By Dominique Tassell
The pub rock phenomenon spread across Australia throughout the ’70s and ’80s, resulting in an evolution of music that has had an enduring impact on Australia’s identity and culture.
Numerous Australian bands cultivated their style and their followings in urban pubs, making these venues – some now long-gone – integral to the evolution of Australian rock and pop music.
For the artists documenting this distinct cultural moment, the line between fan and portraitist was naturally blurred.
A spokesperson from The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) said the exhibition is full of fun.
“You can kind of almost smell the sweatiness of some of the performers and sticky beer covered floors as you move through (the exhibition).”
She described the exhibition as “really energetic and vivacious”.
The exhibition is set up in a generally chronological order, with some of Australia’s pub rock icons displayed prominently out the front including Midnight Oil, and Cold Chisel.
“There’s a lot of mullets in this show,” the NPG spokesperson joked.
The exhibit features both staged portraits and publicity shots alongside images captured during unguarded moments and the grungy energy of live performances.
The music from the bands in the show plays in the space as you walk through, and the NPG spokesperson joked she’d probably freaked out the “poor gallery staff” with her singing along to the playlist.
She said the exhibit highlights some of the really early rock’n’roll found in Australia and shows how that style of music was brought over via immigrants.
The Easybeats are featured in the exhibit, who met at the Villawood Migrant Hostel.
The exhibit then moves onto 70s/80s bands, like Split Enz.
It even includes a cheeky nod to the bee gees who formed as a rock band, but obviously found success elsewhere.
“There’s kind of something for everyone in here,” the spokesperson said. She said the exhibit is all-encompassing, including both sights and sounds.
She said some of the photos are really interesting to her, because some people have such a magnetic stage presence and this translates into their photos.
The exhibit features some of the key figures in Australian protest music, like Paul Kelly, Warumpi Band, and The Saints.
The spokesperson stated this is an exhibition that NPG put together in the first lockdown.
She said they had “quite a sober exhibition” planned, and decided when they were in lockdown “that just won’t be where people are at and it’s not where we’re at”.
“So we kind of started this as a little germ of an idea and it just sort of grew and grew into this really fun way of looking at different parts of Australian history,” she said.
“Music’s the best way to say anything, isn’t it?
She said being able to get it on the road has been exciting, with Warwick the very first place that they’re showing it.
“It’s such a great team and such a great gallery here so you know it’s wonderful to have their support to bring it out here as well.”
Highlights of the exhibition include a photo of Bon Scott from AC/DC with fans in 1977, which shows that fangirls truly transcend time and space.
Another highlight is a photo of Julie Mostyn from The Flaming Heads at a gig at The Cronulla Workers’ Club, Sydney in 1981 that makes you feel like you’re back in a gig though you probably haven’t been to one since 2019.
The NPG spokesperson agreed the beauty of some of the photos is their ability to convey the exact energy of a live music gig.
“Sometimes that’s a bit hard to bring across in a gallery, but we worked with some amazing photographers to make this happen and they’ve absolutely outdone themselves”.
