Bands unite to fight cancer with music and moshing

A high-energy concert at the weekend will also serve as a daytime charity event.

On Sunday 14 June, The Painted Lady will host over-18 event Moshing Against Cancer, which will see a diverse lineup of hardcore, metal and alternative heavy bands uniting to raise money for the Fiona Elsey Cancer Research Institute.

“We all have someone in our family that’s been affected or is affected by cancer,” said Zoe Mihalic, member of performing band Autophagia.

“It doesn’t just affect them, it affects everyone around them.”

Co-organiser Liam Frost-Camilleri said heavy music had a history of fundraising for important causes.

“It tends to be a very open and accepting sort of genre,” he said.

“If you’re listening to metal and you’re headbanging, we accept you.

“I think what matters is that we still have like a beacon that people will follow and want to continue to listen, continue to support because it actually means something.”

Frost-Camilleri said that metal was a genre that dealt with complex emotions in playful and serious ways.

“There’s hate, there’s regret, there’s guilt, there’s a mixture of emotions within something like cancer,” he said.

“Not just for the person who’s experiencing it, but everyone around them. And we’re not afraid to actually talk about all of those emotions and sort of throw them all together and say, this is what we mean.”

Other bands to play as part of Moshing Against Cancer include Fall and Resist, Primitive Deserters, Yeah, Sick!, Otrera, Ergasia and Two Steps Forward.

Doors open from 1pm. Tickets at the door cost $20.