Just seven days before Anzac Day, the community was outraged when a Corrimal war memorial was vandalised.

Part of the granite monument was broken away and the words "No tears for dead soldiers" and "Scab Eater" scrawled in felt pen. Melbourne punk band Scab Eater had played at the nearby Corrimal Hotel the night before the vandalism was discovered.

The region's punk community was displeased with the actions as well, which led them to organise a benefit gig for Legacy.

One of the organisers, Warren Wheeler, says it was important for Wollongong's punk scene to distance itself from these actions.

"The show is a way of us saying that we're members of the community too and we're not happy with this kind of behaviour and we don't approve of it. Whilst we support someone's entitlement to a point of view and to express that view, that was not an appropriate way to do so.

"We don't support it and this is a way of showing the community that we will speak out against people who come to our town and think it's appropriate to vandalise important memorials."

Fourteen bands have put their hands up to play for free at the show - including BRUCE!, Lint, Rukus, Run for Cover and Steel City Allstars - and Wheeler says the level of support is a good indication of how the majority of the music scene feels about incident in April.

"The music community is like any other community, there are dissenting voices and not everyone thinks the same," Wheeler says. "So there are elements of the music scene who weren't necessarily behind what we were doing. But overall, the the wave of support and the number of bands who contacted us asking to be put on the bill - keeping in mind they weren't going to get paid for the day - was overwhelming.

"It was unfortunate that we couldn't fit everyone in."

Several bands had to be turned away for the show, which starts at 2.30pm on Saturday.

"We could have easily started before lunch but that makes for a very long day," Wheeler says of the number of bands keen to appear.

"We had bands from out of the area contacting us. We had a lot of bands from Sydney wanting to be on the bill.

"The incident got national exposure and so people recognised it was an important issue and wanted to support it."

Wheeler says he was concerned that the incident could damage the Wollongong music scene.

"The reality is venues will only support live music, regardless of the genre, as long as people attend and ... are well behaved.

"Poor behaviour will reflect poorly on the venue.

"So, yes, it was a natural concern of mine as a supporter of the live scene that venues, particularly in the Corrimal area, may think twice about putting bands on.

"By putting the show on and by having the discussion, it's about saying to venues, this is a one-off - it's not reflective of the community as a whole."