- Details
- By Angela Evol
- Hits: 1135
Chris Masuak's Dog Soldier
+ Mick Medew and The Ursula 4
+ The Spivs
Vinnies Dive, Southport, Queensland
Sunday, 18 October 2026
Words: Angela Evol
There are gigs you enjoy, gigs you remember, and then there are those rare occasions when you find yourself in the middle of something pretty special. Sunday afternoon at Vinnies Dive was firmly in the latter category.
Chris Masuak was back on Australian soil for a ruin of 10 shows, bringing Dog Soldier to the Gold Coast on “The Shiny Side Tour.” For those of us who grew up listening to Radio Birdman, The Hitmen and Screaming Tribesmen, this was one we'd been looking forward to for a long time.
After last year's Australian tour was cancelled following Chris's emergency eye surgery, having him back onstage, guitar in hand, was reason enough to celebrate.
And celebrate we did.
- Details
- By Angela Evol
- Hits: 854
Dave Warner's From The Suburbs | 50th Anniversary Tour
Tweed Heads Civic Centre
Sunday, 11 October 2026
Words: Angela Evol
Images: LisaG Photography
I'll admit it. Until fairly recently, Dave Warner wasn't really on my musical radar.
Being a fair bit younger than much of his established fanbase, I'd somehow managed to get this far without exploring the world of Dave Warner's From The Suburbs. I'd listened to a few recordings in preparation for Sunday's gig and thought they were alright, but nothing had particularly knocked my socks off.
As it turns out, I was missing the best bit. Dave Warner is one of those performers who really needs to be experienced live.
- Details
- By John Ventoura
- Hits: 1196
The Nature Strip.
The Nature Strip
+ The Smoking Ruins
Mixtape Brewery, Marrickville
Friday, 18 September 2026
Words and Pictures: JOHN VENTOURA
It was a beautiful spring night when Marrickville’s Mix Tape Brewery played host to a very capable double bill in local legends The Nature Strip expertly supported by The Smoking Ruins.
Joined by a long-time muso friend for his initiation to the venue, I was keen to get an insider's take on the evening. For the uninitiated, Mixtape is a relatively new Inner West space building a fierce reputation for free live music.
It’s a vast, clean room offering good value craft beers, spirits, wines (even chilled reds), and quality snack food—a safe haven for like-minded company, all for zero dollars entry. Acoustically, the room is beautifully dialled in with wall dampeners and high-positioned speakers providing a rich, full sound anywhere in the room. Kudos to Jeff, whose tablet-controlled mix was of a pleasingly high standard all night.
- Details
- By Angela Evol
- Hits: 1569
Budge from La Fetts. Mark Chandler photo.
La Fetts
+ Rioting Revolver
+ The Spivs
+ Beef Mountain
The Burrow, Prince of Wales Hotel, Ipswich
September 19, 2026
Words: ANGELA EVOL
Photos: MARK CHANDLER & ANGELA EVOL
It was 32 degrees Celsius which is fairly standard Ipswich Spring weather and The Burrow felt like someone had put a stage under a classic Queenslander house and forgotten to install the air-conditioning.
Located beneath the Prince of Wales Hotel, The Burrow is a relatively new live-music space with a low roof, an open side and the relaxed feel of a backyard gig. This was a free Saturday matinee, running from noon until six, with four very different bands and a small but appreciative crowd.
- Details
- By Angela Evol
- Hits: 1708
Love City Radio.
Love City Radio
+ The Spivs
+ Gav Doniger
Iron & Resin Garage, Currumbin, Queensland
Friday, September 18, 2026
Words and photos by ANGELA EVOL
Currumbin’s Iron & Resin is not a purpose-built music venue. It is a working motorcycle garage with a restaurant and performance space attached, housed in what feels more like a big tin shed. Vintage motorcycles and motoring ephemera are dotted around the place, giving it plenty of character and making it a fitting setting for a night of loud guitars and rock and roll.
There are lots of people in early tonight and the mood is upbeat and friendly from the beginning. Each act pushes the evening a little further, moving from mellow to bold and, finally, a bit mental.
- Details
- By Angela Evol
- Hits: 1851
The Darts (US)
+ The Spivs
+ Jollee
Vinnies Dive Bar
Southport, Queensland, Australia
Wednesday, September 9, 2026
Words: ANGELA EVOL
Photos: MARK CHANDLER
Wednesday nights are not traditionally the stuff of rock ’n’ roll legend, particularly at a venue that doesn’t usually put bands on midweek. Someone forgot to tell the Gold Coast.
The opening night of The Darts’ first Australian tour sold out Vinnies Dive Bar and filled the room with a crowd ready to make a night of it. By the time the headliners appeared, there was no standing around waiting to be convinced. Vinnies was hot, packed and ready for trouble.
There had already been plenty of trouble before anyone played a note, although nobody in the audience would have known it.
- Details
- By Ashley Thomson
- Hits: 1426
The Damned
Sydney Opera House
Sydney, NSW, Australia
September 10 2026
Words: ASHLEY THOMSON
Images" CELIA CURTIS
As a young teen, then living on the southside of Brisvegas, I listened to this fledgling radio station run outta the Uni called 4ZZZ. Michael Finucan was doing the heavy lifting of the morning show and introduced me to all this modern high energy music coming out locally and from all around the world, one of those being a punk band called The Damned.
I brought The Damned records from an import record shop in the city and was duly impressed. along with the overall sound I was transfixed by the huge cacophony of the drumming, this wasn’t your dads Ringo Starr, this cunt literally sounded like the Tasmanian Devil on speed. Impressive.
- Details
- By The Barman
- Hits: 702
Huxton Creepers
The Johnnys
Marrickville Bowling Club. NSW
Saturday 15 August 2026
Does anyone other than a few snobby reviewers (hand raised here) and Aussie music publicist-cum-label-owner Dave Laing use the term “power pop” anymore? As unfashionable as the music it describes might be to algorithm-powered playlist curators, it doesn’t matter much what you call it, the visceral appeal of a guitar-fuelled hook married to a melody line to move anyone who bothers to listen is still intact.
Huxton Creepers are a case study. From a period overflowing with bands remembered as “the ones that got away” (the glorious mid ‘80s), Huxton Creepers have more claim than most to the descriptor “shoulda beens”.
- Details
- By The Barman
- Hits: 1204
The New Christs
+ Jupiter 5
+ The Stallers
Marrickville Bowling Club, NSW
Friday, 19 June 2026
WORDS & IMAGES: The Barman
When does a band cross the line from having notoriety to being an institution? At what point does rock and roll cease being venal and become venerable? If a full-house for the New Christs on a Friday night in Sydney doesn’t raise these questions and more, you’re probably not over-thinking things enough.
We’re not talking about “playing things safe” and an audience becoming overly familiar as a band goes through the motions. If you want that, go to a Dragon gig. This is about when an audience make a band its own, accepting what it dishes up and extracting a little more as the on-stage energy feeds back becomes a loop
Melbourne values its live music and the people who play it. Sydney, not so much. Gig-going’s no longer in our blood and it's too simple to blame the pokies. We see a show advertiswed, feign interest, give a “going” click to a Facebook event, but if there’s the sniff of precipitation in the wintry air, we retreat into to our bolt-holes and stream six-part Netflix doccos. What the fuck is wrong with us?
- Short not sweet: Lydia Lunch brings Suicide and Vega's songs to Sydney
- Beastly line-up makes for a Sacred night in Sydney
- No need for the drug that killed River Phoenix as Full Flower Moon Band owns Melbourne
- Smith has a TV eye on the world
- TV Smith (and the Hard-Ons) deliver Down Under
- Sydney gets a ride on Guitar Wolf's Jet (and its another win for Japan)
Send us stuff to review
PO Box 334
Oatley NSW
2223 Australia
Get in touch: barman@i94bar.com
The Living Eye
Negative Approach (US)
Australian Tour
OCT
29 - The Baso, Canberra, ACT
30 - La La La’s, Wollongong, NSW
31 - The Chippo, Sydney, NSW
NOV
6 - Vinnies Dive Bar, Southport, QLD
7 - The Brightside, Brisbane, QLD
8 - Black Box Theatre, Nambour, QLD
Tickets
Shonen Knife (Japan)
“Re-cuttin’ Australia/NZ 2026”
OCT
28 - The Baso, Canberra, ACT
+ Turnstyle + Media Puzzle
29 - Crowbar, Sydney, NSW
+ Turnstyle + Media Puzzle
30 - Keystone 1889, Bathurst, NSW
+ Turnstyle + Media Puzzle
31 - Avalon RSL, Avalon Beach, NSW
+ Turnstyle + Media Puzzle
NOV
1 - King Street, Newcastle, NSW
+ Turnstyle + Media Puzzle + Nursery Crimes
24 - Trash Cult, Eaglehawk, VIC
7 – 8 Tidal Sounds Music Festival
w/ Hard-Ons, Bodyjar, The Porkers,
Youth Group, The Grogans + Peach Fur and more
Hoey Moey, Coffs Harbour, NSW
New Christs
NOV
21 - The Brightside, Brisbane, QLD
+ Suicide Country Hour
+ Mick Medew & The Ursula 4
The Bawdies (JP)
“This Is The Party” Australian Tour
6 - Factory Floor, Sydney, NSW
+ PocketWatch + Jupiter 5
7 - River Rocks 2026, Geelong, VIC
8 - Bergy Bandroom, Brunswick, VIC
Tickets
Joeys Coop
NOV
29 - Junk Bar, Brisbane, QLD (arvo)
The Cribs (UK)
"Selling A Vibe" Australian Tour
OCT
4 - 170 Russell, Melbourne, VIC
5 - Factory Theatre, Sydney, NSW
6 - The Triffid, Brisbane, QLD
8 - Rosemount Hotel, Perth, WA
Mudhoney
Australia-NZ 2026
OCT
28 - Blue Smoke, Christchurch NZ
29 - Meow, Wellington NZ
30 - Totara St, Tauranga NZ -
31 - Harbour Hotel, Raglan NZ
NOV
1 - Double Whammy, Auckland NZ
The Exploding Universe of Ed Kuepper
Ed Kuepper 50 Years Retrospective
RESCHEDULED
OCT
29 - Avoca Theatre, NSW
30 - Canberra, The Street Theatre, ACT
31 - Wombarra Bowlo, NSW
NOV
4 - Adelaide, The Gov, SA
5 - Melbourne, National Theatre, VIC
6 – Geelong, Barwon Heads Hotel, VIC
7 - Sydney, Factory Theatre, NSW
(matinee & evening shows)
13 - Fremantle, Freo Social, WA
15 - Brisbane, Princess Theatre, QLD
Tickets
Reverend Horton Heat (US)
Australian Tour
NOV
11 - Crowbar, Brisbane, QLD
+ The Linelockers
+ Jake & The Cadillacs
+ DJ Lori Lee
12 - The Gov, Adelaide, SA
+ The Satellites
13 - Factory Theatre, Sydney, NSW
+ The Johnnys
+ Pat Capocci
14 - Croxton Bandroom, Melbourne, VIC
+ The Johnnys
+ Ezra Lee & Jumpin' Jethro
15 - Theatre Royal, Castlemaine, VIC
+ The Johnnys
Hoodoo Gurus
"Rewind Tour - All Killer, No Filler"
+ Ratcat
+ The Stems
NOV
28 - Hindley Street Music Hall, Adelaide, SA
DEC
1 - Ice Cream Factory, Perth, WA
5 - Tumbalong Park, Sydney, NSW
6 - Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, VIC
11 - Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane, QLD
16 - Odeon Theatre, Hobart, TAS
The Saints 73-78
UK Tour with The Damned
NOV
25 - Brighton, Dome
27 - London, British Airways ARC
28 - Bristol, Beacon
30 - Manchester, Academy
DEC
1 - Newcastle, O2 City Hall
2 - Derby, Vaillant Live Derby
5 - Birmingham, O2 Academy
The Saints 73-78
Australian Tour
JAN
21 - Newcastle, King St
+ Chimers
22 - Sydney, Metro
+ Antenna
23 - Wollongong, Waves
+ The New Christs
29 - Brisbane, Tivoli
+ Tape / Off
30 - Gold Coast, Miami Marketta
+ Mick Medew & The Ursula 4
FEB
2 - Perth, Astor
+ Last Quokka
4 - Barwon Heads, Barwon Heads Hotel
+ dB4
5 - Melbourne, Croxton
+ Public Figures
Public Image Ltd
Australia and NZ
JAN
20 - Auckland, Powerstation
22 - Brisbane, The Tivoli
23 - Sydney, Enmore Theatre
24 - Melbourne, The Forum
26 – Adelaide, The Gov
28 - Perth, The Astor
"Superpussy 2"
The Supersuckers
+ Nashville Pussy
+ Nine Pound Hammer
FEB 2027
18 - Crowbar, Brisbane, QLD
19 - Mo's Desert Clubhouse, Gold Coast, QLD
20 - Crowbar, Sydney, NSW
24 - Ed Castle, Adelaide, SA
26 - Barwon Club, Geelong, VIC
27 - Croxton Bandroom, Melbourne, VIC
28 - Young Street Tavern, Frankston, VIC
Respect The Rock Australian Tour
The Hellacopters + Gluecifier
MARCH
17 – Brisbane, The Triffid
18 – Sydney, Manning Bar
19 – Melbourne, The Croxton
20 – Adelaide, Ed Castle
Tickets
Fresh Reviews
-
Pete Ross and Susy Sapphire deliver a gem
27 October 2026
-
Kennedy's Collaborations bear fruit
04 October 2026
-
Easy Action delivers another Stooges hit job
29 September 2026
-
The prank's on Mark E. Smith (but he's having the last posthumous laugh)
28 September 2026
-
It's not too late to take a chance on Perth's Volcanics
20 September 2026