Images by Dougal Gorman //

The Beatles took trips in the Magical Mystery Tour bus, Elvis cruised Las Vegas in his pink Caddy, Taylor Swift flies across town in her jets, and now The Buoys have their signature mode of transport: the Jameson ‘Always On Tour’ bus.

With their new single ‘Guard My Heart’ seemingly purpose built to soundtrack breakups throughout 2024, our longtime favourite indie outfit, The Buoys, have been on a non-stop roll. The tune, along with last year’s ‘Settle Petal’ has marked a shift from their beginnings as cult DIY rockers to fully-fledged studio wizards, primed for the biggest stages the country has to offer.

Over the weekend, that stage took the form of Jameson’s House of Rounds at St Jerome’s Bar, where the group headlined, prying open the earholes of Melburnians and flooding their brains with track after track of delicious, fuzzy pop.

But how did they make it to the stage from their Sydney homes? Jameson were kind enough to give them a ride in the ‘Always On Tour’ bus, which on top of being loaded with whiskey, was the perfect temporary home as they road tripped south, meeting characters, ten-pin bowling, and sipping along the way – all those great things that T-Swift is missing out on on a 25-min jet ride…

“This was hands down the most unique and exciting experience the band has ever had, tour buses like this are usually reserved for your dreams for a band our size,” The Buoys said. “But then to top it all off with meeting some of the coolest and nicest people, and essentially being given permission to be the biggest kids (I mean we got to go bowling and hit up a roller coaster, and dodgem cars!!!), made this week one we’ll never forget.”

Check out some of Dougal Gorman’s snaps from the trip in the gallery above: