In Melbourne's live music landscape, finding a quality free gig can feel like striking gold.
Enter Social Sanctuary at Northcote Social Club, the weekly series that’s turning Monday nights from dreary to dreamy, one stellar lineup at a time.
This January 13, the beloved northside venue hosts a triple bill that promises to shake off any lingering holiday sluggishness. Headlining is Al Speers, whose alt-folk offerings have been quietly making waves in Melbourne’s music scene.
Social Sanctuary
- Northcote Social Club
- Every Monday night
- $20 chicken and eggplant parmas, $10 pints of Mountain Goat
- Free entry
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With their band in tow, Speers crafts introspective journeys through the familiar territories of love and loss, but it’s their sharp observations on identity that really cut through the noise.
Supporting acts pack equally intriguing punches. McKimmie brings their signature “bedroomy shoegaze” to the stage – a sound that somehow manages to merge the unlikely inspirations of action flicks and diss tracks into something genuinely compelling.
Meanwhile, The Rayes, fresh from dropping their LP Limb Pulled Taut, serve up a slice of sun-drenched 70s-influenced pop that’s earned nods from RRR’s Kate Kingsmill for its “gorgeous, dreamy sound.”
The Seattle-born, Melbourne-based outfit has been turning heads with their latest record, a 12-track journey that spans everything from bat-inspired courage to workplace monotony, all wrapped in McCartney-esque basslines and harmonies that could soundtrack a vintage summer romance.
But perhaps the real hero of Social Sanctuary is its commitment to keeping live music accessible. With free entry, $20 parmas (both chicken and eggplant for the plant-based punters), and $10 pints of Mountain Goat flowing, it’s the kind of night that makes you question why you ever wrote off Mondays.
The show kicks off at 7pm on the Wurundjeri lands where NSC stands proud. In a city that’s increasingly pricing out its music scene, Social Sanctuary stands as a reminder that sometimes the best things in life – and Melbourne’s music scene – really do come free.
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