Barfly Bookers & Calling Bands At Home: The Punters Club Booker On His Fave Memories

Brunswick Street, Fitzroy was a destination in the 1990s.

Rent in the area was cheap, and the locals were young and keen to be out on the streets soaking in the community around the venues.

I was lucky enough to book bands at two of the key spaces, the Evelyn Hotel and the Punters Club throughout the decade. 

I started booking the Evelyn as a teenager.

This was before the days of mobile phones, voicemail and email.

You had to call the bands at their house, and hope they would be at home. Weirdly I got to know quite a few of the key mums by name while leaving endless messages and waiting for calls back. It was often an epic task to book and confirm a single show. 

It felt like most of the bookers from the '80s were older barflys, alcoholics or drug dealers (the only people who were lucky enough to have the band’s home phone numbers!)… at least it felt like that at the time – everyone was cooler than me.

I had the good fortune of meeting Wally Kempton, who was booker at the Tote at the time. He allowed me to ride my bike over and sit in the front bar copying out all the band’s numbers from his A-Z book. Thanks Wal – owe you a beer.

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I was young, inexperienced, eager to learn, happy to work for nothing – perfect fodder of the music biz! 

At the turn of the decade most of the shows were free entry, with occasional returning-from-overseas heroes like Dave Graney or Kim Salmon charging $5 for an ‘event’ show. Everything felt accessible to all, regardless of financial situation. All were welcome. 

Over the decade that bizarre term ‘alternative music’ (alternative to what?) helped the widest range of musicians all connect and find traction. The venues would host metal one night, folk the next, pop-punk and indie, electronic glitch and techno, reggae, dub, funk and anything else you could think of. 

The front bar became a melting pot of people from all scenes and all genres. I loved the diversity… loved the feeling that anything was possible. 

One night at the 'What Is Music’ event, an artist on stage spent 45 minutes repeating a single line into a mic. The audience alternated between confusion, anger, restlessness, drunkenness, laughter, cheering, clapping, chanting – it was awesome.

What was the line? WHY-AM-I-A-PIE.

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The A Punters Club Reunion Gig - programmed by Moffat and featuring artists including Angie Hart (Frente), Bodyjar, Dallas Crane and The Meanies - will take place at The Fitzroy Mills on Rose Street, Fitzroy as part of Leaps & Bounds Festival next month. Head to theGuide to grab tickets.