Features
The East Brunswick Club: 2006-2012
By Nick Argyriou
NICK ARGYRIOU reports on the final few hours of Melbourne’s East Brunswick Club, which shut its doors last night (February 29) after a typically understated gig.
Pulp’s ‘Help the Aged’ rang out prior to opening act Milk Teddy’s set at the final ever gig to be held at Melbourne’s East Brunswick Club. The rather apt lyrics, “Try to forget that nothing lasts forever/No big deal so give us all a feel/Funny how it all falls away”, reverberated through the sparse room. Three girls casually moved forward to the front of the stage, wistfully embracing at Milk Teddy's feet. Singer-guitarist Tom Mendelovits confessed they were opening with their three worst songs; said with no particular motive in mind. He later mentioned the band’s first gig at The East – supporting Dunedin legends The Bats – before a confession: he hoped the room was fuller so he could crowd surf.
“It’s all pretty sad, but pretty fun,” announced Lloyd Housecat Pratt from second act Parking Lot Experiments. Peddling their brand of obscure, irrational song narratives, Pratt and co. managed to run seriously low on laptop battery before halting the show early to reboot. “The last thing we need [on a night like this] is bad streetpress,” joked multi-instrumentalist Dave Connor before Pratt offered, “Take this time to reflect back on a time in your life when something went wrong.”
As the room filled there seemed to be no sense of urgency or occasion. This may’ve been the final night for The East, but it also felt like a regular gig. Milk Teddy and Parking Lot Experiments gave their genuine thanks but it was hardly moving or cry-into-your-beer stuff. And there remained no sign of any official speeches gearing up to headliners Oscar + Martin.
Rumours of the venue’s demise had been circulating as early as November last year, when a planning permit – reprinted by online magazine ToneDeaf – suggested it’d soon make way for a residential development. While bookers insisted it was “business as usual” for the bandroom, owners Pam and Pete Benjamin’s decision to retire from the music business had effectively sealed the East’s fate.
After six years as one of Melbourne’s better mid-sized bandrooms (300 capacity) – playing host to such acts as The Drones, Eddy Current, Jay Reatard, Battles and The Dirtbombs – The East announced its final flurry of gigs. Tonight’s bill eschewed the pageantry of a typical “farewell” gig in favour of a line-up you might see here on an ordinary Wednesday night.
“We are celebrating something that is going to die,” Oscar + Martin's Oscar Vicente Slorach-Thorn reminded a now capacity crowd. “After tonight it’s gone so it’s kind of sad, but we’ll try and have fun anyway and send the East Brunswick Club off with a bang.”
Tropicalia and R&B collided with freestyle beats taken from last year’s debut For You, and the crowd swayed gently (maybe a little too gently) in response. The night moved swiftly from the random chaos of the opening acts into a tame, sandwiches-and-soda 21st birthday party feel, and as such it remained impossible to truly gauge how much this was hurting.
“Who wants to storm the stage?” quizzed Slorach-Thorn as the same trio who were front of stage during Milk Teddy’s set launched themselves onto the podium. It was an initially awkward moment, but fortunately a few more punters appeared until a mob of around 20 cavorted alongside the duo.
“The last song ever at the East Brunswick Club had to be this,” declared Martin King as the band launched into Prince’s ‘I Wanna Be Your Lover’ to end the era. From here the loyal East followers high-fived and writhed away during their last ever bandroom dance. The curtains were drawn, the lights flicked on and that was that; but not before Crowded House had their say with the mawkish ‘Don't Dream It's Over’ and ‘Weather With You’ trailing from the speakers.
Postscript: The Heritage-listed front bar and vegan friendly restaurant will continue to trade as normal throughout the month of March, but it’ll reportedly make way for an up-market wine bar after that.
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MORE PHOTOS: East Brunswick Club’s final show