Mudhoney at Thornbury Theatre
16 October 2026 in Melbourne, supported by Primitive Ring and DB4.
Again we find ourselves in Thornbury, beholden to some of Melbourne's worst night-time public transport. Getting home usually means just missing a train and having to wait 40 to 60 minutes for the next one, or getting on the very slow 86 tram. On the train on the way there we realised it would be replacement buses for the journey home, as an added treat.
Yeah, I am not a big fan of High Street but it's hard to avoid, and I am, after all, a yepper. So we press on. Dinner before the show was incredibly slow. The restaurant we chose was full of Mudhoney-goers, many of whom started cracking the shits at the staff after waiting too long for their food.
But my companions and I are loathe to spread bad vibes so we just waited patiently, and missed the support bands.
The Thornbury Theatre is a funny venue. It's very ornate on the inside but doesn't have the vaulted ceiling you might expect from an old theatre. The stage is kitted out with a black backdrop kind of like a large pinboard and there's a bit of lighting suspended from the ceiling. It has the feel of a community hall. The sound also wasn't really up to scratch.
Mudhoney are a great band, so it didn't really do them justice. We also saw them last time they played in Melbourne, which I think was at the Corner in 2023 (with Penny Ikinger and the Paul Kidney Experience). That show was a lot more conducive!
The best bit was when a large, bearded man in his 50s, holding a tray of drinks, stopped in front of us in the crowd, clearly realising he had no idea where his friends were standing. He turned around and around, unsteady, with a terribly worried look on his face. I'd never seen such a lost cunt.
After a while he got his phone out to message his friends. I could read it because the text size was cranked right up. He texted, "Rounds up", as if his friends were the ones that had lost him. It didn't work.
More pirouettes. Then some more. Eventually he wandered off to go find them. Godspeed, lost cunt. They were on the complete other side of the crowd.
Again, I did not bring a camera (I completely forgot) so my terrible phone photos are back to disappoint us all.
Leaving the show, we gratefully accepted a lift to Richmond station so we didn't have to face Thornbury's public transport offering. So, a bit of a fizzer, even if Mudhoney were excellent.
