Ratcat Announce One-off 'The Nightmare' Anniversary Show

Beloved Aussie rock outfit Ratcat are hitting the road this August for one special show celebrating the 35th anniversary of their album This Nightmare.

Taking place at Crowbar, Sydney, on Saturday, 3 August, the limited-capacity show will find Ratcat accompanied by special guest Tumbleweed’s Richie Weed and his band. Tickets to the This Nightmare anniversary gig go on sale tomorrow (20 June) at midday on Oztix.

In a statement, Ratcat said they’re on a mission to “rewind the clock” while heading to the future to celebrate This Nightmare’s 35th anniversary.

They continued, “From those heady days of many a raucous inner city & suburban pub show to memorable harbour cruise gigs, RATCAT will repeat history by playing a one-off anniversary show returning as close to where it all started long ago.”

Made with a self-financed total of $1,800 and released via the independent label Waterfront Records, the band produced The Nightmare alongside engineer John Hresc.

Lead single Go, Go ended up being a surprising hit that coincided with the national expansion of triple j in the late ‘80s. The album's success led to Ratcat opening for international acts, such as The Cramps, The Ramones, Buzzcocks, Public Image Ltd and more.

After celebrating the 30th anniversary of their 1991 second album, Blind Love, in 2021, Ratcat had an idea to launch a comeback: why not re-record the songs from that album and other favourites from the era and release an album of reconstructed acoustic versions?

Last October, Ratcat dropped All Stripped Back – their first release in 22 years and an album created two years in the making, following the Twisted Tails compilation.

In a recent interview with The Music, Ratcat frontman Simon Day revealed that the band never intended to enter the mainstream.

He told Steve Bell, “It was never our intention to leap into the mainstream - it was a big surprise - but by the same token, we did work really hard and want to improve ourselves and build our audience.

“In a funny way, I always thought that Ratcat only had a certain lifespan, but now it’s 30 years later, and we’re making something new. I’m really surprised and happy that after all this time, it’s still a workable project.”

IMC Presents

RATCAT

Celebrating the anniversary of their debut album THIS NIGHTMARE

+ Special Guests RICHIE WEED (from Tumbleweed with full band)

SATURDAY 3 AUGUST 2024 - CROWBAR SYDNEY, 345 Parramatta Road, Leichhardt NSW