It was just over a month ago that Camp Cope announced they were shutting up shop for good, that sent fans into a panic about whether there'd be a chance for one, last show.
For the lucky people in Melbourne who were able to grab a ticket, there was not one but two shows, an afternoon all-ages gig and a night performance (11 March) almost immediately after.The evening show, of course, sold out the beautiful Brunswick West community hall fast, with the day set also at capacity by the time doors opened.
Speaking of, doors opened at 4pm and by 3.30pm the line snaked around the corner; and in hindsight these people were probably the smart ones – the merch desk sold out of tour shirts before support BARKAA even hit the stage.
BARKAA was a brilliant support for Camp Cope, too. The Malyangapa, Barkindji rapper has such an incredible stage presence and talent that she commands attention.
Rolling out a set that featured singles 'For My Tittas', 'Fight For Me' and 'King Brown', her powerful stories of First Nations experience were both moving and uplifting, and she owned the stage from start to end.
For the night show, Camp Cope hit the stage for round two around 9.30pm, and once again there was a disability section up front and further back, plus a rotating roster of Auslan interpreters for both the headline set and for BARKAA.
The set was a celebration of the years of Camp Cope, even though there were a couple Georgia Maq said she was happy about not having to play anymore after their last show in Sydney the following week.
Opening with 'Done', they rolled out some classics – which according to the crowd reaction, were fan favourites too – with the mighty 'Keep Growing', 'Jealous' from last year's 'Running With The Hurricane', 'Jet Fuel Can't Melt Steel Beams' and 'How To Socialise & Make Friends'.
Throughout this, Maq had a wonderful PowerPoint presentation showing on two screens either side of the stage, which opened with 'Welcome to Camp Cope' and what followed was a mix of hilarious stock photos (you know the type) and messages like 'Trans rights are human rights'.
At the daytime show, Maq had trouble getting it started so was tech problem-solving during 'Keep Growing'. She'd been awake since 5am, so decided it was a good use of the time before the shows. It was.
There was such a playful vibe throughout the set from the whole band but Maq especially, who was having a blast with her dance moves and fun banter.
The second half of the show featured a few special guests, like Angie McMahon for 'The Screaming Planet', McMahon and Rin McArdle for an acoustic 'Sing Your Heart Out' (during the day the guest was bassist Kelly-Dawn Hellmrich's partner's young daughter, which hit all the feels).
Incidentally, the day show also starred Hellmrich's baby son Coda, born in October last year, watching on with Dad from the sidelines.
The final trio of songs were a triple punch: 'Lost: Season One', 'Running With The Hurricane' and, of course, 'The Opener'.
Maq had said they don't do encores, and fans knew what to expect, and, honestly, as if anything can follow 'The Opener'. Maq says it's the best song she's ever written, and it's hard to disagree.
Also a fitting one to end on, given that the music industry Camp Cope has existed in for eight years has been both friend and foe. As such a celebration of people who aren't straight white men taking up space, it was no surprise to not just hear the song sung back to the band once more, but to look around and see plenty of tears. It's a standard for this song, but also the occasion.
With that, Maq, Hellmrich and drummer Sarah Thompson just had one more show to tick off before the end of an era.
Maq earlier said she was moving to LA (which some audience members misheard as Adelaide), and following on from her fantastic 2019 solo album 'Pleaser', it'd come as no surprise to find she's got some big plans. We have a feeling those plans involve NOT playing guitar, as she mentioned several times throughout the day how much she was not a fan of it.
Finally, it was time to go. 'We love you so much, thanks for everything,' read one of Maq's slides, followed by 'Find the three biggest bitches in your city and start a band'. Then, as the flowers came out and they took a bow, 'Camp Cope 2015-2023. Thank you'.
No, Camp Cope, thank YOU.
