Sydney’s underground rock scene gets a femme-fronted takeover later this month as She’s All Brat brings six local bands together at Dead Set in Darlinghurst on Sunday, September 27.

Private Wives, Second Idol, Ponzi Scheme, Meow Meow and the Smackouts, Club Halifax and Hydrangea make up a bill that moves between punk, grunge and straight-up rock & roll. DOWNGIRL DJs will be behind the decks from 5pm until late, filling the spaces between the live sets and keeping things moving once the amps cool down.

The setting feels right for it. Hidden beneath Kinselas Hotel and accessed from Little Oxford Street, Dead Set has carved out a place for the scruffier end of Sydney’s live music ecosystem, with an intimate basement stage and a regular diet of punk, indie, alternative and rock bands.

She’s All Brat taps into the depth of Sydney’s current underground scene without treating women in rock as a novelty. Instead, the lineup simply hands the room over to six bands working across different corners of loud guitar music, from the darker edges of post-punk and grunge to considerably messier rock & roll.

It also arrives at a time when small venues remain essential to the health of Sydney’s music community. Dead Set’s basement proportions mean there isn’t much distance between band and audience, exactly the environment in which this kind of lineup makes most sense.

She’s All Brat takes place at Dead Set, Kinselas Hotel Basement, Darlinghurst on Sunday, September 27, with entry via Little Oxford Street.

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