Cheap(ish) gigs and parties in August
If money is a deterrent for getting you out of the house and onto the dancefloor, here is price-ranked list of this month’s best music shows to nudge you and your wallet out the door. By Claire Finneran
Under $60 Volumes 2017
Blasting out of three seperate Oxford Street venues, Volumes 2017 is a live music and arts festival that swipes back at perceptions of a gasping nightlife stifled by lockouts. Showcasing more than 50 diverse Australian artists, labels, and collectives, the one-day event lets you grab a pretty rigorous aural snapshot of local music scenes. One ticket gives you access to Oxford Art Factory, the Cliff Dive, and Brighton Up Bar, where you’re likely to crawl through genres faster than an inexperienced wedding DJ, catch a guitar band at one place and end up thrusting glow sticks in the air to some throbbing acid house. Lineup highlights include scrappy pop girl band Body Type, jubilant ’80s-inflected goths Orion, complicated and fun techno from Lucy Cliche, Balearic beat homage from Retiree and so, so much more. àOxford Art Factory, Cliff Dive & Brighton Up Bar, Oxford St, Darlinghurst 2010. www.volumespresents.com. 3pm. $54.90. Sat Aug 19.
Under $30 Peter Combe & the Bellyflop in a Pizza Band
This adults-only show is a chance for you to see what happens when the phrase “wash your face with orange juice” is combined with a crowd of nostalgic legal drinkers. Prepare to mosh to all of Peter Combe’s hits originally intended for children in the hedonistic atmosphere of Sydney Uni’s Manning Bar. Combe has been implanting earworms in the Australian public like ‘Juicy Juicy Green Grass’, ‘Mr Clicketty Cane’ and ‘Newspaper Mama’ since 1987, so expect an especially participatory crowd. He’ll be backed by the stadium electricity of the Bellyflop in a Pizza Band with support from singer-songwriter Michael Duchesne. àManning Bar, Manning Rd, Camperdown 2050. www.manningbar.com. 8pm. $25.99. Sat Aug 5.
Under $20
ÓColoured
Stone and No Fixed Address
In the ’80s, Australian music was gloriously political. The lyrical activism from First Nations bands like No Fixed Address and Coloured Stone remain important and you have the rare opportunity to see these two history-making acts for the ludicrously low price of ten bucks. Part of Red Bull’s whopping weekend festival, the two bands are
reuniting their original line-ups to play their discographies in Redfern. The legacy of songs like Coloured Stone’s ‘Black Boy’ and No Fixed Address’s ‘We Have Survived’ still burn holes through the cultural landscape of our country and seeing them live in such a charged area is bound to be exciting and intense. They’ll be joined by Koori Radio’s Frank T-G and Renee. à107 Projects, 107 Redfern St, Redfern 2016. 02 9690 1007. syd.redbullmusicacademy.com. 6pm. $10. Thu Aug 31.
$5 and under Badgirl Garden
A new monthly party popping up at the Sly Fox in Enmore pushes women in hip hop to the front of the stage. Badgirl Garden presents a roster of female-identifying artists, performers and rappers in an elaborately decorated fun zone. You’re just as likely to catch a smooth R’n’B voice as you are to find yourself witnessing gyrating dancers with LED-encrusted hula hoops, and the focus is on fostering a safe space for all partiers and punters involved. The August edition sees live sets from Lady Lash, Alphamama, and more with live art by Styna and Sophi Odling. àThe Sly Fox, 199 Enmore Rd, Enmore 2042. www.slyfox.sydney. 9pm. $5. Thu Aug 3.