Yearly
Melbourne event, whereby every
punk in Melbourne (and the ones that
travel) gathers at the
Arthouse (a
pub) and proceeds to drink for the rest of day in various pubs in and around the
Central Business District. Always taking place on
Grand Final Day (the last Saturday in September), the event always draws a large
police presence, although typically the worst that happens is some smashed glass or a bit of a
fight. The crawl winds up back at the Arthouse (although last year the crawl started and ended at the
Birmingham) where there is a free gig.
Unfortunately, the police have a
nasty habit of going to pubs which they think will be next on the crawl and demanding the
publicans lock the punks out. This is against the pubs' interests (unless the bar is understaffed, they make a killing) of selling
beer, and the punks' interests of obtaining said beer. Everybody loses, and it only serves to piss people off.
As an alternative to the Grand Final, it's pretty good. Melbourne is a city that worships it's
football (
Aussie Rules, that is), and everyone is either at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground (yes, I know. They play football there too) watching the footy, or at home watching the footy on
television. You have to feel sorry for the police who land the job of escorting the crawl - they're not allowed to drink, and would probably much rather be at the football. Last year I counted six
horses, four
cars, a
minibus, and a
booze bus (fitting) in addition to the twenty or
uniformed officers that follow the punks into the pub.
Usually a fun day out, and a chance to meet new people and catch up with old friends while drinking beer, there are always
fuckwits about, but,
what can you do? A good day all the same. The
Sydney equivalent is the
Punx Picnic.