It’s that time again. Fresh off the back of SXSW Sydney, Fest by Inner West rolled in like a rogue wave – 30+ bands, six venues, one sticky, glorious mess around the Enmore precinct. Backed by Inner West Council, the mini-fest was stitched together fast and loose, a last-minute addition to the calendar that somehow felt essential. If you caught it, you got lucky.

I drifted through The Duke, The Enmore Hotel, and Vic on the Park. Three rooms, three flavours of what Sydney does best: punk, twang, noise, and everything in between.

The Duke – Last Quokka, The Maggie Pills

The Duke was already packed to the rafters when WA’s Last Quokka lit the blue touch paper. This wasn’t a gig; it was a controlled riot. Chairs climbed. Choruses screamed by strangers. A communal middle finger aimed squarely at the system (and one particular mining magnate). Band and crowd blurred into one sweaty, heaving organism. It felt like the room might detonate at any second.
Check out their latest Take the Fight to the Bastards

Then came The Maggie Pills from Melbourne – a heavier, darker churn. Guitars, electric keys, and a drummer with zero mercy built a wall of sound that never let up. Their sprawling line-up owned the stage like a small, angry militia. Their front person prowled from edge to edge, all snarl and shadow, channelling loud, raw, and maybe just a little bit angry.
Immerse yourself in their recently released Hearts Enduring Lingering Loss.

Enmore Hotel – Dave Favours and the Roadside Ashes, Laid Back Country Picker

Wedged into the Enmore Hotel’s tiny corner stage, Dave Favours and the Roadside Ashes served up twang with teeth – slide guitar, indie grit, and echoes of 1980s Sydney pubs. They pulled a couple of covers, “Bleeding Heart” and “You Didn’t Tell the Man”; and for a heartbeat, it felt like stepping out of a Trade Union Club time capsule.
Revell in their version of an Eastern Dark classic – Walking

Then Laid Back Country Picker blew the walls open. A slide guitar cowboy in a Motörhead t-shirt, backed by a hillbilly drummer in curlers, turned the set into a punk-country cabaret. There was banter, a mad slide version of Bauhaus (“Bela Lugosi’s Dead”), Ramones (“Commando“), and a nod to The Angels with “Marseilles”. At one point, they wandered out onto Enmore Road mid-song, still playing to bemused pedestrians before sauntering back in like it was a walk in the park. Genius. Madness. Perfect.
Treat yourself – step into the weirdness of Bela Lugosi’s Dead

Vic on the Park – CROW

Late night at the Vic saw C R O W walk onstage and instantly own the room. Sydney legends. No nostalgia, no greatest hits – just new songs from an upcoming release. And they landed like slow punches. Heavy. Unhurried. Confident.

Nailed it.

The crowd didn’t need to sing along. It just stood there, letting the sound soak through the walls and into their bones. A warm, buzzing full stop to a day built on pure, unpolished live music.

Sample the first release of their new sounds I Cant Lose You for yourself.

Fest by Inner West didn’t need hype. It saturated the venues, leaks into the streets, and grabs you somewhere between a slide guitar solo on the footpath and a new song that already feels like an old pair of shoes. No wristbands. No corporate gloss. Just amps, sweat, and noise.