A KING STREET MINUTE

It was a few days out from the King Street Crawl when my friend Jamila kindly hit me up with a media pass for the day, which meant only one thing… I was going. With a lineup that really excited me, and a bunch of friends getting involved, I absolutely had to. After the event had a couple years off the street, it was back and bigger than ever. Dubbed the King of Crawls, it’s a huge collaborative effort from the creators, the local venues and organisers, to create this king sized event. 

On the trip up from Wollongong, my friends and I were in the car comparing the must-sees, all the while nervous to see how busy it would be. We had a feeling it’d be packed, but we had no idea!

It was 2:30pm, I found a park somehow and went to tick off my first task of buying film from Sydney super8, already bumping into friends left, right and centre–but there was absolutely no time to chat, I was on business. First up on the list was my friend’s band Grxce’s set which started in 5 minutes at the Marly and, I was at least a 15 minute walk away.I don’t know if I’ve ever pounded the pavement that hard. This is the point where I admit I have a bit of a distaste for slow walkers, so best believe I was over-and-under-taking on the King Street footpaths.

Finally I made it to my first set of the day. It was such a relief, and Grxce is so awesome. Jono is effortlessly cool with his guitar, and the packed-out crowd was soaking up every one of Jamila’s (yep–same Jamila!) words. I was there for sub 10 minutes because it was time to go see Placement at Bootleggers. Kuarna Yerta’s Post-Punk heavy hitters Placement aren’t known to disappoint with their ‘ferocious’ live shows. A slight delay thanks to some sound issues and a cheap microphone stand couldn’t get them down. 

While we were there, we were faced with a difficult decision: whether to stay and enjoy Placement’s full set, or leave and join the line for Belair Lip Bombs at the Bank. They chose to stay for Placement, and their realism didn’t let them down. I legged it to The Bank to see this big-ass line, not moving an inch.

Once inside, I made my way to the front where I saw some friends, and we all agreed Lippies sounded incredible. The band’s Maisy is honestly the most awesome person in the world, and it was so cool to see them again in the place I first saw them. 

The heat in there due to all the people was slowly getting overwhelming, so I grabbed a beer and sorryed my way through the crowd to the balcony. I could still hear the band when I was out there talking to my friend Lili, who goes by HotBabe93, who was amping up for their 5:35 set. Lili is awesome, and is championing for diversity by creating an online database for FLINTA* DJ’s - read about it all here.

By this point I was sad to have missed my friend's band Scatterlight, and the Uplifting Bell Ends. Seems to be that’s the tragic beauty of any crawl of this size. 

After that beer and a big stretch, I navigated my way to Gimmy–who’s record I’ve listened to but have never seen played live. If you haven’t heard her stuff before, her sound is like if Julia Jackin was in a boxing ring–punchy and direct–and her songs look outwards, and then back inwards at her thought processes and reactions.  By no surprise, and also to my complete joy, it was there I bumped into studio pal Josh, who runs Third Eye Stimuli, the record label Gimmy is signed to. He was nodding along to the music in his usual newsboy cap and cuffed jeans.

Shortly, I Excuse me-d my way out of there, as my buddies had made it to The Midnight Special line, where Crankees were just getting started. Never had I heard of this band, and never had I seen anything like it. The venue had the stage on either side of the entrance, used as a jumping platform by lead singer Rodney Todd, while singing about punching his boss on the lips. This Rodney guy  isn’t just a musician, but a stand-up comedian as well. Combine that with punchy, room-packing riffs and you’ve got Crankees–words don’t express how awesome they are.

By this time, my friends  had made it inside the venue and we found a spot where we excitedly waited for Chimers to start. We love these guys. Binx and Padraic have the most insane soundscape between the two of them, and as always I was blown away. 

After a quick dinner I was fulfilled and happy, and I made the choice to depart from the friends and head back to the Union Hotel for Mac the Knife. Something intrigues me about that guy, that I can’t put my finger on. The band had a packed out room hanging onto Bryn’s every word, while their Albert-Hammon Jr. inspired riffs rang through the room. These guys are going for total world domination, and they look suave doing it.

Pal Josh had remained at the Union since Gimmy, so after Mac the Knife, we hit the streets together to get to Pleasure Club for Cool Sounds. The band–which shares their name with a party-hire company, whether incidentally or on purpose–brought their indie-pop sound with gently harmonised vocals to Pleasure Club, which had become a bit of a sauna due to the crowd. I was surprised to see Cody’s friend was wearing a scarf in there. 

Craving fresh air, the walk back to Bootleggers for Dust was very welcome. There was a long long long line of people waiting to get in, and then get upstairs. The crowd was packed into the full length of Sydney’s narrowest band room. Dust took the stage and were soundchecking as people were pushing through to get closer to the front, where I was making friends with another person with a camera, and the met girlfriend of one of the band-members (I didn’t ask which). They opened with New High, and I escaped for safety when the moshing started. In a room like Bootleggers,especially when at max capacity, the safest space is far far away. I escaped to the terrace where I caught up with Finn from the Wanderer Team and our friends. 

This was when I went I made the trek back to Pleasure Club to see friend of the mag (and friend of myself) Annie Hamilton. I was there before the crowd from Dust moved in, and soon the venue was full. Annie was the perfect choice for this timeslot, as she sang in the midnight and danced away the sadness. She was absolutely killing it, and was wearing an outfit she’d transformed from a second-hand suit set. This girl can do it all.

At this stage, we were well and truly ready for bed, so met up with the girls for dinner and I drove us back home to Wollongong: arriving at the grand hour of 2:30 am. With 15,000 steps done in the day, it was my personal Camino Trail. 

It was a really big day. Big but fun. It’s great to see the streets full of thousands of people chatting, laughing and crawling, to see bars, clubs and restaurants packed to the rafters. The Crawl is a brilliant showcase of what Newtown and the Inner West has to offer–diverse entertainment and community, something for everyone, and all for free. It’s kinda tough–I reckon I only saw 10% of the music that was scheduled for the day, even with the ability to skip lining up, and I can’t help but wish I got to see more acts. I guess that’s just part of the event’s unique charm, it always leaves you wanting more.  

It’s such an important event–a reminder of live music’s place in the community, and where we’re all brought together. I’m super keen to see what’s next for the King Street Crawl, and I absolutely recommend dipping your toes in next year.