Core Hunters & Collectors Members Reunite As The Engine Room For One-Off Show

Members of The Engine Room include bassist John Archer, trumpet player Jack Howard, drummer Doug Falconer, and guitarist Barry Palmer.

The instrumental core members of Hunters & Collectors are reuniting under a different name, The Engine Room, when they join forces for a one-off concert.

The one-night-only event is taking place at Melbourne’s Corner Hotel this October, celebrating both the venue’s 30th anniversary and 40 years since the release of Hunters & Collectors’ landmark album, Human Frailty. In addition to celebrating the album, they’ll also dig into the band’s expansive catalogue.

Members of The Engine Room include bassist John Archer, trumpet player Jack Howard, drummer Doug Falconer, and guitarist Barry Palmer.

The four-piece are the founding musicians behind Hunters & Collectors’ inimitable sound. For their reunion, they’ll be accompanied by a line-up of specially chosen guest vocalists, kept under wraps until the night of the gig.

The show takes place on Thursday, 15 October, at the Corner Hotel. Tickets are now available via Oztix.

Earlier this year, members of Hunters & Collectors reunited as The Engine Room for a sold-out charity show in Castlemaine. The above-mentioned members were raising funds after the region was devastated by bushfires, including parts of Falconer’s Brewery.

On the night, they were accompanied by Something For Kate’s Paul Dempsey and received a phenomenal response from the audience.

Human Frailty was originally released in 1986. It’s recognised as one of the most significant Australian albums of the decade, with songs such as Throw Your Arms Around Me and Say Goodbye forming a part of the Australian live music fabric.

Jack Howard explained of revisiting the record, “Human Frailty was just such a great bunch of songs to work on - they suited what we did so well. It’s still a bit of a shock listening back to it. This isn’t just seeing another band play Hunters songs - it’s seeing the actual band play them.”

Barry Palmer added, “The four of us played together as a unit for a long, long time – our job was to always serve the songs by finding the right energy. The songs we are playing are classics, so the job of The Engine Room is to walk on stage and nail that energy.”