The Triffid toasts 10-year anniversary after finding a home in Brisbane’s live music scene
Its opening was greeted with arched eyebrows. But 10 years and many epic gigs later, the Brisbane venue has cemented its reputation as having the best onstage sound around.
When John Collins opened the doors to Brisbane music venue The Triffid in 2014, its arrival was greeted with muted enthusiasm by the nation’s live music sector, which wondered as one: Was Powderfinger’s bassist serious about his new venture, or merely trying it on like a new jacket?
“I remember having conversations with agents and promoters down south saying ‘We know who you are, JC – but we don’t know if you can run a venue’,” Collins told The Australian.
“There was that learning curve of getting the industry to trust that it’s a good gig for the artists, they’re going to get paid for tickets, and the settlement is going to happen on time – all those little things that really matter, especially to young, emerging artists.”
With time came trust, and this week The Triffid is marking its 10th anniversary, with the 800-capacity room – and its attached beer garden and kitchen serving up Triffid burgers – having long since become an essential component of the city’s night life.
“The Brisbane music scene has reacted to it really positively,” said Collins, 54. “We feel at home; we feel respected and loved. Music was the thing that brought us together, and it didn’t matter if you were wearing thongs or cowboy boots – it was about the music, and I think we’ve achieved that.”
On Wednesday, the venue will host a 10th birthday celebration featuring The Grates with Mates, supported by The Faux Betweens, which sports players from acclaimed local acts including Ball Park Music and Full Flower Moon Band.
Before the doors opened a decade ago, one of the musicians to put the venue’s brand new PA system through its paces was Thomas Busby with his band Good Oak.
“We were the sound testers: we came in and played for 10 hours straight, it felt like,” he said.
“It was the only rehearsal we’d ever done – and we’re still shit.”
Busby is better known as one half of APRA Award-winning sunny acoustic pop duo Busby Marou, which formed in Rockhampton in 2007.
The Triffid, said Busby, “has the best onstage sound: I don’t like using in-ears here, because it’s just so warm. Everyone wants to play here, and even when you outgrow it – or if you’re about to do a bigger show, which Busby Marou have done a bunch of times – I still want to play here.
“This is the first venue where I have felt that it feels like home.”
Collins is the sort of ardent music fan who gets goosebumps reliving the memory of his favourite gigs, such as the unique thrill of fulfilling a childhood dream by watching Sydney power pop band Sunnyboys play at his room in 2015.
In 2019, he expanded his portfolio by opening the Fortitude Music Hall, a 3300-capacity venue in partnership with Live Nation, and this year he became a Member of the Order of Australia in recognition of his significant service to the arts through music, and to the community.
Though Powderfinger disbanded in 2010, and reformed to play a remotely recorded charity fundraiser gig in 2020, he’s occasionally trod the boards at The Triffid playing bass in rock combo The Predators, as well as strumming an acoustic guitar during a Pub Choir gig in 2018.
Reminded of these shows, he joked: “Yeah, I’ve played a few times here. I can’t get a gig anywhere else.”
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