| Venue | Max Watts |
| --- | --- |
| Date | Sat 5 June—doors open 8PM; set times TBC |
| Price | $28—$31 + booking fee |
| Note | Max Watts is an 18+ licensed venue; standing room only |
| Note | Face masks are now required for patrons 12 years and older at RISING indoor venues. By entering a RISING venue you agree to wear a mask, if you refuse to do so you may be denied entry or asked to leave. As announced by the Victorian Government, face masks are mandatory in indoor settings for all patrons 12 years and over |


Event Information

ACCESSIBLE PARKING

There is an on street accessible parking bay at the corner of Swanston Street on Little Collins Street. Other accessible parking options can be found at Greenco Parking Pty Ltd, Council House, 200 Little Collins St; QV and Federation Square.

ACCESSIBLE DROP OFF

Accessible parking bay and loading zone on Little Collins Street near corner of Swanston Street.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Nearest accessible train station: Melbourne Central Station, services all metro lines.

Nearest accessible tram stop: 130m from Swanston Street / Bourke Street—Tram 86 and 96—Stop 6; Melbourne Town Hall / Collins Street—Tram 109, 11, 12, 48—Stop 6

DISTANCE COVERED BY PARTICIPANT

Under 200m.

ACCESSIBLE ENTRANCE

Front door. Fully accessible with ramps at the entrance. There is lift access to band room, but not the mezzanine bar.

ACCESSIBLE BATHROOMS

Accessible bathrooms are located near the side of stage area, which is available for wheelchair users to view the performance. Ramps can be provided to access side of stage. Staff are in attendance to assist.

Venue Access

Face masks are now required for patrons 12 years and older at RISING indoor venues. By entering a RISING venue you agree to wear a mask, if you refuse to do so you may be denied entry or asked to leave. As announced by the Victorian Government, face masks are mandatory in indoor settings for all patrons 12 years and over.

We are working with the Victorian Government and the Department of Health to deliver a COVID-Safe event for visitors, artists and staff. Find out what we're doing [here](https://rising.melbourne/covid-safe). 

[Public Event Attestation](https://exhibitionist-rising.s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/PDFs/COVID/RedactedVersion_COVIDSafe-Low-Risk-Tier-2-Public-Event-Attestation_DeepThroatDriveIn_Redacted.pdf)


COVID-Safe Information

Hip hop has always been a vehicle for change. One of its most vocal practitioners is DRMNGNOW (Yorta Yorta/Dja Dja Wurrung/Wiradjuri), who uses music and poetry to reject colonialism and champion First Peoples sovereignty. For RISING, he plays his first shows since pre-pandemic. 

Co-headlining the night in his debut Naarm performance is Kobie Dee (Gomeroi), the MC from Maroubra in South Sydney, Bidjigal land, whose single releases over the last couple of years—‘Role Model’ and ‘This Life (feat. Bea Moon)’—include reflective rap meditations on his life, that dip in and out of a distinctive double time flow. Opening the night (and playing between sets) is DJ, SOVBLKPSSY (Ngarrindjeri/Ramindjeri/Walkandi-Woni/Wangkumara); who will hand over to the Kenyan-born, Pookie, who’s coming in hot off the back of her new track ‘Unstoppable’.  

Midtown

Flinders Street Station Ballroom

Comedy Theatre 

Melbourne Town Hall

Chapter House

  Max Watts

The Capitol – RMIT

Artist Bar

SOVBLKPSSY

Unflinching hip hop, and vital dancefloor energy, holding the status quo to account.  

Pookie and SOVBLKPSSY 

Hold up! Tickets may still be available via the venue, check [here](https://tickets.oztix.com.au/outlet/event/cec68f9a-5dcc-488f-9f84-30e74198c6c6?utm_source=Oztix&utm_medium=Website&utm_content=Hero&utm_term=Item_1) for final tickets.

DRMNGNOW and Kobie Dee

| Venue | Max Watts |
| --- | --- |
| Date | Sat 29 May—doors open 8PM; set times TBC |
| Price | $28—$31 + booking fee |
| Note | Max Watts is an 18+ licensed venue; standing room only |
| Note | Face masks are now required for patrons 12 years and older at RISING indoor venues. By entering a RISING venue you agree to wear a mask, if you refuse to do so you may be denied entry or asked to leave. As announced by the Victorian Government, face masks are mandatory in indoor settings for all patrons 12 years and over |

Face masks are now required for patrons 12 years and older at RISING indoor venues. By entering a RISING venue you agree to wear a mask, if you refuse to do so you may be denied entry or asked to leave. As announced by the Victorian Government, face masks are mandatory in indoor settings for all patrons 12 years and over.

We are working with the Victorian Government and the Department of Health to deliver a COVID-Safe event for visitors, artists and staff. Find out what we're doing [here](https://rising.melbourne/covid-safe). 

“White privileged tears on the floor / Suck it up snowflake / What ya crying for if it’s only a date,” goes one of many furious takedowns on ‘22 Clan’ by Barkaa (Malyangapa/Barkindji). From bouts of homelessness and drug addiction, the rapper has emerged at the forefront of a reinvigorated national rap scene—a firebrand MC with unstoppable flow.  

For RISING, she’s making the trip from Gandangara country (south-eastern New South Wales) to turn Max Watts on its head, leading an underground, club-focused line-up. Kootsie Don (Larrakia) drops bars over shattering trap snares; Sevy & Bayang (Tongan/Lozi Zambian and Filipino respectively) put their spin on grime and drill traditions with their Sydney-based producer Utility behind the decks; while party DJ and style icon Soju Gang keeps the floor shaking. 

Check out ‘22 Clan’ by Barkaa on our Land Back Spotify playlist [here](/wormhole/playlist-land-back)

SET TIMES

8PM — Soju Gang (and between sets)
9PM — Kootsie Don
10PM — Sevy & Bayang
11PM — Barkaa


Kootsie Don

Sevy & Bayang

Heavy hitting club tracks from the hip hop underground. 

Kootsie Don, Sevy & Bayang and Soju Gang  

Barkaa

“It is a deceptively difficult trick, to capture the humanity and irregularities of music in a way that does not feel cloying, but Brisbane’s The Goon Sax manage it again, and again, and again. This is some kind of wonderful.”— Everett True, The Guardian  

| Venue | Max Watts |
| --- | --- |
| Date | Thu 3 June, doors open 6.30PM and 9.30PM; set times TBC |
| Price | $28—$31 + booking fee |
| Note | Max Watts is an 18+ licensed venue; standing room only |
| Note | Face masks are now required for patrons 12 years and older at RISING indoor venues. By entering a RISING venue you agree to wear a mask, if you refuse to do so you may be denied entry or asked to leave. As announced by the Victorian Government, face masks are mandatory in indoor settings for all patrons 12 years and over |


A night sitting on pop’s outer reaches with The Goon Sax and Jonnine. The Goon Sax wield three-minute weapons, that’ll shred your heart to ribbons. They've taken a big sonic leap since their guitar, bass and drums debut: new edges and angles have formed with the addition of anxious woodblocks and synths. Now, seminal US indie label Matador’s releasing their new record—*We're Not Talking*—internationally (on Chapter Music locally) and they’ll preview the first tracks at Max Watts. 

Meanwhile, Jonnine has spent years mastering twilight synths and shadowy club corners in her band HTRK. At the end of last year she dropped her masterful solo record *Blue Hills*. If *The Shining*’s Overlook Hotel opened up at Lake Eildon, it would look like this: a labyrinth of texture and sharpening blades in which sleep and wakefulness overlap. Get spooked on arrival.  

SET TIMES - Early show

6.30PM — Doors Open
7PM — Jonnine
8PM — The Goon Sax

SET TIMES - Late show

9.30PM — Doors Open
10PM — Jonnine
11PM — The Goon Sax

Head down the staircase for atmospheric apparitions and pop shredders. 

Jonnine 

The Goon Sax

“[Second Hand Smoke] plays like outsider art, snaking along disparate paths while looking stubbornly inward.”

| Venue | Max Watts |
| --- | --- |
| Date | Sun 6 June—doors open 8PM; set times TBC |
| Duration | Approx. 3 hours |
| Price | $28—$31 + booking fee |
| Note | Max Watts is an 18+ licensed venue; standing room only |
| Note | Face masks are now required for patrons 12 years and older at RISING indoor venues. By entering a RISING venue you agree to wear a mask, if you refuse to do so you may be denied entry or asked to leave. As announced by the Victorian Government, face masks are mandatory in indoor settings for all patrons 12 years and over |

Chris Smith’s hazy 2020 album *Second Hand Smoke* is a cloud of exhaled influences. There’s his rusted on, man-out-of-place-and-time vocals; samples of news reports on Melrose Place actor Heather Locklear; and a suite of instrumental guitar tracks that build on each other, slowly filling the room in a thick fog. Since playing in Geelong noise-rock outfit The Golden Lifestyle Band in the mid ‘90s, Smith’s live and recorded output has been slim. At this rare performance he plays a set of improvisational electric guitar pieces accompanied by film projections before diving into the songs on *Second Hand Smoke* with a full band. 

Also from Geelong, and also appearing sporadically, is Lost Animal—whose now 10-year-old album *Ex Tropical* remains a singular achievement in Melbourne’s 21st century musical canon. Ostensibly the solo project of Jarrod Quarrell, Lost Animal plays songs off that record and 2016’s *You Yang*. 

Rounding out the night is OV Pain, the darkwave duo of Renee Barrance and Tim Player. The pair—originally formed in Dunedin, New Zealand—wrangle synths, drums, sax and samples into icy walls of sound, soon to be heard on their forthcoming album *The Churning Blue of Noon*.  

SET TIMES

8PM — Doors Open
8.30PM — OV Pain
9.30PM — Lost Animal
10.30 — Chris Smith

Art-damaged country blues, brooding tropical keyboard flourishes and icy synths collide. 

Lost Animal and OV Pain  

Chris Smith: Second Hand Smoke Album Launch

| Venue | Max Watts |
| --- | --- |
| Date | Sun 30 May, doors at 6.30PM and 9.30PM; set times TBC |
| Price | $28—$31 + booking fee |
| Note | Max Watts is an 18+ licensed venue; standing room only |
| Note | Face masks are now required for patrons 12 years and older at RISING indoor venues. By entering a RISING venue you agree to wear a mask, if you refuse to do so you may be denied entry or asked to leave. As announced by the Victorian Government, face masks are mandatory in indoor settings for all patrons 12 years and over |

Melbourne’s innovative concert series Play On brings together beloved electronic producers Sleep D and the six-person Ad Lib Collective chamber ensemble, for a night of contemporary composition. The performance is the culmination of a two-year relationship between the two groups of musicians and coincides with the release of their new album *Flashed Glass*.  

Using live electronics, percussion, oboe, saxophone and viola—with compositions plotted on charts and maps—*Flashed Glass* is the artists’ sonic interpretation of vast open spaces, dystopian landscapes and expansive journeys.  

Opening the night is YL Hooi, whose untitled album—initially released as a ghostly cassette tape transmission in 2019—has found a devoted audience thanks to this year’s vinyl reissue on local label Efficient Space.  

SET TIMES — 1st Show

6.30M — Doors open
6.50PM — YL Hooi
7.50PM — Sleep D & Ad Lib Collective
9PM — End of early show 

SET TIMES — 2nd Show

9.30M — Doors open
9.50PM — YL Hooi
10.50PM — Sleep D & Ad Lib Collective


Chamber music and live electronics meet to cross dystopian landscapes. 

YL Hooi 

Play On: Sleep D and Ad Lib Collective

| Venue | Max Watts |
| --- | --- |
| Date | Thu 27 May—doors open 8PM; set times TBC |
| Duration | Approx. 3 hours |
| Price | $28—$31 + booking fee |
| Note | Max Watts is an 18+ licensed venue; standing room only |
| Note | Face masks are now required for patrons 12 years and older at RISING indoor venues. By entering a RISING venue you agree to wear a mask, if you refuse to do so you may be denied entry or asked to leave. As announced by the Victorian Government, face masks are mandatory in indoor settings for all patrons 12 years and over |

ACCESSIBLE PARKING

There is an on street accessible parking bay at the corner of Swanston Street on Little Collins Street. Other accessible parking options can be found at Greenco Parking Pty Ltd, Council House, 200 Little Collins St; QV and Federation Square.

ACCESSIBLE DROP OFF

Accessible parking bay and loading zone on Little Collins Street near corner of Swanston Street.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Nearest accessible train station: Melbourne Central Station, services all metro lines.

Nearest accessible tram stop: 130m from Swanston Street / Bourke Street—Tram 86 and 96—Stop 6; 
Melbourne Town Hall / Collins Street—Tram 109, 11, 12, 48—Stop 6

DISTANCE COVERED BY PARTICIPANT

Under 200m.

ACCESSIBLE ENTRANCE

Front door. Fully accessible with ramps at the entrance. There is lift access to band room, but not the mezzanine bar.

ACCESSIBLE BATHROOMS

Accessible bathrooms are located near the side of stage area, which is available for wheelchair users to view the performance. Ramps can be provided to access side of stage. Staff are in attendance to assist.

Get lost in properly loud guitar jams, bass that cracks sidewalks and drums with broken brake lines.  

Clamm are barreling down the riff highway, but the squalls of guitar are too much for the windscreen wipers—angular punk, always moving forward. Jumping from pockets of fuzz, with one-minute bouts of mania, is Brick Head—like someone yelling through a green and gold dish scourer. And Voice Imitator’s champing at the bit—bleak humour, noise rock and white-hot propulsive energy.  

Howl into the void. 

SET TIMES

8.30PM — Voice Imitator
9.30PM — Brickhead
10.30PM — Clamm

Brickhead

Cassette-tape chaos, sweat, screams, riffs and disobedience. A sick rock show: simple as that. 

Brick Head and Voice Imitator 

Clamm 

| Venue | Max Watts |
| --- | --- |
| Date | Fri 4 June—doors open 8PM; set times TBC |
| Price | $28—$31 + booking fee |
| Note | Max Watts is an 18+ licensed venue; standing room only |
| Note | Face masks are now required for patrons 12 years and older at RISING indoor venues. By entering a RISING venue you agree to wear a mask, if you refuse to do so you may be denied entry or asked to leave. As announced by the Victorian Government, face masks are mandatory in indoor settings for all patrons 12 years and over |

Pre-pandemic, Vanessa Worm was building a reputation as Melbourne’s most fearless stage presence—a party prophet delivering Dadaist sermons to Melbourne’s dancefloors. Her debut album, *Vanessa 77*, is a mystical cauldron of dub vibrations, and drum and bass spirit realms. Her tracks have attracted the attention of international DJs with a devil-may-care attitude to genre, including Gerd Janson and her label bosses Optimo.  

Co-headling the night is Sydney’s doom-jazz duo Party Dozen, who conjur an end-of-the-world boogie from catastrophic saxophone and devastating distortion. The band's largely instrumental 2020 album, *Pray For Party Dozen*, was inspired by cults and is devilishly unforgiving in its heaviness. But nontheless, it contains a multitude of colours, emotions and energy.

Also making the trip from New Zealand with Vanessa Worm is outsider house producer Eden Burns—whose ‘Beans in the Basement’ mix of Vanessa Worm’s ‘Heaven To Hell’, was one of last year’s best remixes (and the soundtrack to our launch film). His sets are irreverent beasts that prioritise the party over self-seriousness, full of genre curveballs and unexpected gems.

Burn it all down, dance on the embers and start anew. 

SET TIMES

8PM — Doors Open
8PM —  SOVBLKPSSY (and between sets)
9PM — Pookie
10PM — Kobie Dee
11PM — DRMNGNOW


An absurdist disco to bring in the apocalypse.  

Vanessa Worm, Party Dozen and Eden Burns

| Venue | Max Watts |
| --- | --- |
| Date | Tue 1 June—doors open 8PM; set times TBC |
| Price | $11—$16 + booking fee |
| Note | Max Watts is an 18+ licensed venue; standing room only |
| Note | Face masks are now required for patrons 12 years and older at RISING indoor venues. By entering a RISING venue you agree to wear a mask, if you refuse to do so you may be denied entry or asked to leave. As announced by the Victorian Government, face masks are mandatory in indoor settings for all patrons 12 years and over |

Face masks are now required for patrons 12 years and older at RISING indoor venues. By entering a RISING venue you agree to wear a mask, if you refuse to do so you may be denied entry or asked to leave. As announced by the Victorian Government, face masks are mandatory in indoor settings for all patrons 12 years and over.

We are working with the Victorian Government and the Department of Health to deliver a COVID-Safe event for visitors, artists and staff. Find out what we're doing [here](https://rising.melbourne/covid-safe). 


Since 1998 *Make It Up Club* has been nurturing, presenting and promoting improvised music and sound performances at venues across the city, most notably at Fitzroy’s Bar Open. It’s a staple on Melbourne’s gig guide, that will join with RISING for this one-off collaboration.  

*Make It Up Club’s* program prioritises musicians that challenge the boundaries of current musical trends; while providing performers with a stable and supportive environment in which to publicly exhibit recent explorations in improvised sound.  

Collaboration is encouraged between established and emerging performers, relationships which continue to be developed through adventurous improvisation. Musicians might use a range of instruments or objects in their compositions—if it can make a sound, it’s on the cards at *Make It Up Club*. 

__LINE-UP__
Chris Abrahams / Carolyn Schofield / Rohan Drape / Sooji Kim

Lloyd Swanton / Chloë Sobek / Tilde Joy / Dave Brown / Allara Briggs Pattison

Tony Buck / Maria Moles / Robin Fox / Nina Buchanan


Make it up 3

Make it up 1

Make it up 2

Leave your expectation at the door for a night of avant-garde improvised music. 

Make It Up Club

| Venue | Max Watts |
| --- | --- |
| Date | Fri 28 May—doors open 8PM; set times TBC |
| Price | $28—$31 + booking fee |
| Note | Max Watts is an 18+ licensed venue; standing room only |
| Note | Face masks are now required for patrons 12 years and older at RISING indoor venues. By entering a RISING venue you agree to wear a mask, if you refuse to do so you may be denied entry or asked to leave. As announced by the Victorian Government, face masks are mandatory in indoor settings for all patrons 12 years and over |

ACCESSIBLE PARKING

There is an on street accessible parking bay at the corner of Swanston Street on Little Collins Street. Other accessible parking options can be found at Greenco Parking Pty Ltd, Council House, 200 Little Collins St; QV and Federation Square.

ACCESSIBLE DROP OFF

Accessible parking bay and loading zone on Little Collins Street near corner of Swanston Street.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Nearest accessible train station: Melbourne Central Station, services all metro lines.

Nearest accessible tram stop: 130m from Swanston Street / Bourke Street—Tram 86 and 96—Stop 6 Melbourne; Town Hall / Collins Street—Tram 109, 11, 12, 48—Stop 6

DISTANCE COVERED BY PARTICIPANT

Under 200m.

ACCESSIBLE ENTRANCE

Front door. Fully accessible with ramps at the entrance. There is lift access to band room, but not the mezzanine bar.

ACCESSIBLE BATHROOMS

Accessible bathrooms are located near the side of stage area, which is available for wheelchair users to view the performance. Ramps can be provided to access side of stage. Staff are in attendance to assist.

Fill your plate with bain-marie bangers; like an all-you-can-eat buffet but with bands instead of a dessert bar. There’s Bananagun, the continent jumping, psychedelic fruit salad, with garage roots via global rhythms. 

Easing you into the night is Surprise Chef whose stripped-back, elegant funk flips like a good omelette. It’s gooey in the middle but leaps straight out of the pan—and so will you. 

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