Long before the Bee Gees became one of the biggest music acts in the world, the Gibb brothers were taking to the stage at the Kyabram Town Hall.
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In fact, Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb performed in Kyabram not once, but three times during the 1960s, giving local music lovers an early glimpse of the group destined for international stardom.
Their first appearance came at a Kyabram Town Hall dance on Friday, September 27, 1963, when the brothers were still teenagers and building their reputation on the Australian music scene.
They returned just months later, on January 31, 1964, with a Kyabram Free Press advertisement billing them as the “fabulous BEE GEES” and promoting them as stars of Sydney television, radio and records.
On each of their visits, the brothers were backed on stage by local band the Lonely Ones.
The Bee Gees perform in Kyabram.
By the time the Bee Gees returned for their third and final Kyabram performance on November 18, 1966, plenty had changed.
Sporting long hair and fashionable “mod” clothing, the brothers performed Spicks and Specks, which had climbed to No.4 on the Australian charts.
What happened next makes that final Kyabram show particularly remarkable.
Just one week later, on November 25, the Gibb family sailed for England, where Barry, Robin and Maurice would embark on the international career that eventually made the Bee Gees household names around the world.
Band - The Lonely Ones Band which played at the Kyabram Town Hall Dances and backed the Bee Gees.L-R: Peter Miller (Lead), Jim McIntyre (Bass), Ron Easden (Rhythm), John Kiely (Drums)
For those lucky enough to be inside Kyabram Town Hall that November night, they had witnessed three future superstars on the cusp of something enormous.
And for Kyabram, it remains quite a claim to musical fame: before the Bee Gees conquered the world, they played the Town Hall.
Information researched by Eileen Sullivan in 2016.
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