Loving live music isn’t just about attending music festivals and seeing an international artist’s massive arena show.

Even the biggest of big-name headliners started in the trenches, on the sticky carpets and bandrooms of your local bars and pubs – which is exactly where you should be if you want to discover your new favourite band or venue.

Here are our picks for this week’s best local gigs from Aussie talent – from Perth to the East Coast – and all for the price of a good meal.

Melbourne Music Week: Live Music Safari

Where: Various venues, Melbourne VIC
When: Thursday November 17
Why: Melbourne Music Week offers up a massive selection of free gigs to choose from across the city – far too many to name here. Click through to pick your poison, from Dan White and Cale Sexton, to Baro and Milwaukee Banks – again, all free.
Tickets & Info: Free, more info here.

High Tension

Where: Cherry Bar, Melbourne VIC
When: 8pm – late, Saturday Nov 19
Why: High Tension quickly established a reputation as one of the most visceral and primordial heavy music outfits on the Australian scene and now you’ll have the chance to experience their muse-see live set with special guests Infinite Void.
Tickets & Info: 
$13, more info here.

Free The Mind Fest

Where: The Brightside, Brisbane QLD
When: 7pm – 10pm, Thursday Nov 17
Why: Enjoy quality heavy music and help support a good cause – what more do you need? This concert, featuring Misguided, Diamond Construct, ENDLESS, Give It All, and more, will be raising money to benefit Suicide Prevention Australia. All profits from the show will be donated to charity!
Tickets & Info: 
$10, more info here.

Shining Bird

Where: Newtown Social Club, Sydney NSW
When: 7pm – 10pm, Wednesday Nov 16
Why: Join the formidable Shining Bird crew as they celebrate the release of their new album, Black Opal, with support from Solid Effort & S M Jenkins. If you haven’t seen this crew in action on the live stage yet, do yourself a favour and make your way to the Newtown Social Club this Wednesday.
Tickets & Info: $14.60, more info here.

10 Years Of triple j Unearthed

Where: The State Library of Victoria, Melbourne VIC
When: 8pm, Friday Nov 4
Why: In case you haven’t heard, triple j Unearthed is celebrating 10 years since it first went online and introduced us to a generation of bedroom musicians destined to be superstars. Help triple j celebrate the anniversary by heading down to the State Library to enjoy sets from Allday, Northeast Party House, Ali Barter, and Alex Lahey.
Tickets & Info: Free, more info here.

Fortunes

Where: Rocket Bar, Adelaide SA
When: 8pm – 11:45pm, Friday Nov 18
Why: Fortunes are in full-on celebration mode at the moment and they have every reason to be. They just signed to the taste-making Future Classic record label and just unveiled a new single – their first on the label. Now they’re going on tour and you can see what all the hype is about at Rocket Bar this Friday.
Tickets & Info: $11.50, more info here.

friendships, Rebel Yell & More

Where: The Foundry, Brisbane QLD
When: 8pm – 2am, Saturday Nov 19
Why: friendships are one of the must-see acts on the local live circuit at the moment. A mind-blowing mix of genre-bending, boundary-pushing music and mind-melting graphics and visuals, their upcoming performance with Rebel Yell at The Foundry will be something you won’t soon forget.
Tickets & Info: $15 for 4ZZZ subscribers, more info here.

Way Dynamic, Totally Mild & More

Where: The Evelyn, Melbourne VIC
When: Tuesday Nov 15
Why: Way Dynamic have been busy hammering away at their eagerly anticipated debut LP and to both prepare and celebrate its impending release, the band have announced they will be playing a free show every Tuesday at The Evelyn this month.
Tickets & Info: Free, more info here.

Pure Moods, Good Morning & More

Where: The Curtin, Melbourne VIC
When: 8pm – 12am, Saturday Nov 19
Why: This Melbourne three-piece generate a lot of  buzz for their live shows and they’ll now be generating buzz for their recorded output too, with the release of their new debut LP. To celebrate the release, they’re playing a show with buddies Good Morning, Great Outdoors, and III.
Tickets & Info: more info here.

Slowly Slowly

Where: Yah Yah’s, Melbourne VIC
When: 8pm – 3am, Friday Nov 4
Why: If you haven’t heard the buzz about Slowly Slowly yet then you might want to get out from under that rock that you’ve been calling home all this time. This will be the band’s last headline show in Melbourne for the year. Translation: you don’t want to miss out.
Tickets & Info: $13.50, more info here.

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