Last Sunday Violent Soho, The Smith Street Band, High Tension, Jess Locke and Joelistics conspired to make their fans rabid with either excitement or fomo by surprising us all with a charity gig for 4ZZZ. A candid shot of The Smith Street Band in bed (presumably sleeping off their sold out show at Max Watt’s the night prior) holding signs announcing they would be at Fortitude Valley’s most loved heavy venue, Crowbar, broke the internet almost immediately. I’m sure Smith Street’s more attentive Brisbane fans had noticed them allude to this #gigofthecentury when they warned they had a little something in store for 4ZZZ fans last Wednesday in a Facebook post championing another hashtag dear to our hearts: #keepcommunityradio.

When two of the five bands at a surprise charity show have both sold out national tours you’d expect the line to be pretty damn long. It did not disappoint, actually the line became a destination in and of itself. When I arrived at 2.20pm it was about 40 people deep, and by the time doors opened over 200 nervous merch-clad super fans had taken over the block stretching back from Crowbar all the way down to The Foundry a few hundred metres away. Soho frontman Luke Boerdam could see the line from his apartment. When they eventually let people filter in at 3pm Crowbar’s basement flooded faster than the Valley streets drenched from the past few days downpour. This unexpected weather event forced the gig to move from its original destination in 4ZZZ’s carpark to a venue with four walls and a roof. In hindsight this was a fortunate twist of fate, after seeing that line I’m positive at least one crowd control chopper and probably a fire hose would have been enlisted if this lineup played in the zed carpark. 

Joelistics kicked off the night with three spoken word pieces and the prevailing sense of, “Holy shit what is happening right now,” overcame any stylistic differences on the lineup. The inclusion of Joelistics and Jess Locke’s flawless folk pop let everyone chill out after a frantic hour sneaking mates into the line. High Tension brought the phwoarrr factor with Karina Utomo giving zero fucks that it was 4.30 on a Sunday afternoon, tearing her mic a new one before imprinting the soles of her shoes on the roof. No, really. A pretty damn caring pit shepherded Utomo back to the safety of clinging to an AC vent perched atop her amp.

The afternoon kicked into gear approaching Smith Street’s set. Has Wil Wagner won an award for being Australia’s most charming frontman yet? He Should. I’d watch a season of Will Wagner as The Bachelor. Smith Street got their first airtime on Melbourne community radio, and Wagner summed up the pertinence of the cause neatly: “It is important for weirdos like us and weirdos like you.” He couldn’t have made it clearer that these are the bands community creates. Whatever you make of each band’s music or even their success, they didn’t rise up out of over-hyped major label machinations or commercial radio pandering. By his own admission Wagner (and presumably the whole band) were powering through intense hangovers, and I don’t doubt the truth behind that bed photo earlier. They played a 30 minute bangers-only set, powering through power-punk anthems I Don’t Wanna Die and Surrender as well as a new track with my favourite chorus of 2016, “Death to the lads,” everyone was on board. They finished on Young Drunk and I couldn’t be sure whether people were crowd surfing or just being shot up from the shear force of the crowd’s motion.

The long pause that followed Smith Street’s departure was instantly forgotten as Violent Soho took to the stage they’ve played countless times throughout their career, returning this time off the back of a sell out national tour and bona fide Strayan heroes. The crowd’s collective convulsing began before Soho launched into Like Soda, and we became one gigantic moving mass. The guys could have made every mistake in the book and it would have gone unnoticed, but they didn’t. They’ve got the annunciation of every, “Hell fuck yeah,” down to a crisp and satisfying art. Soho hammered through Saramona Said and gave us time to recover after Covered in Chrome before Wagner jumped up and joined them to finish with In the Aisle. These guys have built a career on being incredibly down to earth and loyal to long-time supporters, and by doing a show for the benefit of some of their oldest and loudest fans in 4ZZZ they are now confirmed local saints. 

And so it happened, for the price of a Maccas cheeseburger I saw five incredible bands who all took an afternoon out of their ridiculous schedules to put community ahead of their name, their ego, and their bank balance. The lineup speaks to the community of music in general, here were some of Australia’s biggest bands powered by homegrown support and brewed from the ground up. 

- Grace Pashley