Obituary: The Pink Palace 1998-2005
What was an ordinary warehouse in Melbourne’s inner-northern Northcote became the Pink Palace, an extraordinary all-ages venue for punks, activists and all shades of rainbow that stream between. The Pink Palace brought together a creative community of music lovers all with a shared willingness to get their hands dirty and put on an even dirtier show.
Twenty-one pop-guns a-blazin’, Mess+Noise vale the Pink Palace.
The Pink Palace was one of its kind in Australia and an integral part of recent Australian punk history. In existence from 1998–2005, it had many different people coming and going, contributing and generally making it a very positive, productive and just plain awesome space to be a part of. I played there, lived there, rehearsed there, hung out there and had so many unforgettable gigs, moments and times. It was an independent and autonomous warehouse that supported our all-ages underground punk and activist scene for many years and will never be forgotten. Hopefully, in its wake, it has provided inspiration for others to do something similar in the future to keep independent punk culture alive.
Emily Jans (resident and member of Execution and Straightjacket and helped set up the final shows festival)
Pink Palace: great space, great people, great vibe, seven years of DIY fun. It will be sorely missed.
Over its seven years, the PP has been host to events for the majority of underground/alternative/call-them-what-you-will scenes from anarcho-punk gigs to queer dance parties to zine launches. The most notable aspect of the PP is that it has always been open and welcoming and completely non-discriminating. The PP residents have put on their own shows and opened the space up to anyone doing anything worthwhile.
As a member of the Black Star PA collective, we’ve been there pretty much every step of the way. It was our second home, and one of our most regular venues for contributing to local grassroots community. Big cheers to all the PP crew over the years.
Paul Morris (sound engineer/Black Star PA Collective)
I’d never been to the Pink Palace (or Melbourne) before that final show, but what I saw made me sad that something like the Pink Palace had existed for so long without my having knowledge of it. Now it's gone it makes me even more sad because the pubs have such a stranglehold on where bands can and can't play, and who can and can't see them. Sydney has something similar to the Pink Palace that's popped up recently called Maggotsville, I hope it has as long a life as the Pink Palace did – if not longer – but to be honest (in the current climate of insane council bureaucracy that we live in) I doubt it will last.
I'm not really into hardcore as much as I used to be, but highlights of the Festival for me include The Bigots, My Disco!, Draft Dodger, True Radical Miracle and Pisschrist. We (the New Justice Team) were greatly honoured to be invited down and we had an absolute blast, especially me because I used the opportunity to visit Melbourne Zoo while I was down. I was impressed that such a large number of people could attend the Pink Palace without the place degenerating into a general display of fuckheadery. If all automonous spaces could be run in such a fashion then we wouldn't have much to worry about in the future. That's about all I've got to say without repeating the five pages of stuff I already wrote elsewhere. Cheers.
Luke (New Justice Team)
The Pink Palace was such a great all-ages DIY venue. So many good times I had there. If only I could remember any of them …
Ruth (punter/Absinthe)
Pink Palace for me was my exposure to the DIY world of music, after going to Shanty Town and seeing Plea of Insanity I then discovered the Pink Palace through Emily – drummer of Plea of Insanity/Execution, RIP!, and Straightjacket.
I think the last shows were the most important to me because of the bands that played and Execution’s last show. It was such an amazing space. When I first went there I was 16 and I thought it was so awesome, just because, I guess, there were no rules apart from be considerate.
I think it left a huge gap in the scene because it's gone and I miss it so much. When I was talking to Kate of Schifosi she came to the same conclusion that it was so important to some bands, such as Pisschrist, Straightjacket, Schifosi, etc, not because they can't get any gigs anywhere else, but because it means now age is a restriction! It must be really painful to some people.
It was a great DIY space, and it supported so many bands, even international bands which shows money isn’t everything. I'm glad I got to experience all that music in Pink Palace and meet all the people I did.
Steph (punter)
I first went to the Pink Palace in September 2000 when my old band Charcoal Human played there at a Punks Against Globalisation gig (it was when the S11 WEF protests were on). I thought it was rad, and had a fucken blast. Over the next few years I ended up becoming good friends with the residents and spending a lot of time there whenever I was in Melbourne (I’m from Sydney), and they stayed at my place when in Sydney. The people there over the years have been amazing and hospitable, and the gigs that have been put on there have always been great fun, relatively well-organised, and open to people of all ages! Such a great space, I was totally stoked to have been able to play on the weekend of the last shows, and I think that Melbourne's punk scene has a fucken large pink void in it right now …
Aaron (Pure Evil)
The Pink Palace, pre- and post-Goodmorning Captain, was Melbourne's only truly DIY all-ages venue. Not a hired hall but a warehouse/living space with a stage in the (huge) lounge, it was home to a vast number of shows over the length of its existence. My experience with the Pinko was only fairly recent – the first show I went to there was in early 2003 – but nevertheless it was love at first sight. Some of the best shows I've ever been to were there – from Existence is Dead on tour in 2003, through Far Left Limit's last show in 2004, to the final weekend of shows in March 2005.
The last weekend was quite an experience. The Pinko residents and organisers of the farewell fest were a little worried that their neighbours would complain about the noise and get the thing shut down – the police had intervened in shows there a couple of times before – and so I was quite surprised when I arrived on the first evening to find that Cookie (who had mixed every Pinko show that I can recall) had brought a PA about twice the size of the already large one that was normally used for shows there. As a result, the music was almost as loud outside as it might usually be inside. Adding to this the amount of kids spilling outside onto Eastment St. and my hopes that the full three evenings of shows would conclude successfully were not high.
But as it turned out my pessimism was without cause. The shows went off without a hitch, and a couple of nights later it was all over at the Pink Palace for good. From the hard and fast 80s-style hardcore of Straightjacket, through the tech-metal ADD songwriting of Terror Firma, the surreal ramble and squeal noise of True Radical Miracle and the dark, aggressive and punishing metalcore of the Execution (who played their final show that weekend, and whose set included a cover of everyone's favourite vegan sXe mosh metal neckbeard lords CHOKEHOLD) to the brutal melodi-crust of Schifosi and the get-naked-and-stagedive* fun of Pisschrist (TOFU TERROR!), it was a weekend that will not soon be forgotten.
And now we are left with a gap in the scene where the Pink Palace used to be, no venues for regular all-ages shows for music that isn't the Freeza flavour of the month and a chapter in the history of Australian DIY punk/hardcore/whatever closed.
*Author's note – I did not get naked myself.
Selfish Pete (attendee)
Bands of mine that played at the Pink Palace from 2000–2005: Far Left Limit, ABC Weapons, Agents Of Abhorrence, Terror Firma and George W Bush.
Connection to Pink Palace: I practiced and played shows there with my bands. I hung out there during the week. I built a wall and then tore them down with the PP destruction crew! I danced and stage dived, I even learnt to kick-flip on the carpet. I dirtied the place up and some of my best friends have lived there.
The Pink Palace displayed a history of Melbourne punk-rock/activism for a lengthy period of time, a place that was started by a group of dedicated punks/friends. It was a place where many different people lived and where many bands were born. It was important to most people that it touched and it was ignored/skipped over because people in Melbourne often don't seek an all-age active community. It was where many of my old bands existed and were honestly accepted. The last Far Left Limit show at the Pink Palace was the best show I've been a part of/seen. The very last shows were a blast, but you couldn't expect less in Melbourne's best venue. Thanks to all the people who lived, died, helped and supported that building. RIP!
Max Kohane
Crusty punks. Smelly. Daggy disco. Drugs. The end.
Sarah (punter/Absinthe)
My main experience of the Pink Palace is as a punter. I only moved there in the last three months of its life. So it was definitely a thrill to be able to be a part of the last show, having seen and enjoyed many shows there. It'll be great to see where all-ages venues/events go from here, as there is certainly a big gap to fill now that it's over.
Evelyn Morris (True Radical Miracle/punter/ex-resident)
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