In an event promising 150 musicians and bands across 30 venues, all for free, Newtown’s 2025 King Street Crawl had to have a catch—the lines. And though waiting around for hours was inconvenient, if it meant more people were discovering local acts for the first time and supporting the scene, it’s worth it.
The first act we saw on Sunday was local alt-pop outfit GRXCE, the second time I’ve seen them. I was so happy to see the venue packed to the brim—I think word got around during their 40-minute set, because every time I turned around, the crowd multiplied. Frontwoman Jamila is a rockstar, her and sidekick Jono, who is one of the most effortlessly cool guitarists I’ve ever watched, jumped up and down from drummer Alex’s platform multiple times to hype up the crowd and add dramatic touches to their many cathartic choruses.
Standouts were “Gravel Rush”, the most well-received in their set, as well as recent singles “Spit it Out” and “Shirt Song”, the latter featuring a tense, shoegazey production that was well replicated even with the limited Marlborough Hotel sound system. I don’t think anyone was expecting a cover of Fontaines D.C’s “Here’s the Thing”—here’s to hoping, like the Irish rockers, that GRXCE are the next big thing—at least in Sydney. They’re an act well worth full ticket price, let alone free.
GRXCE were the first band I saw on Sunday, and there was no line to get in for their 3:30 pm set. This unfortunately gave me the false sense of hope that all punters would be evenly disbursed along King Street and that venue capacities would be a non-issue! As the afternoon progressed, I realised that couldn’t be further from the truth.
I heard the next band’s name on a few people’s lips. The Belair Lip Bombs have had a meteoric rise in recent months—In retrospect, lining up a mere 20 minutes before their performance and expecting to secure a spot was unrealistic, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing walking past at least 300 people snaking around a long corner to get in their venue. We realised it was a lost cause and accepted defeat almost immediately. It was awesome to see the Lip Bombs get a deserving crowd, they are truly one of the most exciting bands in the Melbourne scene at the moment, but it made me pretty devastated to miss out. Perhaps arguably the biggest outfit on today’s lineup could have played in a larger venue?
The capacity struggles continued well into the night. We arrived 30 minutes early to a much, much smaller band’s set at a much further away venue, to be met with another incredible line where we would stay for an hour and ten minutes. We completely missed this band’s set, and made it just in time for the next artist. Speaking to a King Street Crawl veteran behind us who was just as surprised, this is the most popular iteration he’s ever seen. He remarked the lines were the true “crawl”.
It was my first time hearing of Downgirl, but checking out their Spotify I knew the four piece would be riotous fun. They didn’t disappoint and kept up the energy even through a song that was preceded with a pensive dedication to the drummer’s late mother. Vocalist Alex, with one of the most commanding voices I’ve heard live, waded through the packed crowd a few times like Moses parting the Red Sea.
The third and final act we caught was Toy Saints, the south Sydney alt-rockers formerly known as Elliott Road. I’ve been wanting to catch them for a while after interviewing them on Round the Ground a few months ago, and the four piece did not disappoint. They brought an old-school rock vibe to the narrow and sweaty MoshPit bar, complete with the frontman being completely inebriated, admitting to drinking since midday. (It was now well past 8:30 pm.)
At times the crowd didn’t fully match the band’s enthusiasm as they powered through about five unreleased songs and hits from their recent EP including “Money Into Worth” and “You Would Know”, but that didn’t stop the band from giving it their all. Props to drummer D.B. Luke who held down an epic minute-long solo in one of their jams, which was note-perfect despite facing the gaze of a hundred people in an otherwise silent room. It was a highlight of their set and one of the most impressive drumming displays I’ve heard live. Toy Saints ended with my personal favourite “Ego Death” which saw me jumping around like I hadn’t all day, it was cathartic and an energy release I needed. This is what the King Street Crawl is meant to be—I finally understood why frontman Ethan closed his band’s set with “let’s do this every weekend!”
Overall I had a good day out, despite only seeing three bands in over six hours. There were plenty of musicians I missed out on seeing, but what really matters is that thousands of people were out and about celebrating Australian musicians, supporting that talent and our struggling local venues. It might have been an inconvenience to line up for hours, but if it means that more people are discovering acts they’ve never heard before, to spread that music far and wide, it was more than worth it.
Header photo: Jacob Pumphrey for Thrills.
