Melbourne & Sydney Weekend Tour!

SUNNY COAST RUDE BOYS – MELBOURNE TO SYDNEY: SKA, SWEAT & AIRPORT HANGOVERS

Melbourne audience skankin along whlist looking up at the Saturday Fever lights!

Friday, May 30th – The Prince of Wales, St Kilda

There’s nothing like corralling 12 semi-responsible adults into a plane before sunrise—especially when most of them are carrying trombones and questionable life choices. The Sunny Coast Rude Boys took off from Brisbane bleary-eyed and caffeine-deprived, bound for Melbourne for a weekend of brass-blasting chaos.

First stop: the iconic Prince of Wales in St. Kilda. What. A. Venue. Tye & Tal on Sound & Lights (legends! - we're all set now!) it's a ska mecca for the night. DJ Mohair Slim kicked things off with a killer vinyl set so smooth it made our saxophones blush. Then in bounced the unstoppable Nicky Bomba—part drummer, part magician, part circus act—delivering a solo set that involved a guitar, several bottles behind the bar, and (possibly) minor property damage. In short: amazing.

Next up were Melbourne’s own Ska Vendors—the kings of rocksteady, complete with the legendary Pat Powell and Steve Montgomery from the Melbourne Ska Orchestra. They oozed groove, style and that warm, vintage sound they sounded like they were fresh over from Kingston, Jamaica.

Enter: The Rude Boys.

We hit the stage like a rogue wave of surf-ska energy. Ninety minutes of originals, offbeat bangers and crowd-ska'd classics like Rock the Casbah and Beds Are Burning (Midnight Oil never sounded so cheeky). Our 8-piece horn section decided the stage was just too small, so they launched themselves into the audience mid-set like ska-flavored Avengers. Sam had done his yoga stretches in the green room, while Jimmy showed us his headstand prowess. Mick nipped out to the chemist buy a clippers & red coloured hair spray, so he could shave Wayne's head into a mowhawk hairstyle (true story!) Mika had on a Jamiroqai hat on & was busting out some 'space cowboy' moves. All the usual pre show shennaningans for the Rude Boys.

We wrapped the night with our unreleased party anthem Big Night Out—it slapped, it banged, it possibly caused minor injuries (Sive bust her foot after jumping of a drum riser on the stage - but carried on anyway, what a warrior!) . The crowd went off, and we left the stage grinning like ska-possessed lunatics.

Saturday, May 31st – Melbourne Airport

Twelve mildly hungover ska musicians squinting at the sun and skulling airport coffees like they were holy water. There were high fives. There were low groans. There were run-ins with Killing Heidi and other touring bands, who all gave us that knowing “yep, we did the same dumb thing last night” look, fist bumped, then checked in/out on their merry way.

Off to Sydney! Oxford Art Factory – Here We Come

After checking into the Oxford Art Factory (and immediately trying to remember where we left our dignity), we were greeted by Astrid & Dimitri, the kindest tech crew to ever witness a horn section trip over their own mic stands. Soundcheck done. Chaos contained.

Back came Nicky Bomba (does this man teleport?) for another crowd-warming, bottle-whacking, stage-bouncing set of brilliance. Rumor has it he’s off to Canada tomorrow with the Melbourne Ska Orchestra—we’re just hoping the Canadians are emotionally prepared.

Opening up tonight were the absolute beasts from Modus Fire—Sydney's punk-ska heroes. Razor-sharp, raw, and tighter than our travel budgets. They nearly melted the stage before we even touched our instruments.

SHOWTIME:

We kicked off with Fanfare for the Common Man—our horn section hit the big notes, people gasped, and then BAM: four surf-ska bangers in a row. It felt like doing a tequila shot while being slapped with a fish. In the best way possible.

The Sydney crowd brought the love. There were rude boys and rude girls, ska-dads, ska-mums, and even some suspiciously cool 30-somethings who definitely did their Spotify homework. When they sang along to our original tracks, we nearly cried. Or maybe that was the stage smoke.

We left nothing behind—except our last t-shirt, the final piece of vinyl, and probably one of Govi's drumsticks. Promises were made: We’ll be back, Sydney. And next time, maybe we’ll even bring a merch stand that isn’t held together with gaffa tape. Oh.. and we had a photo with a lovely, (though possibly intoxicated) Hen Party on Oxford St, Sydney at 1.14am. Classy.

It's a lil slideshow thingy! - click the arrows.... please and thank you.

What’s next?

The UK Tour is just around the corner. Pray for us. Or better yet—buy us snacks.

Want more updates from the tour bus (or the airport lounge where we’ve spilled three coffees already)?Follow @sunnycoastrudeboys on socials and come skank with us soon!