What started at a one-off gig in a rough-as-guts Melbourne union pub in 1982 quickly turned into a riot that launched the career of Australia's most unlikely punk heroes.

Over 30 years, 7 albums and some 1,800 gigs later, lead singer and trumpet player for Painters And Dockers, Paul Stewart recalls the night of madness and civil disobedience that forged an Aussie punk legacy. "The guy who lived next door to the pub hated what we were playing, and this was our very first gig," he explains.

"So he jumped the fence with an axe and starting chopping up the mixing desk. Everyone just went, 'Fuck! What is this guy doing? This is outrageous!'; the guy was out of control.


Richard Turton
"The reason we called ourselves Painters And Dockers was because that was a really heavy trade union [Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union] here in Melbourne. It was one of their pubs and they've got one rule at their pub: no cops.

"So, all the cops come because there's this riot with the [axe] guy, then all the dockers come out the front and say [to the cops] 'you're not coming in'.

"Then a massive brawl breaks out between the cops and the unionists. A guy's chopping up the mixing desk, people are screaming, the PA is falling down, everyone is shouting and there's madness in there. I'm on stage with the microphone and I thought: this is what I want to do for the rest of my life," Paul laughs.