20 years after Joh, 30 years after The Saints, and The Age offers up this insightful assessment of the Brisbane art and music scene:
The city, it seems, is finally stepping out of the long shadows cast by the Joh Bjelke-Petersen "redneck: tear it down" years, which many southerners still feel characterises life north of Tweed Heads. But talk to anyone who has been watching the Brisbane arts scene — music and visual arts, in particular — and they'll tell you that there has always been an interesting arts scene bubbling beneath its neon-signed 4X beer, "All the Spare Ribs You Can Eat" exterior.
Does one really have to seek out inside knowledge from someone ‘who has been watching’ to know those years produced music, radio 4ZZZ-FM and visual art characterised by serious intent and ambition? The history is plain to see.