The news that Mount Isa will host Triple J’s annual One Night Stand in April has attracted plenty of media attention across the country.
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Hosts ABC are understandably delighted the gig is coming to town and reckoned 10,000 people might travel here. The highlight of their coverage was the video of Dirt N Dust 2016 “best butt” winner Harry showing off Mount Isa. No ifs or butts, Isa is the tops!
Everyone’s favourite news copiers The Daily Mail reckoned it would be the most remote One Night Stand ever. “Breakfast presenters Ben and Liam announced Northwest Queensland's Mount Isa as the town their listeners will no doubt be road-tripping to this April,” they said. Well yes, it’s a most remote possibility they will.
The Sunshine Coast Daily also picked up the remote angle calling Isa “the oasis in the outback”. Though I don’t think they’ll be playing the Lawrence of Arabia theme music at the event, and park and ride facilities for camels may or may not be present.
The music press has focused on the quality of the line up playing at the gig. The.music.com.au said Triple J's One Night Stand caused a stir thanks to the announcement of names like Tash Sultana, San Cisco, Thundamentals and The Smith Street Band on the bill for what should be Mount Isa’s “most epic” gig.
Pedestrian TV took the sensationalist angle of worried about us all dying up here. Mount Isa, it said, had “poor air quality that poisons its residents (lead), leading to some residents acquiring brain damage or blood poisoning.” ZOMBIES, anyone???!!
Those pedestrian boys go on to say the town “is roughly the size of Switzerland and has more roads underground than above”. Actually no, the City of Mount Isa (43,348.6 sq km) is BIGGER than Switzerland (41,284 sq km) and even bigger than the Netherlands (41,850 sq km) or even Denmark (43,094 sq km) and would be the 130th largest country in the world if it was the People’s Republic of Mount Isa, so put that in your hookah pipe Pedestrian TV and smoke it (we’ll take your stat about underground roads on notice).
However maybe we all need to take a deep breath. The first thing returned in a Google search of “Mount Isa One Night Stand” is… a dating site. The Isa, where love and lead is in the air!