About this site

This site started with my old work diaries. In 1985 and 1986 I was the live sound engineer for Bandanna, and the diaries from those years are mostly a date and a venue, night after night. It seemed a shame to let them disappear.

Mark Gibson at the mixing desk in a dark venue, with an effects rack behind him — Me at the mixing desk at Stags, around 1986 or 1987. Photo probably by Brian Lawrence, who was on the lighting desk next to me.

Since then it’s grown into a record of Australian live music from the pub rock years of the 1970s to the 1990s: the bands, the venues, the gig guides and the charts, with help from readers and photographers who were there too.

The stories and the facts

This site has the stories. The facts live in its companion, the Australian Music Database. The gig lists and the facts beside each story come from there, so a correction made once shows up everywhere.

Why it’s here

Nothing here is trying to sell you anything. The site exists to document an era that happened before the internet, while the people who were there can still tell it. The ads stay in clearly labelled spots.

Getting it right

I do my best to check everything, but some of it will be wrong. If you spot something, tell me. If you have a story, photos or your own gig diaries, I’d love to hear from you.

Mark Gibson