Mclusky at the Corner
6 January 2026 in Melbourne, supported by Twine.
I never really went through a [subgenre of] hardcore phase, not at the time anyway. One thing about hardcore (broadly) that does appeal to me is its urgency, but other things about it have put me off. It can be a bit whiny.
If a successful intervention had been staged to convince me, it would have sounded a lot like last night's show. I'll be honest, I think the (South) Australian and Welsh/Novocastrian accents helped.
So we found ourselves back at the Corner in Richmond. Unlike the last couple of shows here it was sold out which seems like a good achievement on a Tuesday so early in the year.
Twine were great, with lots of energy and the inclusion of a violinist pushed their sound out across genres and made it much more interesting. I'm not sure if Twine are based in Adelaide or Melbourne but either way I hope they play around here regularly.
(I was once again reminded that taking half-interesting photos at a live show is mostly a matter of catching the stage lighting at the right time. I can't help but select my favourite photo for these posts, even if it's not of the headline act.)
Mclusky initially confused me because I expected the bass player to be old mate from Rollingshitshow but it turns out he was mclusky's previous one. I suppose the one band could not contain so much smart-arsery.
Either way, what we do get is world-class stage banter that despite being quite expansive did not go on too long. They're very entertaining. The music is great too. I really enjoyed this show.
At one point the vocalist/guitarist claimed an unequivocal dislike of Oasis, which frankly I find hard to believe. I don't like Oasis' music but I could listen to the Gallagher brothers shit-talk each other all day.
The crowd was also quite a tall one, but a good one, from the perspective of a short person. It occurs to me that I feel a bit miffed when someone offers me their seat on the train but absolutely love it when someone lets me stand in front of them at a show. That's my issue to process, I suppose.
