About this concert
"Things were brewing in the late 80's in 3 key areas of the world, Newcastle Australia, Boston, and Orange County USA. It was the sound of ska-punk, a fusion of high energy punk rock with the syncopated beats of Jamaica, and The Porkers were there leading the charge alongside the likes of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, No Doubt, and many others.Starting in 1987 in a lounge room in Bar Beach, The Porkers released their debut single in 1990, 'Earthquakin', which climbed to almost the top of the Aussie indie charts and was then followed by their debut album 'Grunt!' in 1994. It was hailed as "a masterpiece of ska brilliance", but it was a lot more than that: it was skanking rhythms mixed with punchy punk choruses, some funk and reggae, some Aussie pub rock and a distinctive Novocastrian sense of humour.The album soon gained the attention of New York label Moonska Records which licensed the album, as well as their 1998 follow up "Hot Dog Daiquiri". During the latter half of the '90's The Porkers played almost every festival in Australia including Livid, The Big Day Out, The Falls, and Homebake, where in '99 they headlined the second stage and filled the break between Powderfinger and Silverchair over on the mainstage. After playing both the '98 and '99 Vans Warped Tours in Australia they set out to conquer the USA, playing the northern Summer '99 Vans Warped from East to West, Playing alongside Eminem, Black Eyed Peas, Ice-T, as well as Suicidal Tendencies, Pennywise, Blink 182 and many more. 2000 saw the release of their 3rd album 'Time Will Tell' which spawned the singles 'Too Big For Your Boots' and 'Waiting For Us', both of which were playlisted on Triple J. 2004 saw the release of 'Swinging Like Tiger Woods' which foretold the story of the pro golfer's fall from grace, 3 years before it happened ! Also this year the 'Men of Pork' toured Japan and recorded and released the 'Live at Nakanoshima' album.Keeping a 7 piece band on the road is a hard job, and founding members, Pete 'Radley' Cooper, and Phil 'Bigfil' Barnard know it all too well, and after the release of their 4th studio album 'This Is The Porkers', and the DVD 'Persistence is Futile' in 2007 they took a well earned hiatus. But then in 2014, at the request of eccentric promoter A.J. Maddah, The Porkers returned bigger than ever to open the main stage on the Soundwave Festival, warming it up for The Living End, Placebo, Rob Zombie, and Green Day. Soon they were invited back to the USA as special guests of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones at their annual 'Hometown Throwdown' in Boston, followed by a month long tour through sleet and snow over Xmas and New Year 2016-17, with the boys kicking off their 30th year in New York City! 2018 saw a slight hiccup with front man Pete suffering a stroke and having to undergo heart surgery, but you would never know, he was back on stage in a matter of weeks and firing on all cylinders.Don't miss The Porkers playing at Crowbar on 25th Anniversary of their critically acclaimed album Hot Dog Daiquiri.Great Southern Nights 2024 will take place from 8-24 March 2024 featuring more than 300 gigs across 17nights throughout Sydney’s inner city and Western Sydney, as well as shows in seven key music communities across NSW, including Tamworth, Wagga, Newcastle, Wollongong and the Northern Rivers.
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January 6th 2017
first time hearing and seeing you guys but it was a great show thanks
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The Porkers Biography
The Porkers story starts in 1985, in the East coast Australian city of Newcastle, 2 rude boys, Pete and Sean decide in a drunken stupor, after the demise of some of their favourite Australian ska bands, that they would start a band. The fact that neither of them could play an instrument didn’t seem like an obstacle, and they set out to find local musicians to back their all-singing, all-dancing show.
2 years later, Sean has lost interest and pursued a career as a lighting technician, and Pete has finally got a competent line-up together and The Pork Hunts were set to play their first show, which was also planned to be their last as most of the musos were on ‘loan’. Some skinhead friends were set to have a house demolishing party at the same time (as their rental property was earmarked for development), so to coincide with the local international surfing event -‘Surf fest’, a party was set on a November Saturday of 1987, in the beach side suburb of Bar Beach, ‘Ska Fest’ was here!
The party went amazingly well, with much drinking and dancing taking place, very few injuries (except for the head-banger who let loose with a bottle of tomato sauce in the kitchen), and a great after party bonfire on the beach with various parts of the house.
The line-up for the first gig was as follows-
Pete Cooper - vocals
Phil ‘Bigfil’ Barnard - sax
Richard ‘Pucko’ Puxty - guitar
Tomi Kefichek - bass
Donny Anarchy - drums
Everyone had such a good time at the party, the Pork Hunts were encouraged to do another gig, and then another, by the fourth gig, Rodney ‘Rocket’ Palmer had taken over the beating of the drums.
Soon the ‘Hunts were playing far and wide with word spreading of their energetic live show. In 1990, it was time for a name change, with the one club in Newcastle that they regularly played at closing its doors out of necessity they became The Porkers.
The road since then has been long and winding, with lots of great and other stupid things happening, and many line-up changes. To make this story short, here in point form is a few of the achievements and great opportunities that have come the Porkers way-
1989 - the only recording released under the Pork Hunts name, a demo of ‘Woman’ is released world-wide by Link records UK on the compilation ‘Ska for ska’s sake’.
1990 - the debut 7» EP -‘Tired of being Pork Hunts’ reaches #6 on the Australian indie charts.
1994 - release of debut album ‘Grunt!’ to rave reviews, Chris Masuak from Radio Birdman records and plays with us. Later that year the album is licence to Moonska records in New York.
1995 - tour Germany and New Zealand.
1996 - tour Australia opening for No Doubt, and Fishbone. Play Homebake festival.
1997 - appear at the Big Day Out and Livid festivals. Porker’s brass section play on Rancid’s demos for ‘Life wont wait’ album. Close alls festival playing after Pennywise on NYE.
1998 - play on the Australian leg of the Vans Warped tour, later that year open for the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Rancid. Release second album ‘Hot dog daiquiri’, licensed to Moonska USA.
1999 - invited to play Vans Warped in Australia and accept the invitation to appear at Vans Warped USA, appearing alongside Eminem, Ice T, Blink 182, etc.
Play to a full house at Bostons ‘Middle East club’ with the Slackers and Bim Skala Bim, next night play in NewYork with Laurel Aitken.
Headline the second stage at Homebake festival, just before Silverchair.
2000 -release ‘Time will tell’ album, the single ‘Too big for your boots’ gets play-listed by Triple J radio network.
2001 - The Porkers bring Bad Manners to Australia for the first time for the Heavyweights tour. The tour breaks door and bar records! Next single off ‘Time will tell’ - ‘Waiting for us’ remixed by New Zealand’s Salmonelladub is play-listed on JJJ.
2002 - The Porkers celebrate 15 years!
2003 - we’re still going! The current line-up looks like this-
Pete Cooper - vocals
Phil ‘Bigfil’ Barnard - sax
Rodney ‘Rocket’ Palmer - drums
David ‘Gutsy’ Gale - guitar
Jeremy ‘Dr. J’ Griffiths - trumpet
Lucian ‘Lou’ McGuiness - trombone
Justin Lipscombe - bass
THE PORKERS ROLL OF HONOUR.
We’ve had many members that have made up the Porkers family, here’s a list of past members and guests, what they played and other bands they were or are in.
Donny Anarchy - drums -The Marones, Skazoo, Cash from Chaos.
Tomi Kefichek - Bass - The Marones, Headbin.
Richard ‘Pucko’ Puxty - guitar - The Maroons, Headbin, The Pornskas.
David Kelly - Trumpet, Keyboards - Eskagoes, 8 beat menace.
Robert ‘Tess’ Tickle - Trombone - Eskagoes, 8 beat menace, Loose, Nancy Vandal.
Tony ‘Big T’ Collins - bass - Bouncing Soles, Skazoo.
James Davis - Keyboards - Raiding Party.
Kim Pink - sax - Vegimite Reggae, Fish Fry.
Ian Dunn - guitar - Eskagoes, 8 beat menace, Housequake, Fish Fry.
Lloyd - sax - Housequake
John McIvor - guitar - Boogie Chillin.
Shane Simmonds - sax - Natural Mystics
Paul Woseen - bass - the Screaming Jets.
Chris Masuak - guitar - Radio Birdman
Chris Fegan - guitar - Casulty.
Pedro ‘Prof. Sex Peter’ - sax - Skaos.
Dave Power - guitar - Cranky, The Bored of Education.
Martin McLaughlin - trumpet - Bouncing Soles, Vegimite Reggae.
Ben Coles - sax - Skazoo.
Wayne - trombone - Blowhard.
Nicola - trumpet -Blowhard.
Ben ‘Dutchy’ Holland -bass - Chinchen.
Rob Parkes - Trombone - Ballistic Allshorts, Chinchen.
Fred Feletti - percussion, vocals - Natural Mystics.
Tara Doyle - vocals - The Bored of Education.
The Porkman - beer & moves -Parts unknown.
Read More2 years later, Sean has lost interest and pursued a career as a lighting technician, and Pete has finally got a competent line-up together and The Pork Hunts were set to play their first show, which was also planned to be their last as most of the musos were on ‘loan’. Some skinhead friends were set to have a house demolishing party at the same time (as their rental property was earmarked for development), so to coincide with the local international surfing event -‘Surf fest’, a party was set on a November Saturday of 1987, in the beach side suburb of Bar Beach, ‘Ska Fest’ was here!
The party went amazingly well, with much drinking and dancing taking place, very few injuries (except for the head-banger who let loose with a bottle of tomato sauce in the kitchen), and a great after party bonfire on the beach with various parts of the house.
The line-up for the first gig was as follows-
Pete Cooper - vocals
Phil ‘Bigfil’ Barnard - sax
Richard ‘Pucko’ Puxty - guitar
Tomi Kefichek - bass
Donny Anarchy - drums
Everyone had such a good time at the party, the Pork Hunts were encouraged to do another gig, and then another, by the fourth gig, Rodney ‘Rocket’ Palmer had taken over the beating of the drums.
Soon the ‘Hunts were playing far and wide with word spreading of their energetic live show. In 1990, it was time for a name change, with the one club in Newcastle that they regularly played at closing its doors out of necessity they became The Porkers.
The road since then has been long and winding, with lots of great and other stupid things happening, and many line-up changes. To make this story short, here in point form is a few of the achievements and great opportunities that have come the Porkers way-
1989 - the only recording released under the Pork Hunts name, a demo of ‘Woman’ is released world-wide by Link records UK on the compilation ‘Ska for ska’s sake’.
1990 - the debut 7» EP -‘Tired of being Pork Hunts’ reaches #6 on the Australian indie charts.
1994 - release of debut album ‘Grunt!’ to rave reviews, Chris Masuak from Radio Birdman records and plays with us. Later that year the album is licence to Moonska records in New York.
1995 - tour Germany and New Zealand.
1996 - tour Australia opening for No Doubt, and Fishbone. Play Homebake festival.
1997 - appear at the Big Day Out and Livid festivals. Porker’s brass section play on Rancid’s demos for ‘Life wont wait’ album. Close alls festival playing after Pennywise on NYE.
1998 - play on the Australian leg of the Vans Warped tour, later that year open for the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Rancid. Release second album ‘Hot dog daiquiri’, licensed to Moonska USA.
1999 - invited to play Vans Warped in Australia and accept the invitation to appear at Vans Warped USA, appearing alongside Eminem, Ice T, Blink 182, etc.
Play to a full house at Bostons ‘Middle East club’ with the Slackers and Bim Skala Bim, next night play in NewYork with Laurel Aitken.
Headline the second stage at Homebake festival, just before Silverchair.
2000 -release ‘Time will tell’ album, the single ‘Too big for your boots’ gets play-listed by Triple J radio network.
2001 - The Porkers bring Bad Manners to Australia for the first time for the Heavyweights tour. The tour breaks door and bar records! Next single off ‘Time will tell’ - ‘Waiting for us’ remixed by New Zealand’s Salmonelladub is play-listed on JJJ.
2002 - The Porkers celebrate 15 years!
2003 - we’re still going! The current line-up looks like this-
Pete Cooper - vocals
Phil ‘Bigfil’ Barnard - sax
Rodney ‘Rocket’ Palmer - drums
David ‘Gutsy’ Gale - guitar
Jeremy ‘Dr. J’ Griffiths - trumpet
Lucian ‘Lou’ McGuiness - trombone
Justin Lipscombe - bass
THE PORKERS ROLL OF HONOUR.
We’ve had many members that have made up the Porkers family, here’s a list of past members and guests, what they played and other bands they were or are in.
Donny Anarchy - drums -The Marones, Skazoo, Cash from Chaos.
Tomi Kefichek - Bass - The Marones, Headbin.
Richard ‘Pucko’ Puxty - guitar - The Maroons, Headbin, The Pornskas.
David Kelly - Trumpet, Keyboards - Eskagoes, 8 beat menace.
Robert ‘Tess’ Tickle - Trombone - Eskagoes, 8 beat menace, Loose, Nancy Vandal.
Tony ‘Big T’ Collins - bass - Bouncing Soles, Skazoo.
James Davis - Keyboards - Raiding Party.
Kim Pink - sax - Vegimite Reggae, Fish Fry.
Ian Dunn - guitar - Eskagoes, 8 beat menace, Housequake, Fish Fry.
Lloyd - sax - Housequake
John McIvor - guitar - Boogie Chillin.
Shane Simmonds - sax - Natural Mystics
Paul Woseen - bass - the Screaming Jets.
Chris Masuak - guitar - Radio Birdman
Chris Fegan - guitar - Casulty.
Pedro ‘Prof. Sex Peter’ - sax - Skaos.
Dave Power - guitar - Cranky, The Bored of Education.
Martin McLaughlin - trumpet - Bouncing Soles, Vegimite Reggae.
Ben Coles - sax - Skazoo.
Wayne - trombone - Blowhard.
Nicola - trumpet -Blowhard.
Ben ‘Dutchy’ Holland -bass - Chinchen.
Rob Parkes - Trombone - Ballistic Allshorts, Chinchen.
Fred Feletti - percussion, vocals - Natural Mystics.
Tara Doyle - vocals - The Bored of Education.
The Porkman - beer & moves -Parts unknown.
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