve of Anzac Day, the national day of remembrance, brought out a crop of (mostly) rock and roll soldiers, keen to relive their 1980s youth. All looked comfortable in the knowledge that a public holiday the next morning meant most wouldn’t have to front up at a workplace.

More than most of their peers, The Stems have a sound that’s timeless. Rooted in the ‘60s, riddled with hooks and melodies, the songs ride on the back of a powerful engine room of co-founders Jules Matthews and Dave Shaw, wrapped in Dom Mariani’s rich vocal and peppered by guitars.
The Stems cast a spell in Sydney

_{Murray Bennett photo.}

The Stems
+ New Christs
Manning Bar, Sydney
Saturday, August 30, 2024
Photos: Tony McNamara unless otherwisde credited.

Shows by The Stems are reverential experiences, And for good reason. The band’s membership is scattered over two coasts of Australia and gigs don’t occur often. When they do, you know they're going to be something worth bottling.

What’s the special sauce? It’s Dom Mariani’s timeless pop songs being delivered by top-shelf players who have a chemistry that can only come from most of them playing together for years.

The foundation is Mariani on guitar and vocals, drummer Dave Shaw and bassist Julian Matthews, with a guitar foil of Ash Naylor(this tour) or Davey Lane, who are both ubiquitous and gifted in equal measures.

As far as recordings go, The Stems have not been prolific, with just two full-length studio albums since 1987, so it’s all about the quality and not the length. Their first LP, “At First Sight Violets Are Blue”, was a fully formed pop classic, and the 2007 “follow-up”, “Heads Up”, was substantial in its own right, although is not as well-known.

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I-94 Bar Records and Promotions presents
“May Mayhem”
The Jane Does
+ Jupiter 5
+ Moot
+ The Strike-Outs
(playing order TBD on the night)
Marrickville Bowling Club
- May 3

Missing Link # 5
The Bluebottles
+ The Wraylettes
+ Honk
+ The Missing Link Band
Shotkickers, Thornbury, VIC
- May 3

Mike Rudd + Tim Gaze
MAY
2 - The Citadel, Murwillumbah, NSW
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3 - The Junk Bar, Brisbane, QLD
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4 - Banshees Bar, Ipswich, QLD
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The Cruel Sea
"Straight Into The Sun Tour"
MAY
1 - Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide SA
2 - Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne VIC
3 - Canberra Theatre, Canberra
16 - Anita’s Theatre, Wollongong NSW
18 - The Tivoli, Fortitude Valley QLD
31 - City Recital Hall, Sydney NSW
JUN
5 - The Regal Theatre, Perth WA
7 - Mandurah Performing Arts Centre, Mandurah WA.
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I-94 Bar Records and Promotions presents
The Johnnys
"Live in Lyon" CD launches
MAY
+ Van Ruin
Old Manly Boatshed, NSW
-24
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+ Van Ruin
+ Dave Favours & The Roadside Ashes
Sydney Crowbar, Leichhardt, NSW
- 25 (5pm)
+ Australian Beefweek (public bar)
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+ Murray’s Bay Country Club
+ Traumaboys
St Kilda Bowls Club, VIC
- 30
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+ Penny Ikinger’s Marbles
+ The Vibrajets
- 31 The Tote, VIC
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The Mick Medew & Ursula 4
w/ Painters & Dockers
+ Sunny Coast Rude Boys
The Triffid, Brisbane
- May 24

Los Monaros + Men From UNCLE
+ Flippin’ Kick Outs
MoshPit, St Peters, NSW
- May 25
(3pm)

The Blowers
MAY
AUS
9 - Adelaide - Grace Emily Hotel
w/ HAGO +
Juliette Seizure & The Tremor-Dolls
10 - Adelaide - TBC
w/ Street Legal
+ TGRX
EU
21 - GER – Leipzig, Zwille, Germany
22 - GER – Dortmund, Maschinerie, Germany
23 - BE – Liège, La Zone, Belgium
24 - NL – Den Haag, Sniester Festival, Netherlands
25 - BE – Menen, Boegie Woegie, Belgium
27 - GER – Karlsruhe, Alte Hackerei, Germany
28 - CH – Basel, Quarterdeck, Switzeland
29 - GER – Köln, Bumann & Sohn, Germany
30 - GER – Hamburg, Hafenklang, Germany
31 - GER – Berlin, Loge, Germany
JUN
AUS
20 - Shotkickers, Melb
21 - Trash Cult, Bendigo
09 - Grace Emily, Adelaide
10 - The Cumby, Port Adellaide

The Johnny Batchelor Pary
Golden Barley Hotel, Enmore
- Jun 14 (free)

The Mezcaltones
Marrickville Bowlo
- Jun 15
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Cherie Currie
Australian Tour
with Hot Machine
SEP
5 - Rosemount, Perth
6 - Crown and Anchor, Adelaide
11 - The Corner Hotel, Melbourne
12 – Sydney Crowbar
13 – Brisbane Crowbar
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Dead Kennedys
Australia and NZ
SEP
16 - Auckland, Powerstation
17 - Wellington, Meow Nui
19 – Melbourne, Northcote Theatre
20 - Brisbane, Tivoli
24 - Perth, Astor Theatre
26 - Adelaide, The Gov
27 - Sydney, Metro Theatre
Tickets