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Betoota’s famous Roma Hills nightlife precinct is always full of surprises.
Whether its the fact that an upmarket Chinese dumpling restaurant could survive for five years despite being wedged between two strip clubs, or if it’s the fact that the new ID Scanners haven’t done anything to quell anti-social behaviour except sell all our personal information to multinational tech companies.
Either way, a night out in ‘The Hills’ can result in anything, and that’s what adds to the thrill.
However, one thing that never changes is the closing time at the infamous ‘Night Shift’ nightclub. Colloquially known as the ‘Fight Shift’.
As is tradition in most rural night clubs around the country, as the night out approaches morning, the DJ will begin to lean into the kooky and nostalgic music – usually around the time that fellow patrons are drunk enough to sing along.
First comes Barbie Girl, then Cotton Eye Joe, then maybe something that was once considered a good song like ‘Crocodile Rock’ by Elton or even ‘Purple Pills’ by D12.
From there, the resident DJ usually cranks up the nationalism, with songs that everyone knows all the words to, like: ‘Your The Voice’ or ‘Working Class Man’ – before ultimately finishing with ‘Khe Sanh’.
Now recognised as a tried and true anthem of uneasy Australiana, Khe Sanh has for many years epitomised what it meant to be an Australian, living in a colonised class-based-hierarchy, at the bottom of South East Asia.
It’s because of Barnesy’s incredible storytelling and gorgeous lyricism that each night, at the stroke of 2:30AM, the rowdy rum-drunk crowds wait until the last plane out of Sydney really has gone – before they kick off a stink.
“It’s just out of respect, for the venue, for Barnesy, for us as a people” says Fight Shift patron, Bodeane.
“We are gonna wait til the song finishes before we get into it” he says, while not exactly ruling out the punch on that everyone expects at lock-out. Whether its in the venue or on the streets.
“This cunt at the bar has been eyeing off my missus…”
“The moment Barnesy finishes that last harmonica solo, I’m going to see just how shatter-proof these plastic schooners really are”
