The Stems are roaring back into Richmond to help the Corner Hotel toast 30 years of live music, with a stacked support bill in tow.
Dust off the paisley: The Stems are storming the Corner Hotel on 3 October to help the venue turn 30.
Together since 1983 and led by Dom Mariani, The Stems built their name on a mix of ’60s garage punk, fuzzed-out guitars and power pop hooks that have flatly refused to age. Four decades on, the racket still lands as hard as it ever did.
The Stems
- Corner Hotel, Richmond, Melbourne
- 3 October, doors 7pm
- 18+, tickets from $72.10
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They quickly became one of the defining acts of Australian independent rock, mentioned in the same breath as the Hoodoo Gurus and the Sunnyboys. Their 1987 debut At First Sight, Violets Are Blue won acclaim at home and abroad, and still turns up on lists of the finest Australian albums going around.
That influence still ripples through the country’s scrappier corners, and the band’s name carries real weight with anyone raised on the great Australian bands of the ’80s.
Since getting the band back together in the early 2000s, The Stems have kept their live show as fierce as ever, and they won’t be shouldering this one alone. Along for the ride are the Johnnys, Heir To The Squandered Millions, Benny J Ward and Bagful of Beez. It’s a bill built for scuzzy, good-time rock and roll.
The gig sits inside the Corner Hotel’s 30th birthday program, a lengthy run of shows marking three decades of the Richmond venue backing big names and first-timers alike. Ushering back a bunch routinely tagged as garage rock royalty is a neat way to blow out the candles.
Presented alongside 3RRR and Young Henrys, the Cheersquad Records party has plenty of local muscle behind it. It all kicks off on 3 October, and with entry kept strictly 18-and-over, expect a loud, sweaty one in the bandroom. It’s a fitting return for a band that has torn up this stage before.
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