7 August 2026 – Old Bundy Tavern, Bundaberg – words and pictures by Brad Fry
Bundaberg doesn’t really get nights like this often. Radium Dolls rolled into the Old Bundy Tavern with Boofheads and local support Sonic Playground for a show that carried more weight than the usual Friday night town run-through. The following evening would see the premiere of Fascination Street, a film featuring Radium Dolls frontman William Perkins in the lead role and directed by photographer and filmmaker James Latter. But before Perkins appeared on the big screen, there was a much louder matter to take care of.
Sonic Playground opened the night in front of a crowd still filtering into the venue and settling around the room. The Bundaberg locals featured heavily in my early life as a live music photographer. They were always a favourite to shoot, due in large part to the energetic performances from frontwoman Nikki, who always performed like she was on stage in a stadium and not a regional pub. It was great to get the opportunity to shoot them again, away from the quiet venues in Gladstone all those years ago.
Sonic Playground – Old Bundy Tavern – photos by Brad Fry
As they blazed through their all-original set, there was no sense of them simply filling time until the touring bands arrived. Their sound sat comfortably inside the pub as the low stage beckoned people towards the front. Their set was less an opening slot and more a dynamic introduction to the evening.
Sonic Playground gave Bundaberg a local presence on the lineup and they devoured the opportunity. They were not there as decoration. They are a hardworking band, stacked with talent, who have earned their place on this bill through years of grind in the regional Queensland live music scene (or sometimes, lack thereof). From all those years ago to now, I have never seen them have a bad show. Get around them if you ever get the chance. You will not be disappointed!
Boofheads followed and immediately changed the temperature. Their set was loud, loose and full of the kind of energy that makes a pub crowd edge closer without needing to be asked. Guitars cut through the room while vocals, drums and bass pummelled the crowd, who responded accordingly.
Boofheads – Old Bundy Tavern – photos by Brad Fry
Boofheads didn’t treat the support position carefully. They attacked it and each other. A literal boxing match took place (gloves and all) between brothers Josh and Chris during ‘Bring Back The Biff’. They commanded attention from first song to last. By the end of their set, the room had grown louder, sweatier and considerably less concerned with personal space.
I had never seen Boofheads live. I wasn’t sure what to expect and I never could have guessed what I got. Just wow! They also came back and moshed with the locals during the Radium Dolls set… very cool.
Radium Dolls arrived with the crowd already primed! Perkins was not only fronting the headline band. He was also at the centre of a film about to premiere in the same town. It gave the night a strange crossover between Bundaberg’s music and film communities, but once Radium Dolls began playing, there was little room left for cinema.
Radium Dolls have a sound that feels made for old stages, low ceilings and beer-soaked floors. Their music carries the grime of Australian pub rock, but there is punk beneath it and loads of personality.
The guitar tone was huge, while the rhythm section kept the songs moving with timepiece precision. Perkins is every bit a frontman! He held the crowd on a leash, letting them run free at times before reeling them back in.
Radium Dolls – Old Bundy Tavern – photos by Brad Fry
Nothing about the set felt overly controlled. Crowd surfing and wild moshing were a constant throughout the show. Crowd surges and no barricade meant that sometimes people partially flopped onto the stage (think of those inflatable waving figures at car yards as they flop forward… it looked like that).
Beneath the noise was a band that knew exactly when to tighten the grip and when to let a song stagger around the room. The roughness was part of the design.
The audience grew more vocal as the set continued. People who had started the night watching from the edges were now right in the mix and the divide between stage and floor (that you could feel reverberating) became increasingly irrelevant.
There was an easy familiarity between Radium Dolls and the room, despite this being a Bundaberg appearance rather than one of their regular Brisbane haunts. They made no attempt to soften their edges or turn the performance into a polite promotional appearance for the film. This was a rock show.
Radium Dolls – Old Bundy Tavern – photos by Brad Fry
Perkins may have been preparing to step onto a cinema screen the following night, but here he was covered in stage light, shouting into a microphone and leading a band that sounded completely at home in the noise.
Sonic Playground laid the night’s foundation. Boofheads tore it apart and Radium Dolls pieced it back together. The connection to Fascination Street made the evening different, but it was the performances that gave it substance. Before the lights went down at the cinema, Bundaberg got the louder premiere.
