Through the lonesome gums we voyaged, beckoned through the gathering dusk on our pilgrimage to the hallowed grounds of Dashville’s 100 forest acres. Despite sitting well north of my high-altitude hometown of Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, winter nights in the Hunter Valley can still chill to the bone. Thankfully, there was plenty to keep everyone warm from Friday afternoon, June 26, through to the dusty Sunday morning of June 28 – the longest Thrashville to date.
There was a whole barbecued pig, slow-roasted overnight before being carved up in Saturday’s sunshine. The beloved festival halfpipe was alive with daring skaters, while nearby tattoo artists worked skilfully on a revolving door of clients. As always, though, Thrashville’s greatest attraction was its densely packed arsenal of live bands – an alternative galaxy of thrilling styles and sonic experiments spread across four stages by 24 different acts. To let campers settle in comfortably, festival founder Matt ‘Magpie’ Johnston and his team opened the gates early on Friday for camping and three warm-up acts – a first for Thrashville.
After solo acoustic opener Max Marvell, IV immediately caught my attention with a crushing set that sounded like a metalcore version of TOOL. They were followed by one of my early highlights, Newcastle post-punks Les Poètes Pop. “Shoutout to Magpie for having us,” bassist Ty Brennock remarked. “We don’t fit Dashville and we don’t fit Thrashville.” I disagree. They were the perfect complement to the nighttime forest atmosphere. Appealing to fans of Swans, Mogwai and Big Black, they delivered the kind of violent, hypnotic music that could persuade a drunken romantic to head out on a nihilistic late-night bushwalk.
Saturday morning belonged to a fresh wave of younger bands. Central Coast psych-alt-rock outfit Shacked! kicked things off in matching bright green skivvies, delivering a colourful, unpredictable set reminiscent of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. “I think it just naturally evolved,” guitarist Zib said of the band’s sound. “We all have similar-yet-different music tastes…psych rock has always been lots of stuff smashed together naturally.” Dubbo rockers Hope Held Hostage kept the momentum rolling before the older Lismore punks in Gusset Rats became one of my live favourites of the weekend. Having endured devastating floods while proudly maintaining an old-school DIY mentality, Gusset Rats remain energetic, irreverent and fiercely anti-conformist. One of the day’s most heartwarming moments came when a young girl wearing earmuffs danced happily at the front of the stage, completely swept up in their fuzzy, high-octane energy.
The younger generation continued making their mark as Canberra metalcore outfit Wyndfall tore through the Tractor Shed before Blue Mountains duo Immortal Within became the festival’s youngest act to perform on one of its biggest stages. Lyric Silk and Lenny Van Gennip’s lethal combination of beatdown riffs, djent breakdowns and hardcore intensity stunned the crowd. Later that evening, a fellow drummer camping nearby confidently predicted they were destined for big things. He wasn’t the first. Immortal Within have already supported Sunk Loto at Sydney’s Metro Theatre while still in high school, and if bands like this continue emerging across regional Australia, the future of Australian heavy music is in safe hands.
Another group based west of Dashville, Dubbo’s Whisperhead rampaged through their original brand of “nu-metalcore” after the Malcolm stage’s dust had settled from Immortal Within’s mosh pits. Appealing to fans of Deftones, Slipknot and Northlane, the black-clad five-piece have built a reputation on consistency. “We prefer to keep sets consistent,” frontman Nolan Furnell explained. “If someone has seen us before, hopefully they’ll recognise most of what we’re doing.” The philosophy clearly works.
Back to the punks.
After recently interviewing Kerrie from Gusset Rats about Lismore’s music culture for my independent media project, Amplified Regional, it was great to catch up with another of my interviewees, Newcastle favourites I Hate People. They tore through family favourites like ‘You’re A Fucken Shit Cunt’ before somehow turning The Proclaimers’ ‘I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)’ into one of the weekend’s rowdiest singalongs. “We’re definitely a DIY band,” they told me backstage. “We do everything ourselves, put on shows ourselves and we don’t like rules…we start our show by saying we hate all politicians, corrupt police and religion…but we like good people.” A good set. A good time.
The younger generation then continued flying the flag, this time for likeminded Australian punk. Coffs Harbour outfit Purple Disturbance arrived full of nervous excitement, led by the wiry, hyperactive Tom Downes. Red hot. They might not have been purple, but they definitely weren’t feeling blue. As the afternoon rolled into evening, crowds drifted between revolving stages for the psychedelic rock of Turtle Skull, the post-punk of Private Wives, the doom-laden riffs of Couch Wizard and the gnarly punk of the duo Good Sniff. Good Sniff’s Lachie Brown became the festival’s only musical double-shift, returning later behind the drums for the Cosmic Psychos. “Lachie’s a very, very good drummer,” stated Psychos’ lead singer-bassist Ross Knight, backstage. “He’s been playing drums since he was four years old, and he can play guitar, bass and sing. I don’t know why Lachie’s not doing the whole fucking gig.”
Complete with corpse paint and fire-breathing dancers, Melbourne black metallers Hybrid Nightmares unleashed a frostbitten blast of old-school extremity before revealing a surprisingly heartfelt message backstage. “Please support regional creatives in any way you can,” they said. “Buy a ticket, grab some merch, spread the word…we’ll keep doing everything in our power to bring you joy, because the only thing that matters is honesty.” Catpiss and Happy Fkn Family kept the momentum charging towards sunset before one of Australia’s greatest pub-punk institutions rolled onto the stage.
The Cosmic Psychos. My predicted favourites of the day.
Returning to Thrashville for the first time since its inaugural edition in 2017, they once again proved why they’ve remained one of Australia’s most beloved live bands for four decades. “We played here nine years ago and loved it,” Knighty told me. “It’s a really good festival to play, so we were more than happy to come and fill a hole.” The rural Victorian farmer wasn’t talking about pulling a double Thrashville shift on his bulldozer. That ‘hole’ belonged to Los Angeles punk pioneers FEAR, whose long-awaited Australian tour was sadly cancelled after frontman Lee Ving was forced to withdraw on medical advice. Much love, Lee.
As a longtime fan, I’ve seen FEAR’s Australian replacements three times before, and the Psychos never disappoint. Loud, proud and beer-drenched, they bulldozed us with road-tested classics like ‘Pub’, ‘I’m Up You’re Out’, ‘Dead Roo’ and ‘David Lee Roth’. I’m fairly sure they also played ‘Nice Day To Go To The Pub’, although by that point the beers I’d been passively encouraged to consume had left my memory a little hazy…and hoppy.
With the Psychos having left us after their traditional mooning of the crowd, Brisbane death metal quartet Disentomb ripped the collective Band-Aid straight off. Frontman Jordan James unleashed an astonishing arsenal of growls, screams, bellows and squeals while stomping fearlessly around the stage, backed by the obliterating precision of his bandmates. I found myself especially captivated by drummer Henri Sison, whose machine-like blast beats kept the engine rolling. “We were always going to be a super underground band,” they reflected backstage. “Things speedballed…I think that touring [in 2016] with The Black Dahlia Murder in the US really helped raise our profile.”
By now the night had shifted into its final sprint, with two forward-thinking bands combining strange ideas for the future of Australian music. DREGG closed the Skate Ramp with their glitchy collision of metal, rap and electronics, a genre-blending modern approach also exemplified by similar bands like Electric Callboy and King 810.
Then came The Bennies.
“It’s a surprise we’re headlining,” frontman Anty Horgan noted before taking the stage. “We normally get put on early at festivals, so as our first time here, that rocks…we’re pretty keen to hail Satan.”
They killed it.
To borrow the title of their debut album, it was a Party! Party! Party! The Bennies describe their mission as “turning any gig into a party”, whether it’s a bush doof, a festival or a tiny venue.
Mission accomplished.
Soon afterwards, a few hundred dusty survivors collectively stumbled across the finish line into June 28.
Nearly every festival at Dashville feels like an impressive achievement. Like many others, festival founder Magpie also enjoys the ‘band camp’ atmosphere. It’s a special thing, encouraging musicians and fans to mingle freely between sets. Magpie runs a tight ship. Across the Malcolm, Angus, Skate Ramp and Tractor Shed stages, set clashes are rare, and when they do occur, they usually overlap by no more than 10 or 15 minutes. Thrashville’s remote setting and crisp winter air allow punters to hear almost every band from the refuge of their tent or car, and waste disposal is literally turned into art. The proceeds from recycled beer cans from an earlier Dashville event were enough to buy a new bass cabinet for one of the stages.
As Magpie explained to me, Dashville has been in his family since 1982, situated in Wonnarua country. What began as a grassroots bush party for around 100 people with The Gum Ball in 2005, which Magpie organised when he was 20, steadily evolved into a festival destination, adding Dashville Skyline in 2015 and its 1000+ attendees before Thrashville arrived in 2017. Together, the three festivals have welcomed artists ranging from Mudhoney and Hoodoo Gurus to King Stingray and The Cruel Sea. Well-earned pride reflected in Dashville’s recent Facebook post:
“Thrashville 2026 was nothing short of epic – the bands were sick, the fires warm, the drinks flowing, the food delicious and the vibes were absolutely spectacular…bring on Thrashville ’27!”
Standout acts: Cosmic Psychos, The Bennies, Disentomb, Gusset Rats, Les Poètes Pop, Immortal Within, Shacked!
Written by Corin S. Destruction.
