You’re skipping down Sydney Road late on a Saturday night and there’s only one thing on your mind: an HSP. She’s the old faithful midnight snack, always predictably delicious and warmly familiar. Giddy and almost there, you see the fluorescent beacon of the kebab shop lights loom large in the distance. But what’s that sound? Is that a saxophone?

From 10pm-3am on June 20 and September 19, five UniMelb jazz students set up instruments in the dining section of Eat24, drawing in passers-by on their night out to dance and enjoy a live band for free. Eat24 is a beloved Brunswick institution, known for its 24-hour service and affordable prices. The takeaway shop is a stalwart of a Northside night out and draws in a diverse range of patrons through the witching hours: people spilling out of pubs and gigs and late shift workers clocking off for a feed. 

Local musician Conor Bruce saw an opportunity to incorporate music into the kebab shop he frequents regularly. Conor, who plays drums and percussion in jazz band Marcel, wanted to organise a reciprocal community event with the establishment he visits regularly.

“We didn’t ask for any money to play,” Conor says, “and there were no tickets so people could come in for the vibes.”

Marcel all live locally and have an established relationship with Sadat, the owner of Eat24. The band themselves frequent Eat24 after going to a gig or coming home from a late rehearsal, so they know the types of people coming in for a kebab at unconventional times. Sadat thought that this was a great idea to get more people in, Conor says. 

The band put up posters locally and on the UniMelb campus to draw people to the gig but were predominantly relying on passers-by wandering in off the street after hearing the music.

Marcel set up a drum kit, keyboard, guitar, bass and saxophone in the back seating area of Eat24 to play, taking it in turns as their rotating roster played, ate or chatted to patrons. Some people were truly baffled by them, but many just went with it and started to dance. When it hit three o’clock in the morning, the band called it a night, but there were still people in the shop wanting more.

So, after the initial gig in June, Marcel was keen to take over the space again to see if this idea had any staying power. The second Eat24 gig happened almost exactly three months after the first and lasted well into the night. The success was not a fluke.

Over the course of the night, there was a variable flow of people into the shop. They wandered, inquisitive, into the back of the kebab shop as different venues and gigs closed on Sydney Road. The intrigue of the music comes from how out-of-place a jazz band looks in front of a spinning rotisserie of kebab meat. But oddly, it works with the hustle and bustle of the busy takeaway. 

With gig entry fees rising and opportunities for non-established artists to perform in front of a crowd drying up, alternative venues could democratise the space. A number of live music venues have closed their doors this year, including Stay Gold in Brunswick and the Bendigo Hotel in Collingwood. Rising rent forces up ticket and drink prices, making gigs less accessible to patrons and drying up venues in established pockets of the Melbourne music scene. 

Further, Gen Z have been engaging significantly less in regular alcohol consumption than generations before them, making music events in non-alcoholic settings seem an appropriate and important development to keep young crowds returning. Compared to Baby Boomers, Gen Z are nearly twenty times more likely to refuse alcohol, meaning that booze isn’t necessarily the most enticing part of a night out. Eat24 is also a more accessible venue for younger patrons due to its low price point. 

Conor says playing in non-traditional venues also allows underage people to enjoy the music without an alcohol barrier, which is good for exposing younger crowds to different styles of music and art.

“I’d love to play at different times of day to see how the crowd responds,” Conor says. Eat24 has the perk of running all hours of the day and night, presenting opportunities for daytime as well as late night gigs. Conor sees the opportunity to reach more diverse crowds of people who may not otherwise choose to go to a jazz gig in their day-to-day activities. 

“We would also be keen to expand to more non-traditional venues,” Conor says, highlighting outdoor spaces or community hubs such as libraries as possible sites for gigs.

In a city rich with live music venues and local artists, it’s difficult to stand out from the crowd. Marcel has managed to surprise people, and this could spark more art and music spaces popping up in unexpected locations around the city as communities find new ways to connect with one another.

Photographs by Sabine Pentecost.