COOL BRITANNIA STORMS MELBOURNE (AND FREEZES ITS NADS OFF)

Prince Bandroom - St.Kilda - Cool Britannia - Fri 6th June 2025

We launched ourselves from sunny Brisbane early Friday, headed south for our gig at The Prince of Wales in St Kilda. Spirits were high. So were baggage fees. We bumped into our mates from Roaring Lion (Bob Marley tribute band) at the oversize luggage belt. Always a pleasure seeing other bands trying to check in full-size conga drums (& some dubious looking roll-ups) at 5am.

Fueled by airport coffee (so strong it could dissolve spoons), we boarded our flight. When we landed… Jesus wept. It was freezing. Not just cold – penguin’s-bum-on-a-metal-bucket-in-Aberdeen cold. So cold, I saw a Melbourne lawyer with his hands in his own pockets. So cold, even the Melbourne hipsters had stopped wearing shorts ironically.

Naturally, we moaned about it on our Instagram. Our fans from up north (hi, Leeds) were less than sympathetic:“Toughen up ya southern shandy-drinking bastards.” Fair enough. That one was aimed at me. I’ll take it on the chin… once it thaws out.

Our minibus driver, Habib, picked us up – looking genuinely alarmed at the pile of guitars, keyboards, drums and strange Northern accents he had to ferry across town. To his credit, he only almost crashed once when someone said “pass uzz a chuddie” from the back.

The venue? Class. Big stage, cracking PA, lovely staff, and sound & light techs who actually know their knobs from their faders.

We caught up with our mates Gaz, Dave & Karl from Setting Sons – a gang of top geezers who deliver an absolutely belting set of Jam tunes. They're opening up for us tonight. After soundchecks and a few burgers (and a crackin burger!), it was showtime.

At 8pm sharp, the famous ceiling lights transformed into a rippling Union Jack. In streamed the crowd – a glorious blend of English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, and a few confused Aussies who thought they were seeing Coldplay.

Setting Sons kicked things off brilliantly – everyone belting out “That’s Entertainment” and “Going Underground” like it was 1981 and Maggie was still ruining everything.

Then… it was Cool Britannia time.

The walk-on music blasted: The Lightning Seeds – “It’s Coming Home”.

(Is it though? Really? Ever? Let’s not talk about it.)

The crowd – a few hundred glorious expats and music lovers – went mad. We launched into a monster set of Britpop bangers:Oasis. Pulp. Blur. The Verve. Happy Mondays. James. Travis. Stereophonics. We gave it socks for the Scots, soul for the Welsh, swagger for the Mancs, and sparkle for the Southerners.

There were singalongs. There were pints in the air. There were grown men weeping to “Bittersweet Symphony” like their ex had just texted. The acoustic moments – “Wonderwall” and “Laid” – gave everyone a moment to hug a stranger and belt it out like they were headlining Glasto.

You lot were bloody magnificent. Thank you, Melbourne.

We’ll be back next year. Preferably on a weekend that Supergrass aren’t playing two sold-out shows. And maybe – just maybe – you could turn the bloody heating on? Until next time! Cool Britannia x