1984–1986: Formation years Mick Thomas grew up in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, where he played in bush bands in his youth. In 1981 (at age 21) he moved to Melbourne and after a couple of years in Melbourne's
pub rock scene with bands like Where's Wolfgang and Trial, Thomas formed the first version of Weddings, Parties, Anything. in late 1984. Thomas' idea behind Weddings Parties Anything was to combine that punk rock inspiration with his original love for the honest storytelling in folk music. The band was essentially based on a song he'd written, "Away, Away".
1987–1995: First albums and success In April 1987 Weddings, Parties, Anything. released its first album,
Scorn of the Women. They recorded it as another independent release, but on the strength of their growing live following, the group ended up being offered a recording contract and the album was released by Warners. Dave Steel left the band following a tour of North America, citing exhaustion as the chief reason. He also noted in several interviews, at the time of his departure (1988), that he was feeling frustrated not getting a lot of his material on the Weddings Parties Anything albums. He released his debut solo album through WEA in 1989. He was replaced by Richard Burgman (The Sunnyboys, The Saints) for the band's 1989 release ''
The Big Don't Argue'' and accompanying tours. In 1989 the band won a third ARIA for Best Indigenous Release (''
The Big Don't Argue''), She has toured with
Tiddas,
Paul Kelly and
Archie Roach, and she composed the soundtracks for
Clara Law's film
The Goddess of 1967 and the TV mini-series ''
Simone de Beauvoir's Babies''. She has performed on albums for
Dave Graney,
Hunters and Collectors, and
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and has produced recordings by Ruby Hunter and
the Waifs.
Further reformations Weddings, Parties, Anything. reformed for the
Community Cup Football match in July 2005 and also performed at the Corner Hotel in Melbourne as a warm-up show two nights prior. The band reformed again later the next year for a one-off performance at the
Queenscliff Music Festival in November 2006. In January 2008, Weddings, Parties, Anything. announced March/April dates for the band's Ten Year Reunion Tour 2008, including an international performance at the Astoria (formerly The Mean Fiddler) in London on 25 April (
ANZAC Day). They sold out four consecutive shows at Melbourne venue The Corner Hotel, adding a fifth to surpass the record previously held by the
Hilltop Hoods from 2004. In 2010, 2011 and 2012 the band played Grand Final Eve shows in Melbourne. On 20 November 2012, the band were inducted into the EG Hall of Fame (
Entertainment Guide –
The Age). The band played at the event, which was held at Billboard The Venue in Melbourne. Joined by original guitarist Dave Steel, they performed their first album,
Scorn of the Women, in its entirety. In the lead-up to the show,
The Age newspaper reported that Mick Thomas had posted on his Facebook page that it would be the last time the band performed, using the show to say a heartfelt farewell to long-standing fans. The band reunited for two shows on 27 and 28 March 2021 at the Archies Creek Hotel in Victoria. The shows were intended as a warm-up for the band's scheduled performance at the Byron Bay Bluesfest, which was subsequently cancelled due to COVID-19. ==Live performances and Christmas shows==