- Sep 28
- 4 min read
There’s a sacred geometry to rock history. A band isn’t just born in a garage or stitched together in rehearsal rooms—it’s forged in the fire of a venue. The greatest bands don’t just play great venues. They become them. They echo in the walls, haunt the rafters, and leave behind a myth that future generations chase like a ghost.
I loved the 90's and the venues that lived and breathed WA original heavy music and sharing my memories of some of greatest is as important as the bands that played.
🏟️ Venues as Mythic Crucibles
Every legendary venue is more than bricks and beams. It’s a crucible of chaos, sweat, and sonic rebellion. Think CBGB in New York, where punk was baptized in beer and broken strings. Or The Cavern Club in Liverpool, where The Beatles turned lunchtime gigs into cultural earthquakes. These places weren’t just stages—they were portals. They didn’t host greatness. They demanded it.
In Western Australia, we’ve had our own temples of sound. From the raw electricity of The Grosvenor to the thunderous legacy of Metropolis Fremantle, these venues didn’t just support the scene—they defined it. And when Rawkus® shattered the sound barrier at 135 dB, it wasn’t just a gig. It was a rite of passage. A Guinness-certified roar that said: this is where legends are made.
🔥 The Alchemy of Audience and Architecture
Great venues shape bands by forcing them to rise. The acoustics challenge them. The crowd tests them. The history dares them to leave a mark. It’s where a frontman learns to command, not just perform. Where a band discovers its myth, not just its setlist.
When the lights hit, and the first chord lands, the venue becomes a living thing. It breathes with the band. It pulses with the crowd. And if the chemistry is right, something transcendent happens. A moment that can’t be streamed or replicated. A moment that makes a band.
🌌 Legacy Is Location
You can’t separate Nirvana from the Paramount Theatre. You can’t talk about AC/DC without invoking the sweaty sanctuaries of Sydney’s early rock scene. And you can’t tell the Rawkus® story without the venues that dared to host the madness.
So if you’re building a band, don’t just chase followers—chase foundations. Seek out the venues that challenge you, that carry history in their floorboards and ghosts in their green rooms. Because when you play a great venue, you’re not just performing. You’re auditioning for immortality.
Club Original at the Grosvenor Hotel: Danny, Pig, Sharon behind the bar and the Underground Pantheon that became a legend.
If the Grosvenor’s basement could talk, it wouldn’t whisper—it would scream. Club Original wasn’t just a venue. It was a mythic forge where Perth’s loudest, rawest, and most unforgettable bands were baptized in distortion. And at the heart of it all? Rawkus®. But they weren’t alone.
🎤 Rawkus®: The Sonic Vanguard
Before the Guinness World Record. Before the cinematic branding. Rawkus® was a band with something to prove. And Club Original gave them the proving ground. No risers. No safety nets. Just amps, sweat, and the kind of crowd that could make or break you in a single set.
🧙♂️ Danny and Pig: The Curators of Chaos
They weren’t just bookers—they were gatekeepers of legend. Danny and Pig had the instinct to spot greatness before it bloomed. They gave Rawkus® its early roar, and they gave countless other bands the chance to carve their names into the concrete.
Rawkus®: Born in the Basement, Destined for the Record Books
Rawkus® wasn’t just another band—we were a sonic rebellion. Club Original was where we learned to command chaos. Where we found our mythic voice. Where we turned volume into legend.
Every gig was a battle. Every crowd was a test. And every night was a step toward the Guinness World Record that would later immortalize us at 135 dB. But it started here. In the basement. With Danny, Pig, and a crowd that demanded everything.
⚔️ The Pantheon: Brothers in Noise
We weren’t alone. Club Original was a crucible for the entire WA underground. These were our comrades, our rivals, our fellow legends: I will never forget or understate the atmosphere and rebellion that was Club Original. So many great hard rock & Metal bands I played with and knew but by no means can I name them all
- SFD – Morley-born thrash chaos.
- Infected – Industrial death metal with a cult following.
- Allegiance – WA’s thrash titans, praised by Rob Halford himself.
- Dump Truck – Grunge grit and unforgettable hooks.
- Hellbound – Riff-driven metal mayhem.
Each band brought their own fire. Each night was a new chapter in the myth.
Club Original closed its doors in the late ’90s. The basement fell silent. But the echoes never stopped. They live in every WA band that dares to be loud. In every punter who remembers the sweat, the noise, the moment. And in Rawkus®—born in the basement, destined for the stars.
