The Pierce Brothers to play two free busking sets in Melbourne on December 23
Patrick John (Pat) and John Patrick (Jack) first picked up the guitar as teenagers, and when they were 15 they played their first paid gig at the Dorset Gardens TAB in Croydon, just down the road from their home in Ringwood. But it wasn’t the best of beginnings.
“We were halfway through a cover work Hotel California “When these two guys got into an argument, one of them smashed a beer glass in the other’s face,” Pat recalls. “We just kind of stopped and froze, and then the guard looked up and said, ‘No, you guys are great, keep going.'”
There aren’t many gimmicks at the Pierce Brothers’ show, but there is plenty of energy and crowd interaction.Credit: Daniel Pocket
They have some of the Donnybrook energy, too. “We fight all the time,” Pat says. “We have a pretty big Gallagher brother vibe at times. Things have gotten better, but we’ve also run into some pretty big problems along the way.”
The brothers quickly realized the importance of capturing the audience’s attention through busking, and within six months of their first street show, they were playing full-throttle folk-rock originals inspired by their Irish heritage and carrying echoes of Mumford and Sons and The Frames in front of 10,000 people at a festival in the Netherlands.
“It really evolved and guided the way we perform,” says Jack, who plays a stand-up drum set and sings, while Pat plays guitar and sings (they play keyboards live with a third member, Irishman Dara Munnis). “I’m running around, climbing the rafters, jumping into the audience, taking sticks with me and hitting them on things, and there’s a lot of back and forth action in the audience.”
Busking could be incredibly lucrative — they earned about $6,500 one Boxing Day — but it was also exhausting. “We were playing six sets a day, five days a week,” says Pat. “We were in great shape.”
They stopped street performing almost a decade ago, but return every Christmas for a show or two in the city, with all proceeds going to charity. This year they will perform two half-hour sets on December 23 in City Square, near the entrance to the new City Hall station.
“We have quite the big Gallagher brother vibe,” Pat says. “We had some pretty big barneys along the way.”Credit: Jason South
“It’s fun and reconnects us with many of our old audiences in Melbourne,” says Jack. “But playing on stage is a really different experience.
“Going back to social busking, it’s really hard,” he adds. “You have to put a lot more energy into it because it’s a scary thing and you’re not sure if anyone is going to buy into it.”
Are you saying that it’s okay to play in front of big festival crowds, but when you get back on the street you get a little bit of stage fright?
“Oh yeah, I guess so, yeah,” he says. “And I’m getting a lot more tired. After just two sets, I’m screwed.”
The Pierce Brothers will play at City Square on Tuesday, December 23, from 12:30 noon and 1:00-1:30 p.m. The Australian leg of their new album tour kicks off at the Port Fairy Folk Festival in March. Detail: piercebrothers.com
Must-watch movies, interviews and the latest developments from the film world are delivered to your inbox. Sign up for our Scanning Room newsletter.
