Open mic? Check. Trivia? Check. Incredible live music? Check, check, check...you get it - The Merri Bar has it all, folks.
In fact, they not only have the quantity, they have the quality. The Merri Bar are throwing gigs every Saturday and Sunday throughout April and their monthly lineup is a fantastic dive into the ever-talented depths of Melbourne’s live music scene. For a bar that only celebrated its second birthday in February, they’ve certainly made their mark.
Before we dive into who’s on the bill in April, we have to mention their open mic competitions on the first Thursday of each month courtesy of Mr Alford, you can sign up to those via their IG here.
The Merri Bar
- 15 Gilbert Rd, Preston
- Cocktails, local beers, dog friendly and superb service
- Gill’s Fish & Chips and The Warehouse Pizzaria are serving the food this month
- One of the very few places to serve Clean Break Brewing‘s acclaimed beers
Saturday 6th at 7pm: Brett Franke
With a unique blend of acoustic-driven works, Brett Franke has been making a name for himself at venues like The Mount Macedon Hotel and The Pig & Whistle, not to mention an electric performance at The Basin Music Festival backing up a slot at The Metcalfe Music Bash.
Sunday 7th at 4pm: Mitchell Burt
You may have been lucky enough to see Mitchell Burt do his thing at various venues around the country; The General Assembly pub or Kings Beach Bar up on the Sunshine Coast. More likely, you may have caught his very first Naarm gig at Baxter’s Lot last month. Even more likely though, you will have heard the now Melbourne-based singer-songwriter as one half of The Fins, a captivating rock ensemble that have been garnering plenty of attention since they formed back in 2019.
Saturday 13th at 7pm: Macca for Cath
- Pete Farnan (BCO)
- Matt Cotter (Even / Meghan Maike)
- Dan Rolfe (MurphNick)
- Richie Oldfield (Mark Sinton Band)
- Mark Sinton
Cath Lester missed Paul McCartney’s gig with Covid – the poor thing! In return, the also supremely talented Mark Sinton announced a concert of Macca for Cath, featuring a sublime array of McCartney and Beatles favourites at The Merri. It’s going down from 7-9 pm and the awesome foursome Mark’s collated will do their best Beatles renditions.
Sunday 14th at 4pm: Jenna Campbell
From the Dandenong Ranges, guitarist and composer Jenna Campbell is a stunning local performer, who you may have seen at The Wesley Anne, Mordi Fest, Knox Festival or 12 Bar Belgrave over the past few weeks – she’s busy all right! She’s an accomplished soloist and virtuoso who has also previously performed live, improvised guitar loops to great acclaim and been a key attraction at festivals like Summer of Love.
Saturday 20th at 7pm: Tim Richards
A well-known singer songwriter from Northern Victoria, Richards has played just about everywhere. Throughout March he’s gigged at The Social, The Cross and Lona in St Kilda, The Bay Hotel, The American up in Echuca, Naughty Nancy’s, The Foundry…we could go on and on. Highly experienced and always a good time, Tim’s a superb guitarist and vocalist
Sunday 21st at 4pm: J.C. Lee
A captivating musician who has journeyed through the vast expanses of sound – oh what a self-description! He’s played at The Thornbury Local, The Retreat, Ragtime – you name it, often with his band The Frontier. You wouldn’t expect such a sweet, soaring voice given his rather baritone speaking voice, but he’s a fantastic acoustic performer and well worth the time.
Saturday 27th at 7pm: Kier Stevens
Composing instrumental music, improvising experimental music, playing steel guitar, writing blues songs and ballads, Kier Stevens is a pretty big deal. He’s even supported the only and only Bob Log III on his very recent sojourn down to The Belgrave Hotel.
Sunday 28th at 4pm: Jay Fraser (UK) & Hugh McGinlay
Hugh McGinlay is a local legend, another favourite of The Wesley Anne and a very talented author, to boot. He recently performed a splendiferous set at Northcote Rise festival and has graced The Merri Bar before, so if you’re a regular punter, you’ll know what to expect. The addition of Jay Fraser all the way from the UK is just a brilliant bonus.
If we can only convince you of one thing, it should be to follow The Merri Bar on IG here, so you can keep up to date with all their latest gigs.
