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By John Ventoura

John Ventoura

02 October 2026

Hits: 1208

• marrickville
• the smoking ruins
• the nature strip
• mix tape

_{The Nature Strip.} 

The Nature Strip
+ The Smoking Ruins
Mixtape Brewery, Marrickville
Friday, 18 September 2026
Words and Pictures: JOHN VENTOURA

It was a beautiful spring night when Marrickville’s Mix Tape Brewery played host to a very capable double bill in local legends The Nature Strip expertly supported by The Smoking Ruins.

Joined by a long-time muso friend for his initiation to the venue, I was keen to get an insider's take on the evening. For the uninitiated, Mixtape is a relatively new Inner West space building a fierce reputation for free live music.

It’s a vast, clean room offering good value craft beers, spirits, wines (even chilled reds), and quality snack food—a safe haven for like-minded company, all for zero dollars entry. Acoustically, the room is beautifully dialled in with wall dampeners and high-positioned speakers providing a rich, full sound anywhere in the room. Kudos to Jeff, whose tablet-controlled mix was of a pleasingly high standard all night.

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By Angela Evol

Angela Evol

24 September 2026

Hits: 1583

• the spivs
• la fett
• beef mountain
• rioting revolver
• the burrow
• prince of wales hotel
• ipswich

_{Budge from La Fetts. Mark Chandler photo.}

La Fetts
+ Rioting  Revolver
+ The Spivs
+ Beef Mountain
The Burrow, Prince of Wales Hotel, Ipswich
September 19, 2026

Words: ANGELA EVOL
Photos: MARK CHANDLER & ANGELA EVOL

It was 32 degrees Celsius which is fairly standard Ipswich Spring weather and The Burrow felt like someone had put a stage under a classic Queenslander house and forgotten to install the air-conditioning.

Located beneath the Prince of Wales Hotel, The Burrow is a relatively new live-music space with a low roof, an open side and the relaxed feel of a backyard gig. This was a free Saturday matinee, running from noon until six, with four very different bands and a small but appreciative crowd.

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By Angela Evol

Angela Evol

22 September 2026

Hits: 1719

• the spivs
• iron & resin
• love city radio
• gav doniger

_{Love City Radio.}

Love City Radio
+ The Spivs
+ Gav Doniger
Iron & Resin Garage, Currumbin, Queensland
Friday, September 18, 2026

Words and photos by ANGELA EVOL

Currumbin’s Iron & Resin is not a purpose-built music venue. It is a working motorcycle garage with a restaurant and performance space attached, housed in what feels more like a big tin shed. Vintage motorcycles and motoring ephemera are dotted around the place, giving it plenty of character and making it a fitting setting for a night of loud guitars and rock and roll.

There are lots of people in early tonight and the mood is upbeat and friendly from the beginning. Each act pushes the evening a little further, moving from mellow to bold and, finally, a bit mental.

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By Angela Evol

Angela Evol

14 September 2026

Hits: 1861

• australian tour
• the spivs
• 2026
• the darts
• Jollee
• vinnies dive bar
• southport

The Darts (US)
+ The Spivs
+ Jollee
Vinnies Dive Bar
Southport, Queensland, Australia
Wednesday, September 9, 2026

Words: ANGELA EVOL
Photos: MARK CHANDLER

Wednesday nights are not traditionally the stuff of rock ’n’ roll legend, particularly at a venue that doesn’t usually put bands on midweek. Someone forgot to tell the Gold Coast.

The opening night of The Darts’ first Australian tour sold out Vinnies Dive Bar and filled the room with a crowd ready to make a night of it. By the time the headliners appeared, there was no standing around waiting to be convinced. Vinnies was hot, packed and ready for trouble.

There had already been plenty of trouble before anyone played a note, although nobody in the audience would have known it.

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By Ashley Thomson

Ashley Thomson

12 September 2026

Hits: 1432

• the damned
• sydney opera house
• final damnation

The Damned
Sydney Opera House
Sydney, NSW, Australia
September 10 2026

Words: ASHLEY THOMSON
Images" CELIA CURTIS

As a young teen, then living on the southside of Brisvegas, I listened to this fledgling radio station run outta the Uni called 4ZZZ. Michael Finucan was doing the heavy lifting of the morning show and introduced me to all this modern high energy music coming out locally and from all around the world, one of those being a punk band called The Damned. 

I brought The Damned records from an import record shop in the city and was duly impressed. along with the overall sound I was transfixed by the huge cacophony of the drumming, this wasn’t your dads Ringo Starr, this cunt literally sounded like the Tasmanian Devil on speed. Impressive.

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By The Barman

The Barman

18 August 2026

Hits: 711

• the johnnys
• australian tour
• marrickville bowlo
• huxton creepers

Huxton Creepers
The Johnnys
Marrickville Bowling Club. NSW
Saturday 15 August 2026

Does anyone other than a few snobby reviewers (hand raised here) and Aussie music publicist-cum-label-owner Dave Laing use the term “power pop” anymore? As unfashionable as the music it describes might be to algorithm-powered playlist curators, it doesn’t matter much what you call it, the visceral appeal of a guitar-fuelled hook married to a melody line to move anyone who bothers to listen is still intact.

Huxton Creepers are a case study. From a period overflowing with bands remembered as “the ones that got away” (the glorious mid ‘80s), Huxton Creepers have more claim than most to the descriptor “shoulda beens”.

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