In the early 1980s Michael Mance was an indie music-loving uni student and a regular at the iconic Melbourne live music venue known as the Ballroom. One winter’s night in ’83 Mance was in the crowd as Australian post-punk act the Birthday Party, fronted by Nick Cave, played their final-ever gig. It cost him $7.
As the night raged on, Mance absentmindedly shoved a couple of handbills for the show in his jacket pocket.
Three decades later, after they languished for years in the back of an atlas, he has framed one, which now sits in a space Mance often uses to play guitar and write songs of his own. The poster, vibrantly coloured and haphazardly composed, is a treasured relic of a bygone era. “It’s a comforting reminder of the good old days.”
Mance says seeing live acts with his mates was like a hobby back then – and the Ballroom a favourite haunt.
“It was like being in your own lounge room. It was comfortable, you knew a heap of people. You could just wander in and see who was playing.
“It was intimate and grungy and for whatever reason international acts seemed to like playing there.”
Iggy Pop, the Dead Kennedys, New Order and the Cure were just a few of the live shows he saw there. “Paul Kelly even wrote a song about the place. He captured the vibe really well.”
With the Ballroom – and his well-spent youth – now but a memory, Mance sees the poster as emblematic of the freewheeling optimism he remembers from that year.
The Hawke Labor government was elected after years of the Liberals being in power, and the anti-nuclear movement was well under way. “It was a good summer that year and there was so much happening in the music scene.
“It felt like there was a new kind of positivity about being Australian in the air. Not in a boxing kangaroo kind of way, but there was a buzz.”
Over the years Mance has given away the few other posters he grabbed that night in ’83, while his own copy remains a reliable conversation starter.
“It usually prompts something: a reminiscence, or a conversation about the music.
“It’s just a cool thing to have on the wall really. People always comment on it, especially the ticket price.”
Is there an artwork with an extraordinary story hanging on your wall? Email australia.lifestyle@theguardian.com with the subject heading “Wall Stories” to be considered for future columns
