Peter de Jong, face of 1979 Star Hotel riot, dies
Newcastle rock frontman Peter de Jong, who became an icon at the infamous 1979 Star Hotel riot, died this week.
Peter de Jong emerged on the Newcastle music scene in the late 1960s, forming Armageddon around 1970 before the band won a major national talent quest in 1971. Heroes, formed by de Jong, Mark Tinson, Jim Porteous and Phil Screen, cemented its legend on September 19, 1979, as the closing act at the Star Hotel's farewell concert.
Crowds spilled onto King Street as the concert peaked. When a police officer grabbed de Jong's microphone during the band's encore, he told the crowd: "the pigs have said we've got to go."
The throng turned hostile, and police were peppered with cans, rocks and, according to one report, a flagon in an unprecedented night of violence that saw 29 arrests. De Jong announced his retirement from music in August this year.
Why it mattersDe Jong's life and the Star Hotel riot remain defining moments in Newcastle's cultural history, and his death marks the end of an era in Australian rock.
AustraliaNewcastle's music community loses one of its most influential figures and a living link to the city's countercultural past.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 1 d ago
