St Kilda Is The Birthplace Of Modern Rock'N'Roll

Dan Watt, founder of Watt’s On Presents (which encompasses his many facets: from journalist to online TV dude and DJ), is presenting the third instalment of RocknRolla: a night devoted to the very best of rock in Melbourne. Performing on 26 Jun are The Cherry Dolls, The Eighty 88s, Millar Jukes & The Bandits and Sam Krieger, followed by Watt DJing as Denver Maxx until 3am. 

Inside the Prince Public Bar, treat yourself to Sailor Jerry drink specials, a free haircut at the operating barber stand, and soak in the history of the place. The walls will be stripped back to expose original ‘80s and ‘90s posters and the grunge aesthetic of years past while the newest rock’n’roll sounds play. 

Watt views St Kilda as one of the true birth places of a genre in need of continuous celebration: “St Kilda for me and for a lot of people is the birth place of modern Australian rock’n’roll. You would talk to someone like Fred Negro, AC/DC was down there, Nick Cave was down there, you had Rowland S Howard — there really were true rock’n’roll people in St Kilda.”

“St Kilda for me and for a lot of people is the birth place of modern Australian rock’n’roll."

It’s not all about past greats, but there is something authentic about this area for rockn’roll that lives on in younger acts. “It’s even second generation. Stacey Pommer, his dad Billy Pommer drummed for The Johnnys. Now that kid is about as rock and roll as you can be but the pretension isn’t there.”

The night will start with Sam Krieger from A Basket of Mammoths for a solo set of psych-rock: “He does throw back to the ‘90s to Alice In Chains. He has a psychedelic edge to him as well,” describes Watt.  

Following him will be Millar Jukes & The Bandits, who are similarly easygoing, led by the Scottish ex-pat Jukes: “He sings in an American style. He is easy listening like The Eagles.” 

At 10.40-ish, the fittingly eight-piece band The Eighty 88s will squeeze onto the stage to play their brand of garage rock with soul. “I’ve known Scotty, the lead singer, since high school. He started The Eighty 88s, which is a soul band with a punk spirit, but it’s very much soul.”

Finally, there’ll be headliners The Cherry Dolls. “I booked them before their last tour. They’ve just gone from strength to strength. The lead singer is such a strong frontman that has that Iggy Pop aesthetic. They remind me of some of my favourite bands, like Band Of Skulls.” Their sound is equal parts grunge and ‘60s rock, and from all recent accounts, the presence of front man Joshua Aubry is as unpredictably rock’n’roll as you can get.

Follow that up by staying to listen to Denver Maxx until 3am. He’ll play some rock classics — but not too many as to fall into a cliché trap. Free entry, cheap drinks, free haircuts, and authentic, unpretentious rock’n’roll. What else do you want?