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The free concert featuring John Butler, Noah Dillon and Wil Thomas was moved from Gage Roads Brewery to Port Beach Brewery in North Fremantle, where it went ahead. Butler alleged that Gage Roads withdrew because the event was political. The brewery’s representative said the advertised program had expanded to include amplified community-group speeches and raised concerns about crowd size and venue suitability. Reports document both accounts but do not establish which explanation was decisive.
What happened to the concert?
The concert was initially booked at Gage Roads Brewery in Fremantle. PerthNow reported that organisers announced the move to Port Beach Brewery on February 2, 2025. The Fremantle Herald later reported that the event took place there, with Butler, Noah Dillon and Kimberley artist Wil Thomas performing.
The show was promoted as free. The dispute concerned why the original venue booking ended, not whether the concert ultimately happened.
Why John Butler said it was political
In a video posted to his band’s social media pages, Butler said Gage Roads had pulled out because it did not want to host a political event. PerthNow reported his words as: “Gage Roads cancelled the event and pulled out saying they didn’t know it was so political and they didn’t do political events.” The video was later deleted, and the report provides an account of its contents rather than an independently verified record of the venue’s motive.
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Butler also pointed to timing: Gage Roads had hosted a Labor campaign launch for local state politicians the day before the venue-change announcement. He questioned whether someone had intervened. His comparison raised a question about how the venue treated the two events, but it does not by itself establish political pressure or the reason for the cancellation.
Why Gage Roads said the venue was unsuitable
Aaron Heary, executive director of Good Drinks Australia, the company associated with Gage Roads, gave a different explanation. He said the initial agreement was for music, Frack Free merchandise and awareness materials. After promotional material appeared, the venue learned that community groups planned to give speeches. Heary’s position was that the event as later planned and advertised differed from what the venue had agreed to host.
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Heary also cited the speeches, their expected length, the proposed setup and the likelihood of a large crowd. He said the combination could create a rally-like atmosphere and that free entry might draw more people than the venue could accommodate. In PerthNow, he said: “We also formed a view that the event would likely exceed the capacity of the venue and that many of those who came for the event or for dinner would not be able to get in.”
In the Fremantle Herald, Heary summed up the venue’s position: “Gage Roads just isn’t fit for purpose for this type of event and for these reasons we asked the organisers to relocate the event.” That is the company’s stated suitability rationale, not an independently adjudicated finding about the venue or the event.
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How the two explanations compare
| Question | Butler’s account | Gage Roads’ account |
|---|---|---|
| What had been agreed? | Butler said the venue pulled out because it did not want a political event. | Heary said the original plan was music, merchandise and awareness materials; the later-promoted event included speeches. |
| Why change the booking? | Butler alleged the decision was political and raised the possibility of outside intervention. | Heary said the speeches, event setup and expected duration made the planned format a poor fit. |
| What about attendance? | The reported video account focused on the political nature of the event. | Heary said the free event might exceed the venue’s capacity and leave concertgoers or dinner customers unable to get in. |
| How did the venue distinguish the Labor function? | Butler contrasted the concert’s treatment with the campaign launch held the previous day. | Heary described the launch as a short, private function with a separate entrance that did not disrupt wider venue operations or raise capacity concerns. |
| Is political pressure independently established? | No independent evidence in the cited reports confirms Butler’s allegation. | No booking correspondence or independent evidence in the cited reports establishes that the venue’s operational explanation was decisive. |
The accounts therefore differ over both the expected content of the booking and the significance of the venue’s decision. The reports provide attributed statements from Butler and Heary; they do not supply the booking correspondence, a direct record of Butler’s deleted video, or independently verified attendance and capacity figures.
What the crowd figures do—and do not—show
The Fremantle Herald reported Heary’s estimate that the Victoria Quay venue usually sees 500 to 600 customers on a Thursday night. That is an attributed estimate of typical Thursday customers, not an official capacity figure. The cited reports do not establish the venue’s formal capacity or how many people organisers expected at the concert.
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A separate 2024 Kimberley event
Environs Kimberley’s page documents a different event, “Save The Kimberley from Fracking,” scheduled for September 11, 2024 at Victoria Hall in Fremantle. It lists Butler among the speakers. That earlier event is separate from the free concert moved in February 2025; its date and venue should not be conflated with the Gage Roads booking.
What can be concluded
The concert was relocated and went ahead at Port Beach Brewery. Butler publicly attributed the Gage Roads withdrawal to the event’s politics, while the venue’s representative said the expanded program and anticipated crowd made the site unsuitable. The available reporting does not resolve which explanation drove the decision.
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