Category: MUSIC

Taking bands back to their roots: Crooked Colours in Brisbane

Crooked Colours band

Aussie music legends, Crooked Colours, will head back to the venue that gave them their big break, The Brightside, Brisbane, for a one-night only gig open to the public on 9 March 2023. So if local music vibes are your thing – preferably with a drink-in-hand courtesy of Smirnoff, then this is for you. It’s happening thanks to the Smirnoff Origins series where Smirnoff Seltzer is taking Australia’s biggest musicians back to the venues that gave them their start, supported by the country’s most hotly-tipped talent. In a series of one-night-only intimate gigs hosted along the eastern seaboard, the events-Smirnoff Origins-will pay homage to the crucial role that live music plays in helping emerging talent cut their teeth, build their fan base and become fully fledged stars. Crooked Colours are next to step up to the stage, returning to Brisbane’s much loved nightclub,The Brightside on March 9, 2023.The Perth based duo found their feet at the iconic Brisbane venue, and this summer they will return to the venue where they honed their skills as musicians, generated fans and found their love for performing. Following on from one of the band’s biggest inspirations The Presets, whose Smirnoff Origins Sydney show sold out within 30 minutes, the next instalment of Smirnoff Origins is sure to be the hottest gig this summer. Crooked Colours are also tasked with finding Smirnoff’s hottest opening act, putting the call out to Queenslanders to find an emerging new artist to open their show. The chosen artist will also receive a $5,000 performance fee,double gold tickets… Read More

Reuben Kaye to host Opera Up Late this Sydney World Pride

Reuben Kaye Sydney Opera House Joan Sutherland Theatre 1

Opera Up Late is back this February! A bespoke arts event from Opera Australia, in association with Sydney WorldPride, on 18 and 23 February, it’ll shine a light on all things artistic and musical in a camp explosion of humour and art, totally befitting the Sydney World Pride events of 2023. And this year, Australian queen of camp comedy, Reuben Kaye will host, bringing his brutally funny and multi-award winning comedy to the stage. Reuben Kaye is an Australian comedian, singer and writer, who has cemented himself as one of the biggest names in comedy and cabaret both locally and internationally, while also accruing a massive following on Tiktok, Youtube and Instagram. What is Opera Up Late about? Opera Up Late shines a light on the extraordinary talent that the queer community brings to the national company, Opera Australia and the iconic Sydney Opera House as Sydney WorldPride takes over the city in 2023. In a rare late night peek beneath the city’s famous sails these performances begin at 11:00pm and feature artists from Opera Australia, including Australian tenors Tomas Dalton and Benjamin Rasheed, mezzo-soprano Angela Hogan, soprano Cathy-Di Zhang and musical theatre’s rising star Annie Aitken, with music direction by Opera Australia’s Chorus Master Paul Fitzsimon. There’s more at the Opera Up Late website

Smirnoff Origins is hosting The Presets at Club 77 Sydney this February

The Presets

The Smirnoff Origins series is where music comes back to shine. Smirnoff will take Australia’s biggest acts back to their roots to support live music venues after two years of lockdowns and give a platform to some of the country’s hotly-tipped talent.  Smirnoff will take Australia’s biggest acts back to their roots for the enjoyment of literally everyone. The Smirnoff Origins series has been developed to support live music venues, get people back through the doors and give some of our favourite names in music back doing what they do best. It’s a new thing starting in 2023 and so to kick off the event series, Aussie music legends, The Presets will head back to Sydney venue Club 77 – where it all started for them – for a one-night only gig open to the public on 2 February 2023. There’s a show in Brisbane to come, too. The Presets have also been tasked with finding the hottest opening act for the gig, hand-picking an emerging artist to open the show and score a prize package worth over $50K. It’s all about music, community and like-minds getting together to sip on some quality Smirnoff bevs and enjoy some quality like music. Get your tickets here

Australian Brandenburg Orchestra announces 2023 season 

Brandenberg Orchestra

In 2023, the famed Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, a baroque orchestra that tours Australia, will put on six live concert series performed at Sydney’s City Recital Hall and Melbourne Recital Centre. The ambitious season reimagines diverse musical and cultural traditions and will see the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and Brandenburg Choir perform alongside celebrated Australian and international guest artists including Canadian-American cellist Elinor Frey, French Baroque violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte and Swiss-Iranian Baroque violinist Leila Schayegh who will all make their Australian debut.  Expect a truly global repertoire that will transport and transfix you. The production will open with Spanish Steps featuring leading Canadian-American cellist Elinor Freyin her Australian debut. Transporting audiences to the Spanish Steps in Rome, the concert’s rich program explores Italian composers and their affinity with Spain in an era of cultural enlightenment. Alongside the full orchestra led by Paul Dyer on the harpsichord, guest performer Frey will reveal her astounding artistry in seldom performed works by Boccherini and Sammartini.  Following that, Vivaldi will be given new life in Vivaldi Unplugged, promising to be one of next year’s most evocative experiences, the concert series will highlight Brandenburg’s celebrated concertmaster Shaun Lee-Chen’s consummate command of the violin and feature stage direction by Yaron Lifschitz, the Artistic Director of leading Australian performance company Circa.  And yes, there’s so much more. Download the brochure now. Book tickets here.

ALERT: Young Henrys is hosting an epic 3-day mini festival

PHP Q3Sept2022 SKATEDAYWEB 89

Love Young Henrys beer? Same. Love music? Also same. Love a weekend of good vibes. BIG SAME. Good news is all your favourite things are coming together in one place at Hotel Steyne in Manly from 11-13 November as Youngs Henrys hosts a mini festival featuring ice cold brews, music from the DMA’s, Ruby Fields and more, and fun activities such as a pop-up tattoo parlour and skate competitions.  Rip In Weekender is set to be even bigger than Young Henrys birthday celebrations earlier in the year. Expected to be an “all hell breaks loose” party, the killer DJ lineup spearheaded by beloved names DMA’S, Pacific Avenue, Ruby Fields , Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers, Crocodylus, The Regime and SCABZ, is sure to have the dancefloor heaving.  In addition to the jams, Volcom Stone is transforming a level Hotel Steyne with a kickin’ half-pipe for shredders to showcase their skills alongside Australian Skater of the Year and hometown hero Rob Pace. Outside of the skate park, punters will have the chance to get inked by Thanks Tattoos and Manly natives Whistler Street Tattoo, get their nails done by Volcom’s resident nail artist, attend the Nao Deane film premiere or for those keen on the surf, sit in on a live podcast stream by Ain’t That Swell. In a nutshell, there is a lot happening. Find out the day by day breakdown here.  This event is sure to be full up, so RSVP ASAP here. 

Awakening Shadow: the new show at Carriageworks Sydney

Art sculpture

Sydney Chamber Opera is bringing its latest production, Awakening Shadow, and by all accounts it’s one to see. In a first Australian staging, Benjamin Britten’s five Canticles are entwined with a new work by leading Australian composer Luke Styles, performed by a quartet of singers and four musicians in front of a monolithic altar-like screen. The work channels Britten’s crisis of faith through the singing body and will be presented from 30 September – 7 October 2022. Awakening Shadow follows on from Sydney Chamber Opera’s previous successful stagings of Britten operas at Carriageworks with Owen Wingrave in 2013 and The Rape of Lucretia in 2017.  What to expect? The hour-long quintet of chamber works will centre on radiant tenor Brenton Spiteri, commuting between Britten’s intense demands and the brand-new world of Luke Styles’ response. Spiteri will be joined onstage by Sydney-born mezzo soprano Emily Edmonds, who has recently performed with the Royal Opera House, London and Komische Oper, Berlin, alongside Sydney Chamber Opera Artistic Associate soprano Jane Sheldon and the company’s frequent baritone collaborator Simon Lobelson. The singers will perform alongside a large screen that presents itself as an altar on which a new video work will unfold, exploring Britten’s complex and evolving relationship with faith. Australian Ballet School dancer Luca Armstrong has been captured in multiple poses using a technique called photogrammetry, using 120 synchronised cameras to then generate a 3D model that has been digitally manipulated in space. The resulting work features moving tableaux that are photorealistic yet hauntingly unreal, as if floating between life and death. Awakening Shadow Sydney Chamber Opera 30 September – 8 October 2022 Carriageworks, 245 Wilson St, Eveleigh NSW… Read More

Sydney’s favourite chicken joint BUTTER teams up with Spotify A1 for limited edition eats

Chill scaled

If you’ve ever been to BUTTER, Sydney’s hottest chicken shop, you’ll know it’s hard to go past the classics. However thanks to a new partnership with Spotify you will be quickly forgetting the famous Cheezus burger and opting for the new limited edition bites. BUTTER and Spotify have teamed up to launch the BUTTER x Spotify A1 menu. Inspired by local hip-hop artists A.Girl, ChillinIT and Day1, the uber popular A1 playlist and talent has lead to BUTTER feast for the ears and mouth with limited edition menu items from $25  such as: ChillinIT Canadian Sandwich Fried chicken burger with Chivas maple BBQ sauce, maple bacon, cheese, mayo and fries in the sandwich A.GIRL Nashville Sandwich Nashville spiced fried chicken sandwich with buttermilk ranch, fried runny egg and lettuce  (note: excludes egg at Surry Hills store) Day 1 Fried Chicken Snack Pack 2 fried chicken tenders with mozzarella, house Spicy BBQ sauce and spicy mayo on a bed of fries Upgrades to include the divine cinnamon donuts and drinks, plus a family box also available if you want to go all out.  “We’re so hyped to be working with Spotify’s A1 and some of our favourite and diverse local hip hop community artists to create our limited edition menu. We hope that Sydneysiders love the delicious A1 menu – we’ve had a great time working closely with ChillinIT, A.GIRL and Day1 to bring this to life.” – Julian Cincotta, Owner, Exec Chef and COO at BUTTER Sydney Get your mouths around it for two weeks… Read More

The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra’s got a surprise for ‘Mozart’s Clarinet’

Handels Messiah Brandenburg Orchestra THE F 2

The Brandenburg Orchestra’s is Australia’s answer to baroque music. And if you haven’t heard of them before or been to a show, then it’s time you know: you’re missing out. This season, they’ve taken on a new soloist for their Mozart series, Craig Hill, who’s got an over forty-three-year history with Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, performing the piece over many decades including twice with the Brandenburg. While the wistful Adagio is familiar to many from its use in numerous well-known film scores such as Out of Africa and The King’s Speech, Hill will perform on the traditional period basset clarinet in a rare chance for audiences to hear the work on the instrument it was originally intended and from one of the country’s leading clarinetists. The performance is an homage to the composer (Mozart) as it was his last piece before his untimely death at age 35. Before you go to the Brandenburg Orchestra website to buy tickets, here are the dates to plan: DATES City Recital Hall, Sydney Thu, 28 April, 7:00 PM?  Fri, 29 April, 7:00 PM  Sat, 30 April, 7:00PM?  Tue, 3 May, 7:00 PM?  Thu, 12 May, 7:00 PM?  Sat, 14 May, 2:00 PM?  Melbourne Recital Centre?  Thu, 5 May, 7:00PM  Sat, 7 May, 7:00 PM?  Sun, 8 May, 5:00 PM?  Riverside Theatres, Parramatta Fri, 13 May, 7:00PM 

Sydney Art Quartet announce their 2022 concert season

Sydney Art Quartet music cielo

Kicking off with La Belle Epoque this March 18-19 2022, the Sydney Art Quartet is taking to the stage to return to their comfortable place of live performance. Renowned for their virtuosic live performances and diverse and often unexpected collaborations, the SAQ masterfully intertwines music within fascinating cultural and creative cultural contexts traversing the wider worlds of history, the arts and the sciences. The Sydney Art Quartet’s 2022 program begins with the exquisitely conceived La Belle Epoque, created in collaboration with Champagne Maison Perrier-Jouët. It’s an introduction to their entire elcohol brand-partnered series, like: Mendelssohn Quartet Op.44/3 – Champagne Blanc De Blancs NV  Borodin Quartet No.2 – Grand Brut NV Beethoven Quartet Op.59/2 – Belle Époque Vintage 2013 Smetana Quartet No.1 “From My Life’ – Blason Rosé NV  Limited to just three intimately scaled performances, La Belle Epoque is sure to sell out! Book now for Friday March 18 at 7pm, or Saturday March 19 at 3pm or 7pm, at sydneyartquartet.com/belle-epoque

Easter Saturday choir with the Sydney Philharmonia Choir

Sydney Choir

This Easter, the Sydney Philharmonia Choir will present a one-off performance of Bach’s monumental Mass in B Minor in the majestic acoustics of Sydney Town Hall, where the opulence its stunning Baroque orchestration can truly be enjoyed. Composed at the pinnacle of Bach’s career, this much-lauded example of 18th Century sacred music weaves moments of choral grandeur with intimate solo arias. Heroic in scope – with almost every singer and instrumentalist having a solo part to play, the Mass in B minor calls for virtuoso voices and colourful orchestration, including rarely heard Baroque trumpets, Corno di Caccia and timpani. For Conductor Elizabeth Scott, recently appointed to the new position of Sydney Philharmonia Choirs’ Associate Music Director, this is an especially exciting concert performance. Book now for Bach: Mass in B Minor, one concert only, 3pm Easter Saturday April 16 at Sydney Town Hall at their website