Out of Luck
When I had to write about definitively Melbournian experiences for Lonely Planet's the City Book I included this:hunkering down in a Fitzroy pub to watch local band the LucksmithsIf you own that book, it's time to get out the red pen, because this essential Melbourne band is no more. And their final show wasn't in Fitzroy, but at Richmond's Corner Hotel, one of the city's great remaining pub venues.
It was a bittersweet gig after a long farewell tour but the cheeky chaps behind Melbourne's best indie/folk/pop outfit put on a great final show. Stage banter between Marty, Tali and Mark has always been a big feature and this gig featured songs interspersed with good-natured scuffles about Scrabble rules and a nod to the ex-Fitzroy landmark Punters Club, which was "dear to our hearts if not our livers". They were always a Melbourne band - where else could a song like "T-shirt Weather" be such a powerful anti-depressant?
They played songs from across their 16 year career but even after two encores they were bound to leave fans disappointed. The gig sold out so the Luckies even had their own breed of scalper - a weedy bespectacled guy who mumbled "Anyone need tickets or whatever." After the show, girls cried on the footpath about how much they'd cried inside, while their boyfriends got restorative pizza slices. Sure it was the end of an era, but there's something eternal about fans. Maybe that's why I bought the fridge magnet with an elephant on it weeping, "I remember the Lucksmiths".
