River Rocks is an annual event that happens in Geelong, which is about an hour train ride (and then a bus ride) from Melbourne. It’s been going on for about 16 years, missing a year or two thanks to Covid. Long story short, it was born by a couple of guys who were reminiscing about “the good ‘ol days” and decided to try to make something happen.
And they did. Past River Rocks events have had bands like the Cosmic Psychos, Supersuckers, the Hard-Ons, Tumbleweed, and loads and loads of newer, local bands that are just as good. You can read a little of the history of this festival here. It’s held at the Barwon Club which is legendary in itself for having bands like Sonic Youth, Mudhoney, Bored!, and Dinosaur Jr play there. Two stages, indoor and outdoor. There’s food for sale in the bar and of course, loads of beer. There was even a “rehab” show the next night, which I would’ve loved to have been at, but had other obligations.
As the singer of the Poppin’ Mommas said the night before, “There are two types of bands: those that are from Geelong and those that want to be from Geelong”. I can see why he said this, because there is a strong scene here. It’s been said that Dave Thomas from Bored! was a very influential person in the Geelong scene and was the glue that held the scene together. And he still is, in spirit, as their main stage is called the Dave Thomas Stage and people were always talking about him.
We got there when the first band was just ending around 12:30pm. There were 18 bands on the two stages, playing all throughout the day, evening, and night. Lots of people to start off with and even more people as the night progressed. Melbourne, Geelong especially, is big rocker town. This town knows how to rock. Everyone was totally into it, guys, gals, older people, younger people. Everyone seemed to know one another so we were kind of the odd people out. Everyone was friendly though, letting me in to take some photos, saving a spot, etc… There was beer thrown and lots of stage diving and dancing but no one was trying to outdo one another or “out punk” anyone. They did it because they were just having fun. One thing that did piss people off was that if you were up front and then tried to move to the back for whatever reason (pee, get a spot for the next band on the other stage, get a drink), people would just not budge. It was like “what the fuck are you doing? How could you leave this?! Get back up there!”
Here’s part 1 of my highlights of this fantastic event.
Dukes Of Deliciousness: They had three guitarists for a full on power guitar attack. They split up about 10 years ago and this was a big reunion gig. Musically they sounded like Danko Jones, with just a little tinge of some southern rock like The Outlaws. This was where I first spotted a drunk guy next to me pour a jack & coke all over his own head. Crazy. Before the show, I saw the singer/bassist take a bottle with an eye dropper and put some of it in his mouth. I was wondering if it was pot or acid or something like that. Neither. It was a sort of medicine like vicks vapor rub which opens up your nasal and breathing passages. Fun set. The only thing I can find online from them is a track they did for a Turbonegro tribute album. If they had an album for sale, I would’ve bought it in a heartbeat.
The Miffs: spacy, jammy but some vocals, a little slowish. “heavy space music” would be a good description. They wouldn’t be out of place on a CA desert show with Kyuss and Fu Manchu.
Goutlaw: Their singer was wearing a GG Allin t-shirt, which made me wonder what they were going to be like. He seemed fairly normal while setting up and taking the stage, but once the music set in, he went mental. Totally mental. Smashing the microphone stand into the stage, then the ceiling (totally bending it), then threw it behind the stage. He even took a bottle of Heineken and tried smashing it over his head. It didn’t break, so it must’ve hurt like hell. Musically they were like the Jesus Lizard. Groovy, heavy, quirky. They seemed a bit dangerous. The singer saw me a couple hours later and was admiring my Replacements t-shirt, so we chatted a bit about GG Allin and the Replacements and all that. Seemed like a nice guy, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t a little intimidating onstage.
Fly!: I was completely blown away. Floored. Biggest surprise of the night. This was incredible. Great songs, great riffs, great energy, great look, great sound. Great Christopher Lee shirt on the drummer. Everything about this band was great. It was like the Supersuckers were doing Slayer covers. Well maybe not that metalish, but they had a high powered, full on rock ‘n roll boogie kick ass sound to them that just didn’t let up. I was completely floored. They hit me in all the right places. They got an album coming out next year from a label in Germany and you will DEFINITELY be reading more about it in this blog. Wow. I can’t freakin’ wait. Oh, and when they had a special guest come on for a song, that drunk guy followed him and sang along. They got a demo 7″ out, but it’s just that: a demo. If their album can sound as good as they did live today, with crankin’ kick ass guitars and production, it will be spectacular.
Grindhouse: After Fly!, I ran over to the outside stage to see these guys. And you know what, that fucking “drunk guy” was singing onstage with them! Then he was gone. I asked someone about “that drunk guy” and if this was his band, trying to get more information about this guy who was all over the place pouring jack & cokes over his head and singing with everyone. She goes “That drunk guy? He’s right there now. Yes!” But it wasn’t the guy I was talking about. Got our drunk guys mixed up. Lots of drunk people here, but everyone just having a good time. Turns out the “drunk guy” is a local regular (everyone seemed to know him) who is just doing his thing. He wasn’t that drunk (how could you be, pouring all those drinks on your own head!) and his “thing” is punk rock.
Grindhouse played fast, but sleazy heavy punk rock, ala Turbonegro. With album titles like “Sex Punk Power” and “Sex, Booze, Cars, Drugs, & Rock ‘n Roll“, you can tell where they’re coming from. At this point in the festival, it was getting pretty crowed and things were picking up, so I couldn’t really get too close to take any good pictures of them. I highly recommend them though. This is basically the best photo I could get:
Stepmother: Back to the indoor stage to see Stepmother. Totally rockin’ rock. They had a steel guitar setup too and had the guitarist for the Double Agents guest for a couple songs on it. Usually the steel guitar setup means a slower ballad. NOPE! Totally rockin’. They kind of reminded me of the Schizophonics. Their bandcamp describes them as “With Equal parts motor city proto punk and feedback drenched fuzz on the darker side of psychedelia, with influences ranging from Blue Cheer & The Pink Fairies to Nervous Eaters & The Damned”, and that’s a perfect description of them.
Dick Move: Not every band on the bill was from Melbourne. Bands from all over the world came to play here. Dick Move was one of them, coming over from New Zealand. Angry punk rock with a major buzz guitar. Bikini Kill meets the Cosmic Psychos.
The Double Agents: slower rock than most of the other bands. Like mid-period AC/DC. Kind of hard to classify though. They got their own thing going. Think Stooges and Flamin’ Groovies. They’ve toured with Dead Moon, Mudhoney, Celibate Rifles, White Stripes, Dirtbombs, Detroit Cobras, Spencer P. Jones, and Kim Salmon if that doesn’t give you an indication of their range in taste and sound.
Split System: One of the bands I heard about, followed, liked, and was excited to see. Riff ‘n rhythm heavy full on punk rock. Damaged-era Black Flag, crossed with Minor Threat, but 2020+ style. Fantastic band. Lots of activity, stage diving, crowd surfing, but all fun among friends. No one was trying to kick or punch their way through people or anything like that. Just a ton of fun.
Well that’s it for Part 1 of this festival. Things are just starting to heat up. Part 2 will have Hot Machine, Pat Todd & The Rankoutsiders, Stiff Richards, and Los Chicos. In the meantime, here’s some links to check out some of the bands albums on bandcamp.
The Dukes of Deliciousness – Shake Your Shit Machine | Self Destructo Records
https://themiffs.bandcamp.com/album/high-on-spite-no-stairway
https://goutlaw.bandcamp.com/album/goutlaw-2
https://flyordie666.bandcamp.com/album/demo
https://grindhousepeeps.bandcamp.com/album/sleeping-at-the-peeps
https://grindhousepeeps.bandcamp.com/album/can-i-drive-your-commodore
https://stepmother1.bandcamp.com/album/planet-brutalicon
https://dickmove2.bandcamp.com/album/wet
https://dickmove2.bandcamp.com/album/chop
https://thedoubleagents.bandcamp.com/album/new-motion
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