Words by Natalie Blacklock
Cover Photo by Natalie Blacklock
In much welcomed news for the Brisbane music scene, the ‘Home Of The Heavy’ is set to become a staple in Fortitude Valley once again – returning to the fold TOMORROW NIGHT. In early October, the Crowbar Crew announced their impending return to Brisbane after a 4-year hiatus, throwing open the doors of their new digs – 711 Ann Street – the former home of seminal Brisbane music ‘institution’, The Zoo, which sadly closed in July after 32 years of operation.
With former The Amity Affliction keyboardist, Trad Nathan and partner Tyla Dombroski at the helm, Brisbane’s resident ‘Home of The Heavy’, Crowbar became a staple in the Metal, Punk and Hardcore scenes as a haven for good beers and friendly faces since its opening in 2012. In that time, Crowbar saw its fair share of changes; starting as just a downstairs bandroom / bar, Crowbar grew up (just like the punters who frequent it) as they expanded from one to three rooms and even dabbled in late night bar snacks (those toasted sandwiches were killer) and an early morning Crowbar Coffee cart! There were Pizza + Movie nights (complete with Pizza), Trivia, Cult Parties, Birthday Week festivities, Charity fundraisers, Art shows, DJ sets, Pre-Parties, After-Parties and late-night floor shows, Beer launches for Brissie mates like Dune Rats and Violent Soho, the much beloved Crowieoke and even the occasional Boatrocker down the Brisbane River. Crowbar even expanded down to Sydney in 2018, when Trad and Tyla took on the redevelopment of The Bald Faced Stag to a roaring success.
Crowbar was always far more than the walls and the debauchery that happened within them – for many of us, Crowbar became a second home. To a certain extent, I put this down to the wonderful staff (both past and present) including Trad and Tyla, as well as Denis, Meg, Kate, Tara, Helena, Neilson, Matt D, Matt M and for a while there, Luke Henery from Violent Soho, that welcomed me (and countless others) through the hallowed 243 doors night after night. This atmosphere and sense of belonging is a big part of what made Crowbar the place to be. Crowbar offered a place of safety and security, a place for fun and good vibes, and a place to make lifelong memories with mates probably met in the venue at some point and for that, I will be forever indebted to Crowbar – its OG 243 Brunswick Street home – as well as the venue’s short-lived incarnation over in Warner Street.
So, in the spirit of reflection, I want to take you on a walk down memory lane and reflect on some of my fondest memories made at Crowbar since its initial opening back in 2012, ahead of its return to its OG home Fortitude Valley tomorrow night. Strap yourself in, and come and reminisce with me!
1. Telling Time With Wil Wagner – 25/11/2012
I had seen The Smith Street Band for the first time in September 2012 at X & Y Bar and it was love at first sight. So, when Wil announced a solo show supporting Joey Cape (the same week as The Smith Street Band were due to support Lagwagon), I was there! It was a really intimate set – a handful of people surrounding the downstairs stage. Towards the end of the set, Wil asked the crowd for the time, to see how many more songs he could fit in. I had a watch and a phone handy, so I knew the time but when I went to say it – the words literally would not come out. For one of the first times in my life, I could not speak. Someone else in the crowd that night jumped in and spoke when I couldn’t, but luckily, it wasn’t permanent. I managed to get some words out after his set and I’m so glad I did, because it was the start of a beautiful friendship, which has seen me catch Wil and/or The Smith Street Band close to 100 times!
NOTE: I am happy to say, 10 years later, I finally managed to tell Wil the correct time, during an acoustic set at The Triffid – and he had a cheeky chuckle that I was able to do speak this time!
2. ‘Crowieoke’ With The Ataris + Friends – 16/11/2013
There was a lot of drama surrounding Hits n Pits Festival (which only ran for 3 years from 2012-2014) and The Ataris appearance at the festival. As it turned out, Frontman Kris Roe actually never left the USA, owing to a fear of flying and the rest of the band cancelled their appearances but not before playing at Crowbar in a strangely awesome version of full-crowd Crowieoke as the after-party to the Brisbane leg of the Festival. They played their set with Marko from Bad Astronaut and some other Hits n Pits legends on vocals. Singing along to Boys of Summer with a bunch of rad (and pretty drunken) mates including Joey Cape from Lagwagon was easily the highlight!
3. Kill The Music Is Fucking… Dead. So, Let’s Party! – 23/12/2013
Like me, many Brisbanites would remember visiting Kill The Music – the upstairs record store on Elizabeth Street run by super friendly punk, Paul Voge. I spent a lot of my teenage years there, rifling through CDs and Records and fronting up early in the morning to buy tickets to shows (you know… in the days when you still had to do that). Naturally, when it was announced that KTM had to shut up shop, there was a fair bit of sadness. However, like I’ve come to learn, when the chips are down, the Brisbane scene pulls together and throws a hell of a party. Headlined by none other than Violent Soho, this was the second fundraiser that weekend, with the first headlined by The Amity Affliction at The Hi-Fi the night before. ‘Hungry Ghost’ had been released a few months earlier and things were really heating up in the Soho camp. The room was full, sweaty bodies were everywhere and this was one of the wildest Crowbar shows I’d ever experienced. Nights like this is definitely what earnt Crowbar the reputation of one of the city’s most-loved venues – and certainly one that still felt like home.
4. Barriers + The Bronx – 15/06/2014
Did you ever wonder why there was a barrier downstairs? Would it surprise you to know it wasn’t always there? One reason it was installed was the two-show stand from The Bronx in 2014 – a Sunday / Monday night double hit that absolutely tore Crowbar apart. It was my first ever time seeing The Bronx and I was pinned in my ‘spot’ against the wall on the front right-hand side of the stage. I felt every push, shove and every bit of sweaty energy from Frontman Matt Caughthran as I finally got to experience the insanity that is The Bronx and their support act at that show, Melbourne’s High Tension. That Sunday night show (no barrier) is still one of the most energetic and messy in Crowbar’s history and cemented my love for that front row wall spot and The Bronx… and you better believe I was back in that very same spot on Monday night to do it all again – albeit with a barrier.
5. Brisbane Music Royalty, Books + Proud Parent Moments – 16/08/2014
Anyone who know me knows I’m a bit of a music nerd – and how much I froth Brisbane / Australian music, so I was sold on this line-up. The headliners, Sydney’s Palms, had become great mates of mine in the years previous and an old High School friend of mine, Jake, played in the support act Tempura Nights. The openers, The Goon Sax, had one huge connection to the scene. Frontman, Louis, is the son of Robert Forster, co-founder of Brisbane icons The Go-Betweens. As I waited for the bands, I found a seat on the bench along the wall, next to an older man wearing a thick coat, reading a book. It took a moment to register, but it was indeed Robert Forster himself and I was starstruck! However, before I could even think about how to say hello, The Goon Sax took to the stage, and Forster transformed from Bookworm to Proud Dad – clapping, cheering and singing along! It definitely wasn’t the last time I would see proud parents rocking up to their children’s shows, but it was certainly a cute moment.
6. Borrowing Bar Stools From A Punk Legend – 28/02/2015
Crowbar Black opened for the first time on the weekend of the final Soundwave Festival in 2015. If there’s one thing I know about Crowbar, is that if you say there’s an After-Party, they will come! Sure enough, bands and punters alike were streaming into the venue in search of beer before having to back it up again the following day. Across the room, I spied none other than Joey Cape from Lagwagon, sitting at a barrel enjoying a quiet beer on his own. At this point, the group I was with had grown and we needed more stools, so with a bit of forceful encouragement from my sister, Melissa (she literally pushed me in Joey’s direction); I went over and introduced myself. I sat down and we had a super lovely chat – about Soundwave, his One Week Records project and he even let slip that Lagwagon were coming back that November to play The Triffid. The point of the story – I secured the bar stools, I chatted to Joey Cape and I enjoyed the hell of that last ever Soundwave!
7. ‘Gig of The Century’ – 05/06/2016
Need I say more? Still riding the wave of excitement from seeing The Smith Street Band and Luca Brasi the night before at Max Watts and partying on until the early hours at Crowbar, rumours started doing the rounds about a Sunday afternoon show not to be missed. Soon enough, an announcement surfaced online about a pay-as-you-feel fundraiser for Brissie community radio station 4ZZZ, with Violent Soho, The Smith Street Band, High Tension, Jess Locke and Joelistics on the bill. As quickly as I could, I rounded up the crew, threw on a black t-shirt and got down to Crowbar to hold down the front of the longest line I’ve ever seen for the venue. As punters streamed through the doors, the bandroom quickly reached capacity, raising about $3500 for 4ZZZ, following the former Coalition Government’s $1.4m defunding of the sector. What went on downstairs sure lived up the ‘Gig of The Century’ title and is still a show that is fondly talked about to this day. If you were there, you know!
8. When Hip-Hop Goes Punk – 14/05/2017
It’s not that the worlds don’t collide… it’s just that a nationally recognised rapper playing Crowbar was nigh on unheard of – and it sure was a sight to see. A packed out bandroom, wearing far less black than the usual crowd, were ready to party when Seth Sentry took the stage. The crowd were so enamoured, that even when Sentry requested for the crowd to sit down on the bandroom floor, the entire crowd obliged without question. I know how much blood, sweat and beers ended up on that floor every night – so let me tell you, that’s commitment.
9. When Worlds Collide In The Best Way Possible – 29/07/2017
When I’m not at gigs, or writing about them for Good Call Live, I’m a High School Teacher. In my second year of teaching (2014, for those of you playing along at home), I was lucky enough to cross paths with a number of young people who left a lasting impression on me and my career. One student in particular, built a strong connection with me through music – he wanted to be a musician, idolised bands like Nirvana and Silverchair, was just discovering Violent Soho and had a love for The Amity Affliction. When I told him that I frequented a bar owned by an ex-Amity member (yes, that’s you Crowbar!) and that I was going to meet the band after school on Friday (TAA were doing a run of instore signings in support of the release of ‘Let The Ocean Take Me’), he thought I was just talking a big game. After some reassurance that teachers had cool lives too, he wrote a letter to Joel and the band. Come Friday afternoon, I got the whole band to sign it and took it back to class the next week, cementing my reputation as the one of the ‘cool’ teachers. That small gesture awoke something in that student – for his assessment, he taught our class to play guitar and earnt a better grade than he’d ever done before.
A few years later, he invited me to see his band, Pablo, play their first few shows. Soon enough, they landed a support slot downstairs at Crowbar. Seeing Jay get up on that downstairs stage – a stage that I’d seen countless musicians, mates and idols grace over the years was a really special moment and was a powerful reminder that the things I say and do in the classroom pay off for my students well beyond their time at school. Hands down, this was one of the proudest moments of my career and it didn’t even happen in a classroom!
10. Bringing Your ‘Cool’ Parents To Shows – 23/06/2018
Tassie’s favourite sons, Luca Brasi, were no strangers to Crowbar, making the trek to performing an acoustic set and sign copies of the new album, ‘Stay’ (released the day before) in the small and intimate Crowbar Black upstairs space. Of course, the room was packed – with everyone absolutely stoked on the new album. One of the crew, Mel, even bought her parents along, which as it turned out was a bit of a laugh all round. They had better banter with the band than we did, definitely making a long-lasting impression (that still rates a mention to this day).
11. *Surprise* Fill-In’s – 10/10/2019
One of the first international headliners I reviewed for Good Call Live were Cancer Bats. I’d seen the band a few times previously in support slots for the likes of Bring Me The Horizon and Bullet For My Valentine and headlining in smaller venues but this was definitely a show I was excited for. Being the first night of tour, I was *shocked* to see Wade MacNeil (Alexisonfire / Gallows / Dooms Children) and his trusty Gibson Custom Flying V standing right in front of me, as he filled in for Scott Middleton, who was on ‘Dad-Duty’ and unable to tour. Unsurprisingly the set was incredible and have led me to see MacNeil in both Alexisonfire and Dooms Children as well as Cancer Bats each time they’ve returned Down Under since.
12. One Last Time @ 243 – 04/01/2020
At the end of 2019, it was announced that Crowbar would be leaving the digs they’d called home at 243 Brunswick Street and moving to Warner Street to take over The Brightside – but there had to be one final party to send the grand old girl off in style. Comeback Kid were nothing short of insane, the punters were full of energy, as least one staff member went for a crowdsurf (looking at you, Matt D) and the night was definitely full of emotions; so much so that (almost fittingly) Veitchy and I were the last punters to leave, and we didn’t make it much further than the bus stop outside, where we sat reminiscing until the sun rose over Fortitude Valley.
NOTE: Luckily, I’ll always have a physical piece of 243 with me. Through Crowbar’s ‘Crowdfunder’ (to keep Crowbar Sydney going through repeated lockdowns and live music restrictions) that launched in early 2021, I was the lucky bidder for the old Crowbar Brisbane banner that used to hang above the couch in the bandroom!
Photo by Natalie Blacklock
Honourable mentions must of course go to special events; CROWBAR BIRTHDAY WEEK, BIGSOUND and NEW YEARS EVE PARTIES! If you’re ever sitting on the fence about heading along to a Crowbar show, just do it. Nights just like these ones are an absolute testament to why you should always just say YES!
From this list (and beyond), it’s fair to say that Crowbar has given me a lot to be thankful for. I met some incredible people, made some lifelong friendships, learnt a lot about life, love and loss and definitely drank far too many beers along the way – but I wouldn’t trade away a single day, night or memory for anything. Since the venue’s shock closure in 2020, there has been a part of Brisbane’s nightlife that hasn’t felt quite the same – for bands and punters alike. I know I am not alone in the excitement for a venue like Crowbar Brisbane to return to Fortitude Valley. So, cheers to you, my dear friend Crowbar, let’s show Ann Street how to party!
Crowbar Brisbane reopens TOMORROW NIGHT
Thursday 28 November – 711 Ann Street, Fortitude Valley
Featuring: Hope D, John Floreani (Trophy Eyes), Semantics, Winter, DZ Deathrays (DJ Set) + DJ Bloombox
