Having been the harbinger of a slew of new indie bands to come, The Rochester Castle Hotel (“The Rochy” to its regulars) frequented its punters with a variety of Melbourne’s best entrepreneurial musicians.
Throwing Saturday Night parties in the form of ‘Black Night Crash’, hosts Jonny O’Hara and Jordan Barczak ensured it was one of the best Melbourne venues to go visit to spend your week’s wages on drinks while experiencing some live music and dancing until you couldn’t feel your limbs.
“Our night was already established by the time we went into the live music market, and people heading to the Rochester on a Saturday night knew reasonably well what they were going to get each week,it allowed us to run the night in a very artist friendly way,” report Barczak and O’Hara.
This is why, when it was announced in May that The Rochy was closing its doors indefinitely, the question arose of how big of an impact it would have on the local music scene?
“Eight weeks ago the venue was in a major dispute between the leaseholder and landlord, and unfortunately the venue was closed indefinitely,” they detailed.
“We had gigs booked and events planned and so it was a bit of a mad scramble to shift them to other venues where we could. The two biggest ones were Wolf & Cub and Step-Panther. Thankfully Ding Dong Lounge were able to cover the Wolf & Cub show which was a sell out.”
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Shortly thereafter, Black Night Crash announced its permanent relocation to Ding Dong Lounge in the heart of Chinatown, and it seemed that there was still hope for Melbourne’s independents.
“The sound system at Ding Dong Lounge is world class, and so we were ecstatic when we were given the chance to make the move over a permanent one. The location, the venue, the sound system, the staff, the management… it’s all great! We’re really looking forward to working with the venue to provide some quality indie-rock focused Friday nights out.”
But of course, such bands are required to establish a night out, which was the case with Friday’s launch party; the trio of Synestatic, My Piranha and APES acting as the fuel to Ding Dong’s fire.
Fusing together their undeniable 1960s roots and seamlessly combining it with a more contemporary synth rock sound, the four piece of Synestatic crafted a well-knit set that not only sounded tightly rehearsed, but also increasingly catchy and memorable. Despite opening to a sparse crowd, the room slowly filled across their set, ending their half hour with the fantastically infectious number of ‘Liberator’.
Following were the more hard-hitting trio of My Piranha. Despite their tracks blending into one another and becoming hard to distinguish by the end, the threesome emanated an energy that worked in parallel with their almost punk-rock sound.Shortly thereafter, the boys in APES graced the stage. Almost surreal in nature, despite the immense lack of room in the venue, the crowd seemed rather docile and downbeat in response to the group’s brand of radio-friendly rock.
Regardless, the bands performance managed to draw a huge crowd at Ding Dong Lounge, initiating the cycle of self-sustainment. By charging a small door fee and creating income from the bar, they earn a profit and attract punters to see the musicians play, who in turn, make others aware of their presence. Assuming that there are always artists willing to play and expose themselves to their peers, then the venue creates a feedback loop of independent musicians.
As Barczak and O’Hara argue “Scenes come and go but regardless there will be always be a slew of bands playing, recording week in, week out, throughout Melbourne. It is just so important that there are supportive venues ensuring that these bands have a place to play and to be heard. Today’s so called ‘underground’ bands will be tomorrows success stories if they keep working hard and are supported.”
Black Night Crash will inevitably spend a while trying to find its feet at Ding Dong Lounge, but if Friday night proved anything; it’s that Melbourne’s independent music scene is still very much alive, and the bands that populate it are the very affluent lifeblood coursing through its veins.
Black Night Crash runs every Friday at Ding Dong Lounge, for more info you can visit the Black Night Crash Facebook page.
