When Naarm/ Melbourne's Camp Cope played their final shows back in March, their farewell for fans north of the border was interrupted by some pesky virus that shall not be named, with the full band show becoming a Georgia Maq set (which, if you've seen her perform solo, is certainly not a terrible consolation prize).
So, seven months later, the band gave the Harbour City a very fitting farewell, and a perfect bookend in the eight years of Camp Cope.In 2018, they played two sold-out shows in the Opera House's grand Concert Hall, and where Maq returned soon after to record a version of 'The Opener' in the Utzon Room, and it remains one of the most moving, electric performances captured on film.
This Friday night (13 October) was a difficult one on several fronts; not only was it Camp Cope's final-ever show, but it was on the eve of the referendum with all signs pointing to a rejection of a constitutional voice for First Nations people.
Image © Jess Gleeson
In their 2017 Opera House shows, Camp Cope had a woman elder deliver an emotional Welcome to Country, which at the time was a rare experience for gig goers and had many in the audience in tears before the band had played a single note.
There were plenty of tears at this show too, but also laughter, as fans got one last chance to celebrate the short but hugely impactful life of one of the most important bands to have come from the Australian music scene.
With three albums spanning their eight-year career, there was a lot of material to draw on for the 15-song set, which fittingly opened with the very first song from their very first album, 'Done' from the 2016 self-titled debut.
There were a lot of favourites from that album tonight too: 'Lost (Season One)', 'Jet Fuel Can't Melt Steel Beams' and the hugely underrated live song 'Stove Lighter'.
The progression of Camp Cope can be heard from these early songs through to their 2022 album, 'Running With The Hurricane', but as is the sign of a genuinely good act, their evolution is still underpinned with the Camp Cope-ness that has kept so many fans heavily invested in their journey over these eight years.
Image © Jess Gleeson
The jump from their 2018 record 'How To Socialise & Make Friends' to 'Running...' was not a big departure, when you get to hear 2022's 'Caroline' just one song apart from 2018's 'Anna', both starring a mammoth vocal effort from Maq, and a mammoth effort from less professional singers in the audience.
While Maq, bassist Kelly-Dawn Hellmrich and drummer Sarah Thompson were the stars of the show, Camp Cope still pulled out some special guests as they have done for these final shows.
Tonight, there was Julia Jacklin on 'The Screaming Planet' and 'Sing Your Heart Out' (the latter also featuring a bunch of familiar Melbourne music scene faces on backing vocals).
Maq, who has grown so much as an artist and a voice in music, brought the candid laughs and jokes to a night that could very easily have turned into a mourning rather than a celebration.
In March, she told everyone to "find the three biggest bitches in your city and start a band", and tonight, she said she hoped being an outspoken 'annoying' artist will have paved the way for other 'annoying' artists to carry on in their wake.
While mostly a joke, there is a lot of weight to it. Beyond their music, which is subjective, it's very hard to argue the gravitas of their role in Australian music.
Recently, Maq delivered a speech at BIGSOUND in Brisbane that perhaps sums it up better than this writer could: "I knew then that my purpose was to take care of young girls who loved music, because this industry wouldn't. Teenage girls made everyone, from Elvis Presley to Taylor Swift to One Direction; we were the tastemakers and what did we get in return? Assaulted by men in mosh pits, harassed by men on the street outside and made to feel as if the space wasn't ours to be in."
I was sat next to a young woman who had travelled down on the train from Central Coast to go to the show on her own tonight. As someone who did that train trip for so many gigs over the years, I knew exactly what that entailed; it's not just getting a late-night train an hour-and-a-half-hours home, it was being extra vigilant with where you sat, who else was on the train, knowing where you could go for help if needed, trying so hard to not fall asleep, making sure your phone battery had enough juice in case you ran into 'trouble'.
Image © Jess Gleeson
Camp Cope have always been a band that understood the very different experience women have in day to day life, as music fans, existing.
Camp Cope didn't just exist in the boys' club of a music scene, they spoke back. They called out. They were the women who refused to be quiet and took up the space that this industry, like many others, has always had a conditional approach to letting women sit at the table. And it undoubtedly was not easy.
As such, their final show was an emotional event; as someone who has spent 25 years working in the Australian music industry, and someone who has had their life saved by music on more than one occasion, but also someone who has faced a big ol' pile of misogyny as both a professional and a punter, having a band that dragged it all out into the open, where it can never be shoved back in and ignored, it so very important.
Not surprisingly, a few songs have been cathartic moments at Camp Cope gigs: 'Keep Growing', from a 2016 split they did with US legends Cayetana, and the ultimate closer, somewhat ironically titled 'The Opener'.
While the Concert Hall is a weird one for gigs, and tonight's crowd was so considerate of those around them that everyone was a little hesitant to stand up for either of these anthems, but the room was on its feet for 'The Opener', a song about being told to book a smaller venue, among other 'helpful' pieces of advice the women had entertained during their careers. (If anything, they needed to book a bigger venue, because once again this Opera House show was long sold out.)
While the show lacked Maq's slideshow from the smaller Brunswick West gigs they played in March, she made up for it with some theatrics, running up the aisles, climbing onto a speaker stack.
Post show, Maq posted on her Instagram a photo of her walking up the stairs to go out on stage, with the caption: 'So long and goodnight.' A fitting nod to My Chemical Romance, another band that has also defied many industry rules to try to create a space – and a community – in music for everyone.
As the curtain closed on Camp Cope's career tonight, and less than 24 hours later Australia told its First Nations people that inequality does not exist in this country, it's not hard to ruminate on conversations of privilege we need to have across the board.
As Maq said in her BIGSOUND speech, Camp Cope were political from the second three women started playing music together. And anyone who has told them, and so many others, that music (or sport, or entertainment) is no place for politics, needs both a history lesson and perhaps a conversation about privilege, too.
Thank you for your service, Camp Cope.
