Get ready to pump your fists in a subdued manner for the afternoon event you’ve all been waiting for! Mac and the Steeze are returning to the stage for a sensible, casual afternoon of gentle punk rock. Where the 6 pack in Jack is of Heineken zeroes and the Ketamine Cowboy can’t contact his dealer, get ready to nod in an approving manner to some old favourites and new tasters. Bring your picnic blankets, bring your kindles, we’re going to rock the roof off so it’s slightly ajar!

With some help from our friend Gallagath, whose hyper-pop credentials need no explanation, you’re bound to get moderately animated. His masterclass in memeology will be sure to arm you and your friends with quotes and in-jokes for months to come.

Then there’s Contact Sport, a three-piece band with punk-rock sensibilities who are bound to raise the tempo of the afternoon (but not too much!) Where rebellion meets refinement, they’ll be sticking it to the man and serving it with camomile.

So ask yourself, are you ready to be mildly stirred, to have your eardrums tickled, to have your heart rate increase slightly?  Then come on down to the Mac and the Steeze Afternoon Tea show, for a day of controlled fun… Just Kidding! It’s gonna rip, obviously. See you there!

Join us on Saturday November 9th to celebrate the release of Peggy Frew’s debut solo album, ‘Dial-Up’. Frew will be joined onstage by Marty Brown (Art of Fighting, Clare Bowditch, Lisa Mitchell), Jessie Warren (Hachiku, Lisa Mitchell) and Fraser Turner (Something in Latin). Support acts are local singer-songwriters Mika James (The Vovos) and Sweet Whirl.

Peggy Frew is a best-selling, prizewinning novelist and member of legendary Naarm/Melbourne-based sadcore band, Art of Fighting. She has also at various times collaborated with Mick Turner, Mess Esque, Clare Bowditch, and Sainthill.

Dial-Up (2024, Remote Control) is Frew’s first solo album. It was produced and recorded in one week by Marty Brown at his Standalone Studios in Coburg. ‘The beautiful thing was how quickly and intuitively it all came together,’ says Brown. ‘We’d do one take or two, grab those moments and then build it up. Peggy played bass, she or I might play some guitar or piano, I’d put it through some crazy sound… The stories and the feelings suggested musical ideas without thinking very much at all.’

Frew’s fuzzed-out keyboards and naïve piano are anchored by sombre bass and earthy drums, and layered with spacey guitars. Brown’s percussive flourishes (singing bowl, gongs, clapping sticks) scatter themselves here and there – and right in the middle is Frew’s fragile but insistent voice, telling stories.

Luminous and ominous, the songs on Dial-Up are full of both vulnerability and bravado. Silver days, thunderstorms, broken-down cars and lonely winter train rides. The fraught sweetness of looking back. Mel Fulton writes: ‘Elemental, airy, spacious: Dial-Up sounds like the weather … an album that yearns for freedom, for connection, for romance, for home, and is wary of the impossibility of wanting so much, all at once.’ 

Don’t miss out – this will Frew’s only Naarm / Melbourne show for 2024!