Melbourne garage punks Magic Bones recently had a dream come true when they were offered a support slot with their punk rock heroes Radio Birdman.

They needed all the energy they could get as they lugged their gear up and down staircases across the country, playing three shows across Melbourne and Adelaide in the space of just 24 hours.

3 Gigs, 2 Cities, 24 Hours

Saturday the 11th of June was an epic night of electric riffs and loud noises. Playing with Radio Birdman was not only a hoot, but also humbling to meet some of our heroes. Not only do they write great songs and bristle with the energy of teenagers onstage, but they’re also top notch people who we’ll hopefully cross paths with again in the near future!

The nights starts at Max Watts. Loading down into this place from Swanston St is always chaos with pedestrians coming thick and fast from all directions. Thankfully Radio Birdman frontman Rob Younger is around and offers to lend a hand. What a legend. After Radio Birdman soundcheck we jump onstage. Rich plugs in the sound goodisers, while Dylan tries to figure out how to get the threaded thing in the shiny thing.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Deniz Tek, guitarist of Radio Birdman, onstage during our soundcheck talking guitars and bestowing his rock ‘n’ roll wisdom on us.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Pre-gig preparation is different for everyone; we usually have a laugh, a bit of a strum, maybe a bit of a wiggle to loosen up. On this night we have our good mate and band guru Simon around to share some beers and motivational words.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

It’s a challenging psychological proposition supporting such a legendary and iconic act like Radio Birdman. The crowd may or may not know who you are or any of your songs, but as always we rise to the challenge and have most of the crowd on our side by the end of the set. One thing’s for sure, we had a great time!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

After Radio Birdman’s killer set at Max Watts we hurry our gear back out the fire exit, into our car and shoot across town to Yah Yahs for the infamous 2am slot. Still sweaty from our first set, we arrive to an equally sweaty, heaving crowd. Only 20 minutes before we’re due to start, at lightning speed we madly rush our gear up two flights of stairs and across the two dancefloors to get set up.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The crowd is loose and pumped, and so are we. At some point a fetching black bra makes its way onstage with only one obvious destination: the chest of Dylan Thorpe. It’s hotly disputed whether the bra was intended for Dylan or Kiri but I think we all know who it looked better on…

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

White furry hat girl, you are the best, come party with us again sometime. To the other girl who tried (unsuccessfully) to knock off our merch… what were you planning to do with 15 extra large Magic Bones t-shirts!?

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Riding on adrenaline and only a couple of hours sleep, we took flight to Adelaide for more shenanigans.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Straight to Derringers Music in Adelaide to replace some of the gear we broke the night before. Shit always gets weird when we visit music stores together. Don’t let us into your store unless you want some of this!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The Gov is our third show in 24 hours. After smashing out another 45 minute set, we get to kick back and enjoy the show. Adelaide is calling out for Radio Birdman to do their famous cover of The Stooges’ ‘TV Eye’ all night, and nobody goes home disappointed. The band prolongs the buildup to their final song as Younger tells the audience, “This is a new one, it’s a little reggae jam we just wrote backstage”, before launching into ‘New Race’.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

It was a great privilege to have been handed the opportunity to support Radio Birdman, our punk rock heroes. This was 24 hours we’ll never forget.

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.
to Rolling Stone magazine
to Rolling Stone magazine