The Melbourne community radio institution is marking five decades with live broadcasts, deep cuts and a month-long Radiothon drive.
Triple R turns 50 this year, which is a fairly huge milestone for a station that has spent five decades backing local music, independent voices and whatever else doesn’t neatly fit elsewhere.
Radiothon 2026 is now on the way, with celebrations kicking off on Friday, August 14, when Breakfasters broadcasts live from the Punters Club in Fitzroy from 6am to 9am.
It’s a pretty fitting place to start. Triple R and Melbourne’s live music scene have been tied together for decades, and taking the morning show out of the studio and into the Punters feels suitably full-circle.
The station is also digging back through 1976 for its Reverb Listening Room series, with presenters taking over the space for 30-minute lunchtime sessions built around records released the year Triple R began. This Thursday, August 13, Stolen Moments presenter John Bailey is on selection duties.
Elsewhere on air, there’s plenty happening beyond the birthday celebrations.
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Triple R has a couple of particularly good Live at RRR sessions lined up across the campaign too. On Friday August 21, Frankston favourites The Gnomes will take over the Performance Space with Clara Slewa of Velvet Haze hosting, fresh from sold-out Victorian shows, Golden Plains and a European tour.
A week later, on Friday August 28, Rainbow Chan brings songs from her acclaimed third album The Bridal Lament to the station, hosted by Charlie Miller of Frantic Items. Drawing on Chan’s Weitou ancestry, the record moves between art-pop and haunting balladry while exploring memory, cultural inheritance and knowledge passed between generations.
There’ll be plenty more coming through the doors as well, with Julia Jacklin, Sarah Thompson, Our Carlson, Michael Beach, Jess Ribeiro, Myf Warhurst, Moju, Dan Kelly and more set to visit the station across the campaign.
Fifty years is no small run for independent radio. Triple R is celebrating it in the most Triple R way possible: good records, good conversations and a packed schedule.
Radiothon runs from August 14 to September 16, and if Triple R has been part of your listening life, now’s a good time to return the favour. Subscribe or donate via rrr.org.au.
