Old Bar Country Sunday
Sunday October 4th, The Old Bar hosts country expansionists Rodeo Sideshow and dedicated purveyors of honkytonk to the gentry, Round the Outside in an afternoon of all-singing, all-dancing, good-time cryin’ in yer beer songs from 4pm. All happening in downtown Fitzroy, 74 Johnston St.
Abeny Hayes
A night of incredible local female Melbourne artists celebrating the launch of ‘Deathbed Confessional’ , a new indie alt-rock EP exploring the tension between feminine rage and acceptance.
Joining me for the night are two of the most talented acts Melbourne has to offer:
Hannah and the Heartstrings – A folk/rock force with a gripping sound and transformative live experience.
Aubany – Aubany introduces a deeply introspective sound, blending ambient electronic textures with raw vocals to explore identity and emotion.
Melbourne is getting a 13-storey mural opposite Flinders Street Station
The 13-storey artwork is going up on Clement House at 238–242 Flinders Street, with Adnate suspended on a swing stage over one of the busiest corners in the city. Juddy Roller is commissioning, curating and producing the piece for Mushroom Creative House, and the whole thing has been pulled together in roughly 21 days from the first phone call to the intended finish line.
That timeline gets even sharper when you clock where it started. The original pitch was a modest two-storey mural, and there wasn’t even a wall locked in for it. A drive through town shifted the plan, attention landed on the towering blank facade of Clement House, and a small commission became a 13-storey proposition with the clock already running.
The Melbourne Flinders Street mural
- Who: Adnate, produced by Juddy Roller for Mushroom Creative House
- Where: Clement House, 238–242 Flinders Street, Melbourne, opposite Flinders Street Station
- When: Underway now, with completion targeted for 20 September
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Getting Adnate onto the building took a lot more than a ladder and some paint. Engineering had to be finalised and signed off, permits secured, and a suspended swing stage designed, mobilised and installed before a single brushstroke could land. Michael Griffin and the crew at Rigid Scaffolding fast-tracked the swing-stage engineering, while the neighbouring Lendlease construction site proved crucial, with site manager Gavin Sheane-Smith craning the equipment into position and rescuing days nobody had to spare. Backing also came from the Victorian government, the Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority and the City of Melbourne.
Adnate’s Melbourne pedigree
This isn’t Adnate’s first vertigo-inducing job for Juddy Roller. Back in 2018 the pair covered a 20-storey tower at the Collingwood Housing Estate with portraits of four residents, at the time the tallest mural in the Southern Hemisphere. Clement House brings a fresh test, with thousands of commuters watching each field of colour appear in real time and precisely nowhere to hide a slip.
Juddy Roller founder and creative director Shaun Hossack has called the commission one of the most intense the studio has taken on, noting that work of this size would normally get months of planning rather than weeks, and that the weight has fallen especially hard on Adnate. As for the subject, the face at the centre of it all is still firmly under wraps, with the studio only confirming that it celebrates an Australian icon landing ahead of one of the most cherished weekends on the national calendar. Until those abstract blocks of colour resolve into something recognisable, the city will have to keep guessing.
For more information, head here.
Melbourne just scored a brand new green space right outside ACCA
The City of Melbourne has converted more than 900 square metres of paving outside the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art into landscaped public grounds. Where a sandy, hard-surfaced forecourt used to sit, there are now native trees and wildflowers, fresh lawn, spots to sit, a mural and new lighting, all opened up for anyone to wander into.
You’ll find the new pocket on the corner of Sturt and Grant streets, right on the doorstep of one of the city’s busiest arts venues. It’s the freshest green space to land in Southbank since the Dodds Street Linear Park, in a suburb where breathing room has long been scarce. For workers, gallery-goers and locals, it’s somewhere to sit down for five minutes rather than cut across another stretch of pavement.
ACCA forecourt green space
- What: New public green space on the ACCA forecourt
- Where: Corner of Sturt and Grant streets, Southbank
- Opened: 17 September
- Entry: Free
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The revamp is one slice of the council’s plan to grow Melbourne into a garden city, adding parkland in a neighbourhood that already ranks as its most densely packed and keeps getting busier. Swapping concrete for greenery is also meant to pull a little heat out of a part of town that soaks up plenty of it.
Cash for the work came through the Victorian government’s Better Parks and Playgrounds Program and its Community Support Fund. The forecourt now joins wrapped-up projects such as Boyd Park and the Dodds Street Linear Park, while a bigger overhaul of Southbank Boulevard rolls on nearby.
And the council isn’t done with Southbank yet. City Road Undercroft Park is on the cards, alongside expansions of the Miles and Dodds Street Reserve and the Normanby Road Reserve, as it keeps nibbling away at the suburb’s long-running shortage of open space.
For more information, head here.
This punk fundraiser wants to save Melbourne’s public housing towers
Punks for Public Housing is crashing into the Corner Hotel with a huge bill and a properly serious cause.
Presented by Double Time Touring, Stop The Demo and 44 Flats United, Punks for Public Housing pulls a wildly eclectic run of acts together under one loud, punk-minded banner. Teaser Pony, FROB, Dragnet, Screensaver, Loose Tooth, Ausecuma Beats, Tongue Dissolver and Banoffee are all on the roster, alongside a secret headliner the organisers are refusing to name until the doors shut behind you. Once the bands clear the stage, DJ sets from DJVM, Shouse and Total Giovanni will keep the room moving well into the small hours.
Punks for Public Housing
- Corner Hotel, Richmond
- 6 November 2026
- Doors 4pm
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The whole thing exists to raise money for 44 Flats United, a grassroots collective of current and former public tenants working to organise residents across the city’s high-rise towers. Expect the day to blur the line between gig and rally, with a shot at meeting the people steering the campaign, or simply rocking up for the music and having a boogie.
The demolition fight has been simmering since 2023, when the Victorian government revealed plans to tear down all of the state’s high-rise public housing towers. A parliamentary inquiry has since called for an immediate stop to the works, yet the schedule has rolled on regardless. Campaigners behind the event say the plan will uproot more than 15,000 Victorians, and that swathes of the freed-up land are set to be leased to private developers for as little as $1 a year.
Stop The Demo, one of the presenters, describes itself as a coalition of workers from across the social and community services sector pushing to keep public housing in public hands. The night sits squarely inside that broader wave of community resistance to the tower rollout.
Doors open at 4pm, and the early birds are the ones with the best shot at the raffle, which is loaded with prizes and sold only in the room on the night. First Nations people and social housing tenants can claim free entry by emailing [email protected]. The gig is billed as an accessible event, so contact the Corner Hotel directly for any access details before you head down.
For more information, head here.
The Hayley Williams Show is landing in Australia for two intimate nights
Emo kids and Paramore lifers, mark your calendars: Hayley Williams is finally bringing her solo show to Australia.
The Hayley Williams Show gathers up tracks from all three of the singer’s solo records, along with what’s being teased as a handful of surprises. It kicked off in Florida this month and has already sold out marquee US spots including New York’s Forest Hills Stadium and the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, part of a wider run of North and Central American dates stretching into 2026 and 2027.
This won’t be Williams’ first Australian visit. She was last here in 2023 fronting Paramore’s east coast dates, including a Domain show in Sydney that pulled upwards of 25,000 heads, the band’s biggest headline crowd to date.
For the Australian leg, Williams is keeping the rooms small. Rather than the arenas Paramore filled last time round, the show heads into the Forum in Melbourne and the Enmore in Sydney, a pair of theatres that top out well short of stadium capacity.
The Hayley Williams Show
- 10 February – Enmore Theatre, Sydney (licensed, all ages)
- 17 February – Forum, Melbourne (18+)
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.
Tickets aren’t going the usual way for this one. Frontier Touring has set up a verified registration to keep seats out of the hands of bots and resellers, and it’s live right now. Registration opened at 8am AEST on 18 September and shuts at 8am AEST on 20 September, with every entry weighted the same no matter when it comes through.
Fans picked at random will be sent a unique unlock code by 5pm AEST on 21 September, and anyone who misses out will hear back by the same deadline. From there, the chance to purchase opens at 10am AEST on 22 September. Registration is happening over at hayleywilliams.hq.fan/thws-australia.
Away from Paramore, Williams has three solo albums to her name. The latest, Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party, arrived on her own Post Atlantic Records (through Secretly Distribution) and its 20 tracks picked up four nominations at the last GRAMMYs. She’s a three-time GRAMMY winner across her Paramore years, and once ranked 13th on Billboard’s 50 Greatest Rock Singers list.
For more information, head here.
Victoria’s Pride returns with 15 regional events and a massive street party
Victoria’s Pride is back for 2027 with 15 regional events statewide and a street party sprawling across Fitzroy and Collingwood.
The Regional Events Program pulls together 15 locally led projects commissioned by Victoria’s Pride, each spotlighting LGBTQIA+ life well beyond the inner city. Expect queer songwriting and poetry in Beechworth, cosplay and creature creation in Bendigo, photography out in the Mallee and a dive into LGBTQIA+ history across the Wimmera.
Victoria’s Pride 2027
- Victoria’s Pride Street Party – 7 February 2027, Gertrude and Smith streets, Fitzroy and Collingwood
- Midsumma Pride March – 31 January 2027, Fitzroy Street, St Kilda
- Midsumma Festival 2027 – 17 January to 7 February 2027
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.
The idea is to hand the mic to regional artists, creatives and communities so they can build new work, swap stories and celebrate queer life close to home, rather than trekking to the capital for it. Those projects all funnel towards the big one: the annual Victoria’s Pride Street Party, taking over the Gertrude and Smith Street precinct that straddles Fitzroy and Collingwood, and closing out the Midsumma Festival 2027 calendar in early February.
The party isn’t the only date worth circling. Midsumma Pride March marches back into St Kilda on 31 January, sending more than 10,000 people down Fitzroy Street while spectators pack the footpaths and balconies to cheer the whole thing along.
Registration for Pride March 2027 is open now and it won’t cost you a cent, whether you’re rocking up as a group or flying solo. Sign-ups stay open until November 2026, giving you a decent window to wrangle your crew and lock in a spot.
The lot sits inside Midsumma Festival 2027, running from 17 January to 7 February, with the Collingwood and Fitzroy street party bringing the curtain down on the season.
For more information, head here.
Cult NZ favourite Princess Chelsea is finally touring Australia this October
Princess Chelsea is finally crossing the Tasman for her debut Australian shows, seven-piece band The Dream Warriors in tow.
A songwriter, producer and visual artist, Princess Chelsea has spent years building a world of her own out of Auckland, folding orchestral flourishes and off-kilter pop into a sound she calls baroque-pop. Her homemade music videos do half the work, handing her a DIY look that’s become instantly recognisable. For plenty of listeners she’s still the voice behind viral hit The Cigarette Duet, though the show has grown well past any one track.
The awards have piled up to match. She recently collected Best Alternative Artist at the New Zealand Music Awards, along with the Taite Music Prize, her country’s answer to the Mercury Prize. Runs through Europe, the United States and Mexico have earned The Dream Warriors a name as one of New Zealand’s most gripping live acts, with a set that’s performed start to finish without backing tracks and rarely lands where you’d guess.
Princess Chelsea
- The Lansdowne Hotel, Sydney – 1 October
- The Thornbury Theatre, Melbourne – 3 October
- Yours & Owls Festival, Wollongong – 4 October
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.
The Melbourne date lands at The Thornbury Theatre on 3 October, one of the roomier spots in town for a show like this. It’s an 18+ affair, so plan accordingly.
Before that, Princess Chelsea kicks the tour off at the Lansdowne Hotel in Sydney on 1 October, then wraps at Yours & Owls Festival in Wollongong on 4 October. The whole run is presented by Yours & Owls, the outfit behind the festival and a string of independent venues dotted up the east coast.
There’s already a taste of what’s coming. The band recently filmed a live session inside Abbey Road Studios in London, cramming the famous Studio Two with hundreds of balloons and the kind of technicolour staging Princess Chelsea builds everything around. Expect that same over-the-top spirit to travel south.
For more information, head here.
A mysterious new four-room techno club just opened in Melbourne
Sitting at 2 Geddes Lane in the heart of naarm, ark keeps things refreshingly lean: one room, one night each week, entry from $15 and a 10pm start that pushes til late. There’s a members’ list, a birthday list and a group chat for the people who keep turning up, plus a low-key nudge for first-timers to scope out the lane before they rock up.
ark
- Where: ark, 2 Geddes Lane, Melbourne
- When: weekly, 10pm til late
- Tickets: from $15
- 19 September – Claire O’Brien, Human Movement, Prizefight, Tangerine, Afrodisiac
- 26 September – Cotto, Luke Hovey, Papa Nugs, Black Dave, Eva
- 3 October – TWIENA, Mikalah Watego
- 31 October – Guy Contact, DJ Luv You
- 7 November – Crÿbaby, MASSI., Harry Connell
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The history
- Basement
- Section One
- Skyline
- Helm
The bluestone building on Geddes Lane dates to the 1850s and has cycled through several lives, most famously as the Grainstore Tavern, a live music institution that ran through the 80s and into the 90s. Tina Arena, INXS, Daryl Braithwaite and Little River Band all worked the stage there, and it’s the spot where John Farnham launched Whispering Jack, with the Chain Reaction clip shot on site.
From there the room swung in a very different direction, spending years as adult venue Showgirls Bar 20 before chef Shannon Bennett and developer Lorenz Grollo took it over in 2018 and relaunched it as live music space Geddes Lane Ballroom. ark is the newest chapter, handing the same walls over to a weekly club night.
The program
The bookings spread across the coming months, mixing local names with a few flown in from further afield. ark has already locked in Papa Nugs from the UK and TWIENA out of the Netherlands, sitting them alongside a rotating cast of homegrown DJs. Its booking policy is charmingly blunt too, inviting artists to send three links with the promise that the people behind the decks read every single one. A couple of upcoming bills are still sitting under question marks, which only adds to the after-dark intrigue.
The opening run is already stacked. 19 September brings Claire O’Brien, Human Movement, Prizefight, Tangerine and Afrodisiac across the venue, with a separate basement programme rounding out the night. The week after, Cotto, Luke Hovey, Papa Nugs, Black Dave and Eva take the reins on 26 September.
October keeps the pressure on. TWIENA and Mikalah Watego land on 3 October, before a fully mystery bill on 24 October that ark is holding back for now. Guy Contact and DJ Luv You then see out the month on 31 October, closing a busy stretch of programming.
Looking a little further down the track, 7 November pairs Crÿbaby, MASSI. and Harry Connell with one more name still to be revealed. With a fresh lineup each week and the calendar already stretching into November, ark is quietly adding another destination to Melbourne’s late-night map.
For more information, head here.
The Temper Trap and BENEE lead Good Gumnuts as it turns five
The birthday edition of Good Gumnuts Festival sets up at the Agriplex in pataway/Burnie from 5 to 7 March 2027, cramming three days of live music, art and camping into one coastal weekend. Dune Rats, Example, Luca Brasi, Meg Mac, Vera Blue and Winston Surfshirt fill out the top of the bill.
It’s a long way from where things kicked off. Directors Harry Badcock and Charlotte Grey first threw a small do for their wedding anniversary, roped in friends and family, and watched a supposed one-off snowball into an annual fixture on the Coast.
Good Gumnuts Festival 2027
- What: Good Gumnuts Festival 2027, headlined by The Temper Trap and BENEE
- When: 5 to 7 March 2027
- Where: Agriplex, 329 Ridgley Highway, Romaine, pataway/Burnie, lutruwita/Tasmania
- Presale: 23 September 2026, 9am AEST, for registered punters
- General sale: 28 September 2026, 9am AEST
- Tickets and registration: goodgumnutsfestival.com.au
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.
The middle of the poster stacks up nicely too, with Babe Rainbow, Betty Taylor, Dear Sunday, Kinder, PARK RD, Press Club, The Slims, Sycco, Teenage Joans, Vanilla Gorilla and WAAX all making the trip south.
Keep scrolling and you’ll find Big Alcatraz, BOCCE, Charlie Woods, Chatters, CHEAP-SKATE, COFFEY, DENNI, Exit Plan, Iris and The 99 Bends, LOVELOVELOVE, Lune Ranger, Panned To The Sloman, Runyamouth, Saint-Tropez, Shorehaven, Spici Water, Spooky Eyes, STRAY, Swords Bros., Tasha Zappala and Woolton. Badcock and Grey shaped the roster from top to bottom, and flag Betty Taylor, The Slims and PARK RD as names worth circling.
For the uninitiated, Good Gumnuts is an independent, all-ages music and arts event, so there’s plenty to stumble across between sets and camp among for the weekend. This edition also brings a first for the festival: a limited run of VIP tickets for anyone chasing a comfier way to do the three days.
Presale opens 23 September 2026 at 9am AEST for those who’ve registered, before general sale lands 28 September 2026 at the same hour. The whole thing rolls out with triple j in its corner.
For more information, head here.
Gavin Wanganeen is heading to Brunswick Ballroom for an intimate footy chat
Brunswick Ballroom is hosting Premierships, Purpose & Family: Gavin Wanganeen, an intimate lunch event with the AFL legend.
Held on 25 September, Premierships, Purpose & Family: Gavin Wanganeen will see the dual premiership player and Brownlow Medallist reflect on his journey through September football, leadership and life beyond footy.
Guests can expect stories from Wanganeen’s remarkable career, covering everything from the highs of grand final glory to the pressure and grit required to succeed at the top level.
Premierships, Purpose & Family: Gavin Wanganeen
- 12pm, 25 September, 2026
- Brunswick Ballroom, Melbourne
- Tickets here
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.
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Beyond the footy talk, the conversation will also dig into leadership, courage and what it takes to balance a high-profile career with family life.
The event will be followed by an audience-curated Q&A session, with punters encouraged to submit questions when purchasing tickets, or flag one down with the team on the day.
Ticket options include General Admission, or punters can go all-in with a luncheon package, which comes with a three-course meal and a spot of pre-show footy trivia to get the room warmed up before Wanganeen takes the mic.
It’s all for a good cause too, with every dollar raised going to Berry Street, an organisation supporting mothers, children and families in need, along with disability services across the state. So along with a laugh, a feed and some serious AFL storytelling, guests will be putting money toward a cause doing real work in the community.
Whether you’re a die-hard footy fan or just after a fun midweek lunch with a bit of substance behind it, this one’s shaping up to be a beauty.
For more information, head here.
This article was made in partnership with Brunswick Ballroom.