Nice Day to Go to the Club Turns Five
A spontaneous phone call from ‘Fitzy’ and a stage on the back of an old fruit truck – that’s how it all started. Five years later, ‘Nice Day To Go To The Club’ is now one of the country’s best grassroots music festivals curated by local record label, Daybed Records. Located by the beach in Port Noarlunga SA, the festival returns with it’s biggest lineup yet; DMA’S, The Chats, Funkoars (reunion), Miss Kaninna, Frenzal Rhomb and heaps more, for a full day of exclusive South Australian performances on the town’s local football Oval. 16 bands, 2 stages, all happening on Saturday 27th February 2027.
Nostalgia meets naivety when Fitzy calls Daybed Records wanting to put on a music festival. Tom from Daybed Records had just started playing footy at the Port Noarlunga Cockle Divers, the hometown club of media personality Ryan ‘Fitzy’ Fitzgerald. At the time, Daybed Records were just starting up, playing in bands themselves, and putting on gigs around town for their mates. Fitzy had a vision: feeding off the strong music scene that was thriving back in the 90s, he wanted to put together a music festival to pay homage to his childhood and raise much-needed funds for his beloved football club. So, he called upon locals, Daybed Records to make it happen.
Fitzy says, “I have to be honest. When we started Nice Day, we obviously needed to raise money for our club to survive. But selfishly, I wanted my favourite bands to play on the footy oval that I grew up on. It’s still very surreal to know that the Cosmic Psychos, Bad Dreems, The Mark of Cain and international bands like The Bronx and Lambrini Girls have graced that hallowed turf and had more effect than I ever did with a Sherrin.”
In a rough few years for Australian festivals, this little operation on Adelaide’s southern coast keeps growing, just by keeping it simple and doing things their own way. Now four consecutive sold-out editions later, that idea has grown into a nationally recognised festival, with crowds growing from 1,500 to now 3,500+. With longevity, sustainability, and community at the forefront of the festival’s ethos, you can expect cheap tickets, affordable drinks, and kick-ass bands all day.
You can watch this journey and live sets from the festival on the Daybed Records YouTube plus a feature-length documentary.
“It honestly feels like a bit of a fluke that this festival keeps going the way it does,” says Tom at Daybed Records. “It feels like a rare coming together of communities, being the football club community and the local music scene. Which has now extended out to a much wider community of music lovers, but still feels just as homely.”
“Even with how the festival has grown, it feels the same as the first year, grassroots and local – you are quite literally going to see DMA’S playing on the back of a truck and you’ll go to the bar and get served a beer by the under-14s footy coach. It’s so awesome.”
They’ve also managed to get Funkoars back together. The South Australian hip-hop favourites join the fifth birthday bill for a reunion show on home turf. With Fitzy featuring on their most popular song “Mad As Hell”, it’s a match made in heaven.
DMAs, The Chats, Miss Kaninna, Frenzal Rhomb and Funkoars: 5 out of 16 acts to see across two stages at this year’s Nice Day To Go To The Club.
Want more? The Pretty Littles, Radium Dolls, A Swayze & the Ghosts, Ethanol Blend and GRUB join the party, alongside Xiao Xiao, Alien Nosejob and Luca Brasi.USA visitors The Schizophonics make the trip, with Sacrificial Larynx and Wedding Motel rounding out the bill.
Five years in, the idea remains pretty straightforward: get your favourite bands together, put them on a truck at the local oval, and give people a good reason to go to the club.
See you at Porties.
Tickets on sale Friday 13 November @ 8am ACST via www.daybedrecords.com
NICE DAY TO GO TO THE CLUB
Saturday 27 February 2027 | Port Noarlunga Football Club
DMA’S (SA EXCLUSIVE)
The Chats
Miss Kaninna
Funkoars – REUNION
Frenzal Rhomb
Luca Brasi
The Pretty Littles
Radium Dolls
A. Swayze & the Ghosts
Ethanol Blend
GRUB
Xiao Xiao
Alien Nosejob
The Schizophonics (USA)
Sacrificial Larynx
Wedding Motel
Tickets on sale Friday 13 November @ 8am ACST via www.daybedrecords.com
