White Lodge by Pissfit Gallery, playing with Thee Oh Sees, Kitchen's Floor and Donny Love (via White Lodge’s Facebook)JD Future Legends & Noisey present THE NEXT ON TOUR series of summer gigs. Hitting six metro and regional cities around the nation, THE NEXT ON TOUR will showcase some of Australia’s rising musical talent.The tour hits the Gold Coast’s Elsewhere on Thursday 18th February when Brisbane’s Tempura Nights team up with locals White Lodge and Draggs for a night of gnarly garage rock.Every show is free but you need to RSVP now!Hometown of Cody Simpson and Ricky Lee Coulter, the glitzy Gold Coast might not be your first port of call for an evening of scuzzy garage punk or slushy dream pop. But if you’re willing to look beyond the skyscrapers and theme parks, there’s a lot more to its music scene than first meets the eye. In fact, sifting through trashy bars and clubs to find the good stuff is half the fun.Think of the city as a musical salad, where a weird mix of flavours come together to make something delicious. Lo-fi acts and garage bands play totally inappropriate venues, gracing beachside stages where the clientele are more inclined to sport G-Star jeans and tramp stamps than they are Ty Segall t-shirts. But the locals totally get into it, and the musicians do too.Artists
The reverb-heavy garage sounds of White Lodge have been known to fill venues up and down Queensland, and their updated take on fuzzy ‘70s psychedelic rock is worth experiencing in person. You’ll find them billed alongside big names—Thee Oh Sees, The Growlers and Gooch Palms, to name a few. Look out for their split 7” with Missouri’s The Gorlons.Cruising the same house shows and sleaze bars as White Lodge are Draggs, another garage outfit who seem totally at odds with everything you thought you knew about the Gold Coast. Their self-titled demo EP, released late last year, is a glorious lo-fi mash of sped up surf rock and punk.Sex Drive’s frenzied punk rock musings on Australian masculinity are pretty dead-on. Their tunes mesh references to Russell Coight’s All Aussie Adventures with frenzied guitars and tales of romantic misadventure, and their track "Australien" made Noisey’s list for alternative universe Hottest 100 entries.Sleazy in all the best ways, the sunny surf rockers Donny Love take lyrical inspiration from the sex-soaked beach party scene they’re retreating from. You’ll find yourself subconsciously humming along to the tunes of their Sultry Visions EP after a single listen.Venues
It’s worth digging around Facebook to find house shows in the suburbs, but for less effort you can catch a rotating mix of bands and DJs on Friday nights at Elsewhere on Caville Avenue in Surfer’s Paradise. Meanwhile, bigger national and international touring bands will play to larger crowds at the Coolangatta Hotel (colloquially ‘The Cooly’).While limited venue opportunities have forced many a local band to cram into the Ford Falcon and head north or south to Brisbane or Byron for the night, the good news is that Gold Coast pubs and bars are opening themselves up to live music with increasing enthusiasm.Bogan dive bars like Broadbeach Tavern’s Liar’s Bar and the Miami Tavern Shark Bar (both are pretty much what they sound like) are leading the way, with the former even hosting a weekly Sunday night show for alternative acts. Down Red Bull and vodka like a local, put your tribal tattoo on display, settle in, and get your ears dirty.It isn’t Brisbane, and it sure ain’t Byron—it’s the Gold Coast, and there’s nothing quite like witnessing a bunch of skinny long haired weirdos play to a bleach blonde Broadbeach crowd.
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The reverb-heavy garage sounds of White Lodge have been known to fill venues up and down Queensland, and their updated take on fuzzy ‘70s psychedelic rock is worth experiencing in person. You’ll find them billed alongside big names—Thee Oh Sees, The Growlers and Gooch Palms, to name a few. Look out for their split 7” with Missouri’s The Gorlons.Cruising the same house shows and sleaze bars as White Lodge are Draggs, another garage outfit who seem totally at odds with everything you thought you knew about the Gold Coast. Their self-titled demo EP, released late last year, is a glorious lo-fi mash of sped up surf rock and punk.
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It’s worth digging around Facebook to find house shows in the suburbs, but for less effort you can catch a rotating mix of bands and DJs on Friday nights at Elsewhere on Caville Avenue in Surfer’s Paradise. Meanwhile, bigger national and international touring bands will play to larger crowds at the Coolangatta Hotel (colloquially ‘The Cooly’).While limited venue opportunities have forced many a local band to cram into the Ford Falcon and head north or south to Brisbane or Byron for the night, the good news is that Gold Coast pubs and bars are opening themselves up to live music with increasing enthusiasm.Bogan dive bars like Broadbeach Tavern’s Liar’s Bar and the Miami Tavern Shark Bar (both are pretty much what they sound like) are leading the way, with the former even hosting a weekly Sunday night show for alternative acts. Down Red Bull and vodka like a local, put your tribal tattoo on display, settle in, and get your ears dirty.It isn’t Brisbane, and it sure ain’t Byron—it’s the Gold Coast, and there’s nothing quite like witnessing a bunch of skinny long haired weirdos play to a bleach blonde Broadbeach crowd.