Section 8 is a live music bar in Melbourne's Chinatown, and it's been there longer than most people expect.
In March 2006, a former café manager and barman named Maz Salt got a one-year lease on a carpark off Tattersalls Lane and, against all odds, never left.
What started as Melbourne’s longest-ever pop-up bar, with low overheads and a Chinatown address, just never ended. Two decades on, Section 8 is celebrating the milestone the only way it knows how; with a stacked lineup of OGs, free entry, and a Friday arvo start.
Section 8’s 20th birthday party lands on 13 March, and the bar has pulled together a who’s who of Melbourne music royalty for the occasion. Going back to where it all came from, the night spans hip hop, r&b, house, disco, soul, and everything in between, the kind of eclecticism that’s always defined the venue.
Section 8 20th Birthday
- Friday, 13 March
- Section 8, 27-29 Tattersalls Lane, Melbourne
- 2pm — late
- Free entry
Check out our gig guide, our festival guide, our live music venue guide and our nightclub guide. Follow us on Instagram here.
View this post on Instagram
Heading up the live performers is Thndo (formerly Thando), the Zimbabwean-born artist widely known as the First Lady of Soul and R&B, who has commanded crowds at festivals including Bluesfest, WOMAdelaide, Groovin the Moo and Woodford Folk Festival. Also performing live are Culture Evolves, an Indigenous group based in Melbourne blending traditional and hip hop influences.
Behind the decks, the lineup is just as deep. Melbourne native Janette Pitruzzello, aka DJ Jnett, has been spinning records and creating heat in the city’s music scene since the early ’90s, and brings that history to a b2b set with Charles Eddy, a Paris-born DJ and record store owner who landed in Melbourne in 2008, known for his ability to move between rock ‘n’ roll, electro, soul, house, and acid jazz.
Cazeaux O.S.L.O. is known primarily for his work as the lyricist within the rap groups SO.Crates and Man Made Mountain, and as a solo artist has been collecting loops off records and rapping over them since he was a kid.
He’ll be joined by Amin Payne, a Melbourne-based producer, DJ and performer who co-founded Condensed Milk, a collective and label renowned for drawing a crowd at parties, talent showcases and DJ sets across town. Amin has been a regular and vital contributor to the Melbourne music scene, including hosting the long-running Condensed Milk nights at Section 8 itself, aongside co-founder Taijae. Amin and Taijae are playing b2b for the birthday celebrations.
MzRizk is a pioneering Lebanese-Australian DJ, radio presenter, event curator and winner of Music Victoria’s inaugural Best DJ award in 2022. Her long-running radio show, Boogie Beat Suite on PBS 106.7FM, has been a staple of Melbourne’s community radio for seven years, and her sound traverses house, disco, hip hop, jazz, soul, and Arabic music.
Rounding out the lineup is Mamacita Bonnita, a highly versatile DJ with over 20 years experience and one of Melbourne’s most in-demand party selectors, alongside Nam, Antagonize, Oblivious, No Name Nath, Mrs Wallace, Paz, and Honeydew.
It’s a proper celebration of the venue’s place in the fabric of Melbourne’s music culture; a carpark that became a community, turning 20 and showing no signs of slowing down.
For more information, head here.
