PUB rock is surely one of the great cultural phenomena of 20th century Australia – and Canberra for that matter.

Now the National Portrait Gallery is surfacing from the depths of lockdown with an exhibition celebrating the glory days of this egalitarian kind of entertainment through around 130 photographs that capture the energy, the sweat, the passion and the grunge of its performers – think Jimmy Barnes, Kylie, Midnight Oil and even the young AC/DC.

To Joanna Gilmour, lead curator on this project at the NPG, it’s been a welcome change from her usual work as a 19th century art expert, and it’s taking her back.

“We really wanted to mix it up to create a visual feast for the senses and the memories,” she says.

“It’s great to be opening with an exhibition that is so celebratory.

“It gets us thinking about things people haven’t been able to do – like going to gigs and pubs.

“It’s not a comprehensive history of rock ‘n’ roll, it’s more sensual stimulation and we’ve created a Spotify playlist of all the artists represented.”

Her own favourite portrait in the exhibition is one of Midnight Oil by Canberra‘s eX De Medici, of which she says, “it has so many layers of meaning, it’s evocative of that moment in history with Midnight Oil singing about things that as a young woman I was deeply passionate about.” 

Another is Lewis Morley’s nude image of Sherbet, taken for “Pol” magazine in 1974, a good example of the saucy end of the spectrum.

Yet another is a portrait by Rennie Ellis of AC/DC’s Angus Young and Bon Scott sitting off stage in Atlanta, Georgia with the dressing table and cans of Budweiser.

“We collect portraits of people who have contributed to all walks of life associated with Australian culture and identity and the Portrait Gallery collection allows us to tell a pretty rich story, but not the full story,” Gilmour says. 

“So we got in touch with rock music photographers we’d worked with before and reached out to them to see if they could help us flesh out the story while using the gallery’s own collection… they’d been in lockdown too so it was a great opportunity to support photographers.”

The result was a mix of formal portraits with those taken from deep in the mosh pit by specialist music photographers such as Tony Mott, Bob King, Stu Spence and Wendy McDougall.

A welcome inclusion is the Canberra angle for, as Gilmour is quick to point out, the ACT had a considerable role as a rock ‘n’ roll byway. 

“We felt strongly that we wanted to highlight the fact that Canberra is only a turnoff on the main highway between Melbourne and Sydney… all these bands would stop in Canberra on the way and we became an amazing music scene that people don’t even think about.”

Central to this section is work from the archive of the late Canberra performance photographer ‘pling (Kevin Prideaux) who died in late 2018. 

A photographer with a special gift for capturing theatre, music and dance in action, ‘pling often featured in “CityNews”.

“People don’t think of Canberra as a place where there’s a music scene that was so thriving, with major bands coming to places like the Hellenic Club and the ANU Bar… We thought that this would create a lovely surprise,” Gilmour says.

Another “lovely surprise” in the show will be the focus on Aboriginal musos in the 1980s rock scene, highlighting groups such as the Warumpi Band, No Fixed Address and Yothu Yindi.

Gilmour is also proud of the fact that the show “speaks to the strength of women in the traditionally-male dominated scene,” with bands such as the Divinyls, Falling Joys, Do-Re-Mi and Flaming Hands and lead singers such as Chrissy Amphlett, her cousin Little Pattie, Deborah Conway and Marcia Hines. 

There’s a special section about Australian artists who made it big overseas featuring Olivia Newton-John and, of course, Kylie Minogue, snapped by Matthew Sleeth at the 1999 “Tour of Duty” concert at Dili Stadium in East Timor. That concert was conducted by “CityNews” music writer Ian McLean, who recollects Kylie as “a delightful and humble young lady, it was a great thrill to work with her”. 

“Pub Rock,” National Portrait Gallery of Australia, September 5-February 14. Entry free but timed bookings essential at portrait.gov.au