It was a big weekend in Melbourne for pop-up rock shows. After Amyl and the Sniffers’ last-minute cancellation at Federation Square disappointed thousands on Friday night, another hometown hero brought a surprise explosion of joy to 200 fans with a free gig at the Punters Club on Sunday.

Courtney Barnett teased her ‘secret’ reappearance, the night after she took to the stage in Hobart for triple j’s 50th anniversary, via Instagram , the best part of two years since her last shows in Australia. As the rain bucketed down early Sunday evening, the damp but cheerful queue trailed hundreds of metres down Brunswick Street.

“I’ve been mostly between LA and Joshua Tree and Melbourne, finishing writing and recording an album,” she explained earlier in the day. Stay in Your Lane , the single

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