Iron Bar announces return of live bands with Grand Theft Audio this Saturday

Live music is back with a bang at Iron Bar kicking off with Grand Theft Audio this Saturday night. Newsport’s Jereme Lane sat down for a quick chat with front man Jason Hall about returning to Iron Bar and the music scene in FNQ.

The iconic far north band, Grand Theft Audio, returns this Saturday night to a venue they have a lot of history with having played many times at Iron Bar over the past 2 decades.

Things have been busy during Covid for the groove trio and they are in hot demand with the recent domestic tourist boom in the north.

One of North Queensland’s best-known bands, GTA were first discovered and signed by INXS powerbroker Dave Nichols and rose up quickly to reach #3 in the Aussie music charts.

Frontman Jason Hall loves playing in his hometown and while Port Douglas may be a world away from the lofty heights of yesteryear, Jason is loving the ‘post-covid’ gig scene.

“Ever since the lockdown last year, audiences have come back and are really embracing live music again. I’ve spoken to other musicians and they agree, audiences are much more engaged than pre-covid,” Hall said.

Hall says GTA’s current lineup is one that gels exceptionally well, musically.

“There have been times when GTA has been a band, and times where we’ve been a collective of musicians. Right now, we’re a band and audiences are really responding well to that cohesion.

So what can audiences expect this weekend?

“We’re definitely a power funk trio right now with guitar, bass, drums and vox and we all love groove, funk and RnB. Despite how I might look, we’re not heavy rockers!

So what’s it like playing to FNQ audiences after doing gigs alongside bands like Spiderbait, Something for Kate and Matchbox 20?

“When you’re doing all of that, it’s great but it’s a lot of hard work. We were usually doing 3 months on in Melbourne and 1 month off up here, so basically FIFO. Whereas now we all live here so we’re at home most of the time and that’s really nice.

When you think of live bands in Port Douglas you think of Iron Bar and locals and visitors both will be pumped to hear that live music is coming back to the famous corrugated iron building.

“This place has changed a lot over the years, and not all the changes were musician friendly,” Hall said.

“I think with all the changes over the years, right now the venue is the best it’s ever been. Corrugated Iron and good acoustics don’t always mix!” he laughs.

“Since they built the new stage and we don’t bounce back off the roof anymore, the sound is incredible, they’ve really got that right.”

Iron Bar owner, Shane Loughnan, has turned his attention to live music once again after Covid forced him – and many others – to rethink operations.

“We knew that we had to do something different after Covid hit. We made the call to focus on the restaurant ensuring that we were catering to the booming domestic travel market.

Iron Bar repositioned itself as a steak house and offers prime quality dry aged steak as part of an extensive new a la carte menu.

“Now that we’ve got that restaurant side of things under control, we want to turn our attention back to what we’ve always been, a live band venue,” Loughnan said.

Saturday night live bands are going to be back on the menu again every week from 11pm – 2am. There’s no cover charge before 11pm and it’ll be $10 after.

More info at ironbarportdouglas.com.au