After a two-year stint living and working in Sydney, Van Dungen returned to Melbourne just as The Tote was celebrating its 21st anniversary. Van Dungen had already taken note of Melbourne’s vibrant live music scene, and hatched an idea to document various live music venues in their natural, thriving state. “Initially I thought it might be good to do a documentary on the Rainbow, which I used to go to, and which was threatening to close because of noise complaints,” Van Dungen says. “Then the next day I was going through the street press and realised it was The Tote’s 21st anniversary, so I thought I’d seize the moment and do some filming in The Tote.”