"Western Wednesday" at the Bendi has arrived with Buck Dancer's Choice!

From 7:30pm - 2 sets of danceable, old time honky tonk and western swing!

Never two-stepped before? No worries. Free beginner lessons from 6:30pm - come learn the ropes before the band kicks off!

Come down for a 2-step or to cry into your beer while admiring the ethereal twang of the pedal steel, honkin' piano and lucious blood-harmonies wailing songs about heartbreak.

Ain't no better place to spend your hump-day evening.

Tickets $15 at the door, see our bar staff to purchase on the night!

FINAL WESTERN WEDNESDAY @ The Bendi ft. Buck Dancers Choice

Jump The Fence + Twisted Fix + Nonstandard Leisure

Escarion returns with a new single, 'Chaos and Conflagration'. They are supported by The Incantus (Celtic inspired Death Metal), the mighty Pendle Hill (Death Metal) and newcomers to the scene, Gull (Heavy Prog).

A Night of Chaos - Escarion + The Incantus + Pendle Hill + Gull

Hailing from Nipaluna, high-decibel synth-punk duo Poltergeist 9000 (Iggy Clue & Cal 9000) fuse a DIY drum-and-bass format with raw industrial grit. Stripping back their process, their frantic new single ‘Blue Encounter’ marks the first chapter of an instinctive, song-by-song release cycle for 2026 designed to mirror their volatile live sound.

Soon to release the next single ‘Spiderman 1’ they are hitting Victoria this August for a run of shows across Ballarat, Geelong, and Melbourne, bringing along new friends Lunar Lagoon (Melbourne/Naarm) for the Geelong and Ballarat dates alongside local special guests Special Guest, Clit Slip, LXPR, Equestrian Fields, and Baby Ouzu for the selected shows.

POLTERGEIST 9000 w/ LXRP & EQUESTRIAN

Western Wednesdays @ The Bendi ft. Buck Dancers Choice

COMATOSE are an experimental alt-rock trio from the Melbourne music scene, brimming with explosive energy that commands your attention. Taking influence from alternative and hard-rock, they merge experimental techniques and shoegaze elements to create an intriguing and dynamic sound. Their push and pull dynamic approach provides room to breathe within songs, before building back up to crash down with titanic waves of sound. Featuring stripped back verses and manic breakdowns they wrap the room in Cooper's crushing drums, Abby's biting bass, and Tyler's encompassing guitar and commanding vocals.

Joining them are special guests DECODE ISLAND and MANGIONE, creating an unforgettable evening of high-energy music like you've never heard before!

Tickets at the door on the night!

COMATOSE - Live at Bendigo Hotel Upstairs (with special guests DECODE ISLAND + MANGIONE)

15 Years Of Art As Catharsis

For 15 years, Art As Catharsis has championed experimental sounds from the Australian underground: music that pushes outward, digs deeper, and resists easy categorisation. Across heavy, progressive, psychedelic, ambient, experimental and uncategorisable music, the label has built a home for artists working at the edges of genre.

These anniversary showcases bring together some of the many threads that have shaped the Art As Catharsis community: heavy, beautiful, strange, ecstatic, abrasive and intimate music from artists who continue to expand what Australian underground music can be.

Each lineup offers a different snapshot of the label’s history and future, celebrating the bands, listeners, venues and collaborators who have helped sustain 15 years of adventurous sound.

The Melbourne edition features:

Ghostsmoker

Convulsing

Black Aleph

Brian Campeau

Diploid

Instrumental (adj.) (NSW)

Saleeha & TVISB

Lack The Low

Aphir

15 YEARS OF ART AS CATHARSIS

SWORDS BROS. and RUNYAMOUTH go on a plane to present a fun arvo of punk, alt-rock, and shenanigans alongside the amazing JAPAN FOR and ELIKE KERSHAW.

5pm doors

$10+ bf pre // $15 at the door

Limited capacity, get down early!

JAPAN FOR | SWORDS BROS. | RUNYAMOUTH | ELKIE KERSHAW [UPSTAIRS]

We’re back from a UK/ EU summer and bringing the heat to Melbourne winter at our scorchingly hot original emo & pop party! Playing the emo night hits, pop bangers, guilty pleasures, mash up and edits til the late night! Expect to hear music from - My Chemical Romance, Pink Pantheress, Fall Out Boy, Slayyyter, Deftones, Zara Larsson, Bring Me The Horizon, Ashnikko, Korn, Justin Bieber, Paramore, Britney Spears, Linkin Park, Charli XCX, Limp Bizkit, Chappell Roan, Electric Callboy, Poppy and more.

EMO DIVA - Melbourne’s Original Emo & Pop Party

Skis and poles and rock n roll!

Hear ye hear ye, all you winter witches, prepare to get snowed in! On Aug the 23rd the groovy ghouls that brought you ‘Night of the surfin’ dead’ bring you ‘Night of the skiing dead!’ A slalom into Salem, a downhill glide to hell featuring some of Naarm’s finest.

Rock out with your thermal socks out to the cross country coven that is Fish Leg , their frostbitten riffs will cure your winter sniffs

It's all downhill from there as the lycanthropes of the slopes Gold Coast Leathers offer you their personal potion of schlock and roll

Cosy up with Snake Thighs, the shoulder padded ski bunnies that’ll warm up ya cockles and get your tushies shakin’

Get your goggles on to witness pagan powder hounds Pollyman, offering up a sexy sacrifice to the snow making gods

Wear your winter resort finest…

Double Double, toil and trouble, skivvys adorned as fondue bubbles!

Pick up your ski lift tickets from the Bendigo hotel lodge here…

https://www.bendigohotel.com.au/gigs

$15 presales, $20 on the door

NIGHT OF THE SKIING DEAD! Pollyman + Snake Thighs + Gold Coast Leathers + Fish Leg

New Zealand post-punk band Soft Bait make their Australian debut this August with a run of headline shows through Melbourne, Geelong, Sydney and Brisbane.

Following the release of their second album, Life Advice via Flying Nun Records, the band head across the Tasman for the first time, bringing their driving live show and sharp, off-centre songwriting to Australian audiences. Blending restless rhythms with observations on everyday absurdity, Soft Bait have spent the past few years building a loyal following in Aotearoa and are excited to finally make the trip over.

With special guests Vest & Kambio.

Bendigo Hotel Collingwood

Events