Book review: Pig City, Andrew Stafford

Rod McLeod, part of Brisbane punk band Young Identities, is quoted early in Andrew Stafford’s Pig City, and his description of the city stands as a thesis statement. ‘Here, in a city practically under police curfew, you f***ed and fought, got stoned, got married, or got out of town.’ 

Stafford’s cult classic Pig City: from The Saints to Savage Garden, traces Brisbane’s punk history from 1975 to 2000. It was initially released in 2004, but has stayed front of mind as a part of the city’s cultural history ever since. University of Queensland Press (UQP) has published a new edition for the book’s 20th birthday. 

The new edition includes a foreword from Eamon Sandwith of The Chats and a detailed appendix that guides the reader through a dedicated Spotify playlist. The guide also includes numerous clues on tracking down tracks and live performances on YouTube for the more esoteric bands that haven’t made the leap to streaming. 

The result is a reminder of just how vital Stafford’s book is to the cultural lexicon, not only in charting Brisbane’s musical history, but also in its marriage with conservative politics. The brutality and violence of police corruption are perhaps startling to any Gen Z Triple J fan. 

Alongside recording the rise of The Saints, The Go-Betweens, Regurgitator, Custard, Powderfinger and many more, Stafford recounts Brisbane’s history of police history under Joh Bjelke-Petersen. Stafford gathers hundreds of personal stories from musicians on the ground. The result is a detailed, personal and unflinching account of too-easily forgotten history. 

This includes the 1971 Springbok Tour protests, when protestors against South African apartheid were beaten with batons and police incited panic, and the 1977 Right to March campaign, a response to Bjelke-Petersen’s iron-fisted attempt to block demonstrations. Peaceful marchers were met by violent police, dragging them by the hair. The government made concerted efforts to curb protests on Indigenous issues in the 1980s and beyond. 

By the book’s end, Fortitude Valley has begun to transform into the recognisable, gentrified party hub it is today. But the re-release of Pig City comes at a vital time. The state is on the precipice of a state election where the LNP (Liberal National Party) is likely to gain new control and is campaigning on aggressive law and order policies. Two venues have also closed in Fortitude Valley this year. As Sandwith points out in his foreword, these venues were most likely to attract youth and punk-oriented bands in the city. 

Read: Book review: My Brother’s Ashes are in a Sandwich Bag, Michelle Brasier

Stafford’s Pig City is immensely readable and relevant. It’s a remarkable journalistic achievement and is required reading for any Australian artist. 

Pig City: From the Saints to Savage Garden, Andrew Stafford
Publisher: UQP
ISBN: 9780702268793
Format: paperback 
Pages: 384pp
Price: $34.99
Publication Date: 30 July 2024