A love letter to The Night Cat

A staple of Naarm’s music scene, The Night Cat will be celebrating 30 years of existence in July. To pay homage to the venue, I pulled together some memories from the short time that we have spent together.

When I first moved across the Tasman, I was eager to hunt out the best brunch spots that my new home had to offer. That search quickly brought me to Sir Charles on Johnston Street — specifically for their sriracha eggs benedict. Despite being a bit of a hike from my old share house in the hell hole that is Southbank, Sir Charles quickly became a regular Sunday morning destination.

Little did I know at the time that just three doors down was a building that would become a regular late-night destination of mine and a venue that has become somewhat emblematic of my five years in Naarm. 

The centred stage, allowing for 360-degree views of the performance, weird and wacky hanging light shades and the face of a cat being stamped on my wrist upon every entry are some of the things that make The Night Cat stand out. But, of course, it’s the performers that it has hosted that has made it one of the gems of the local music scene.

The Night Cat’s gig offering is unique. My countless trips there have included a shockingly inept, yet somehow fun, DJ set from Wet Leg, a Sunday night salsa class, and perhaps the best live performance that I have ever witnessed — an enthralling masterpiece from UK duo Jockstrap. 

What better way to celebrate the venue’s 30th birthday than with a rundown of my most memorable evenings at the Fitzroy music stronghold.

Jockstrap
February 2023

Let’s start with a bang. 

Jockstrap arrived in Australia to significant acclaim. The then-recently-published lists of 2022’s best albums featured a heavy dose of the UK duo, with their stellar debut album I Love You Jennifer B, having received plenty of praise.

DIY Magazine gave it top spot on their ‘Albums of 2022’ list, with the LP also landing inside the top-15 of Pitchfork’s and NME’s end-of-year rankings. And fortunately for us Melburnians, Georgia Ellery and Taylor Skye would be gracing The Night Cat’s stage for a captivating performance.

The 14-song set was moody. It was dramatic. It was funny. And, most notably, it felt special. 

Ellery’s angelic, soft voice carried through the venue across the 70-minute performance, while Skye unassumingly sat behind a 270-degree arrangement of surfaces. A mix of keys, dials, laptops, decks and equipment that was beyond my musical comprehension provided the tools for Skye to piece together the very tracks that he produced throughout Jockstrap’s catalogue. 

Beautiful chaos ensued throughout the evening, with subtle, dream pop-adjacent tracks, such as ‘What’s It All About?’ and ‘Acid’, being intertwined with ‘Glasgow’, which was passionately sung back to Ellery by those at the front of the crowd. Then came some of the tracks that define the sound of the duo — ‘Greatest Hits’, ‘Concrete Over Water’ and, the thumping closer, ‘50/50’. 

The latter brought Ellery on top of the stage equipment, rising above the crowd as the her cries of “Ahh, ayy, ooh, eee, ahh,” clashed with the glitchy, breakbeat production of Skye, making for a statement ending to a gig that is sure to remain high on the list of my most fond music memories for years to come.

Azymuth & Marcos Valle
March 2022

Okay. I’ll admit it. I had no idea who either Azymuth or Marcos Valle were when my friend told me to buy tickets to this show. At a $90 price point, I reluctantly pulled the trigger on the purchase and put the gig in my calendar. As the week of the show arrived, I realised that Azymuth’s ‘Morning’ was one of those songs that Spotify had algorithmically crammed down my throat in the past, which gave my anticipation a slight boost.

Boy, how much I underestimated this gig.

In their 50th year of existence as a group, Azymuth, then consisting of Alex Malheiros (bass), Ivan Conti (drums, percussion) and Kiko Continentino (keyboard) were joined by fellow Brazilian Marcos Valle for one of the most impressive spectacles that I have been lucky enough to experience. 

On night two of a sold-out three-show run in Naarm, the support acts alone were worthy of their own headline slots. Prominent local DJ Sophie McAlister was the first name on the bill, followed by Coburg’s own jazz-funk powerhouses, Surprise Chef, whose glimmering wind chimes and rangy keys got my ears warmed up. 

The Azymuth and Marcos Valle experience was like no other. There are few things that can keep me — a 45-year-old man trapped inside a 27-year-old’s body — up past midnight on a weeknight, but the legendary jazz musicians accomplished just that. With impeccable musicianship and cohesion across the ensemble, each song seamlessly blended into the next in what felt like an intimate jam that lasted well over an hour. 

I am usually firmly on the side of crowd interaction and chit-chat between songs, but on the rare occasion when Azymuth and Valle would stop for a brief bit of crowd work, I was eager for their tunes to resume. That’s just how good they were.

Despite the wide age range of people packed into The Night Cat that evening, a galvanic feeling was shared throughout the crowd. Fans swayed, bopped and boogied almost as one, making a special show that much more indelible.

The Beths
March 2022

It was The Night Cat’s Golden Week. At least it was in my eyes. 

Less than a week before Azymuth and Valle graced the venue’s stage, I was off to see long-time favourites The Beths.

Having been postponed on multiple occasions from an original date of June the year prior (sorry if this causes any unwelcome flashbacks), the Aotearoa New Zealand guitar-pop-rock group finally made it across the ditch for their first show since the release of their sophomore album Jump Rope Gazers. 

Suffering from The Beths sickness since 2018, I had been lucky enough to have seen the group four times prior to their 2022 gig in Fitzroy, but this one was different. The title track off their second LP occasionally brings a tear to my eye when I listen to it, even to this day, and hearing it live for the first time took those emotions to a new level. 

It wasn’t all saddie energy, though. The dry kiwi humour of The Beths gives them real appeal, retelling touring stories and making comments about the number of New Zealanders in Melbourne ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Simply put, The Beths just have fun on stage and that energy is infectious. Tie that in with Liz Stokes’ introspective lyrics, the band’s ranging melodies and their high-energy sound, as well as my pre-existing love of their music, and another great night at The Night Cat was had.

Hemlocke Springs
February 2024

Hemlocke Springs’ career has been far from ordinary so far, and her live performance reflected that.

Despite having just nine recorded songs under her belt at time time, Hemlocke Springs, born Isimeme Udu, made her way onto the 2024 Laneway lineup on the back of a number of streaming successes, starting with ‘girlfriend’, which blew up on TikTok to catapult Udu into internet fame.

The lofi, bedroom pop track established a distinct sound, filled with charisma, for the North Carolina-based artist and this shone through as soon as she picked up the mic. With just a drummer in stow, Udu utilised every inch of space that she had available to her in a way that kept me locked-in on the performance for the duration. The constant change in pitch throughout her performance and her entertaining anecdotes between tracks made for an enjoyable set – albeit brief.

I found myself probably five years older than the average punter inside The Night Cat that evening, but as they adoringly recited Udu’s lyrics as she bolted from one end of the stage to the other, Hemlocke Springs’ stardom was evident. Showing off her range in ‘sever the blight’ before the performance reached a climax with ‘girlfriend’, this was a performance that will remain fondly etched in my memory.

Check out The Night Cat’s July lineup, featuring a handful of special gigs to celebrate 30 big years.