Tickets for this year’s PYRAMID ROCK FESTIVAL are flying out the door and as if you needed any more reason to stock up your campervan and head on down to Phillip Island this New Year’s season, we’ve got a whole new line-up of acts just added to the bill. Hold onto your hats, this might just blow you away…

Last year you might have caught YUKSEK spinning up a storm all on his own in the Pharaoh’s Annex. He must have enjoyed himself because in 2011 the French electro extraordinaire is bringing his newly formed live band to check out the sights and sounds of the Pyramid Rock Festival. Having released his much acclaimed second album Living On The Edge Of Time earlier in the year, the man born Pierre-Alexander Busson is hopping “On A Train” bound for Phillip Island to show us why he’s “Always On The Run”.

Pyramid Rock thought it had seen the last of THE GETAWAY PLAN when they shockingly decided to call it quits back in 2009. Thankfully they reconsidered that decision 18 months later and got themselves back together. Now in 2011 the Melbourne four-piece are defying all the odds, silencing all the nay-sayers and releasing their hugely anticipated third album Requiem. They are back! And you know what else?

They’ll be back at Phillip Island at the end of the year to smash up the Pyramid Rock Festival.

It’s hard to imagine what 2011 would have been like without SPARKADIA – far less awesome, we imagine. The reinvented, Alex Burnett-fronted outfit overcame some serious obstacles to release their second album The Great Impression this year, but we’re sure as hell glad they did! With hit after grandiose hit, The Great Impression has surely been one of the best loved Australian albums of the year. What a pleasure it will be to hear those tunes through the crisp Phillip Island air this year at Pyramid Rock.

Nudity, stage diving and inflatable animals – expect nothing less when party demons YACHT CLUB DJs take to the stage at Pyramid Rock in 2011. Having garnered a reputation as one of Australia’s craziest DJ combos, the genre-squashing mash-up masters are no strangers to big crowds, having conquered festivals around the country and sold out tours of their own. Quiet for most of 2011 while they worked on side projects, Yacht Club DJs will be ringing in 2012 with a bang at the Pyramid Rock Festival.

Darlings of the Melbourne rock scene, THE VASCO ERA make a very welcome debut at the Pyramid Rock Festival in 2011. After briefly breaking up following the release of second album Lucille last year, a re-energised and rejuvenated Vasco Era hit the studio to record their cathartic self-titled third record. Jam-packed with buzzsaw guitar riffs and Sid O’Neil’s trademark howls, it’s the clearest explanation yet of just why this band is one of the adored rock and roll outfits in the country.

For over a decade now Blue Mountains duo HERMITUDE have been squishing and squashing their worldly influences into a well-oiled machine of tribal beats, freeform hip hop and infectious synth-driven melody. Their latest jam is the irrepressible ‘Speak Of The Devil’, featuring the honeyed vocals of Sydney artist Chaos Emerald and threatening dance floor ubiquity by summer’s end. Known for their energetic live shows, make sure you catch Hermitude when they shuffle on down to Phillip Island for the Pyramid Rock Festival.

Dressed down to the nines and with a swear jar in tow, BALL PARK MUSIC will be bringing their potty-mouthed, geek-chic ensemble to Pyramid Rock in 2011. Having maintained an omnipotent radio presence with singles like iFly, Rich People Are Stupid and It’s Nice To Be Alive, the Brisbane sextet finally put out their debut album Happiness And Surrounding Suburbs just a few months ago. It’s been a long, strange trip for Ball Park Music, and it’s gonna get weirder when they drop anchor at Phillip Island for the Pyramid Rock Festival.

He might be known to some as ‘your favourite rapper’s favourite rapper’, but MANTRA is first and foremost a man of the people. His new album Speaking Volumes is an ode to the power of the spoken word and features guest appearances from the cream of the Australian hip hop crop, including fellow 2011 Pyramid Rock alumni Drapht and Illy. Who knows, maybe he’ll invite them both onstage for a bit of a boogie when he brings the beats to Phillip Island at the end of the year?

Blues rock chanteuse ABBE MAY has spent the past few years of her life in various musical incarnations and guises, but on her third album Design Desire the Perth guitar shredder has really come into her own. Chock-full of monstrous riffs and dripping in sex, Abbe’s third album proves she can’t just play with the boys, she OUT-plays them! Catch Abbe May sending shockwaves into the stratosphere when she plays
Pyramid Rock this year.

It’s been a bonza year for BONJAH. The New Zealand-via-Melbourne band have enjoyed some seriously high highs off the back of their stellar second album Go Go Chaos. Infusing their soulful sonic palette with a heady mix of brooding pop and terse rock and roll, Bonjah are finally starting to attract the kind of attention they deserve. Having rocked out memorable sets at the 2008 and 2009 Pyramid Rock Festivals, Bonjah are back to do it all again in 2011.

It’s been a long and winding road for KING CANNONS, but at the end of 2011 it’s taking them straight to Phillip Island. Forming in Auckland, the band have traversed the wildest parts of their homeland and toured through the UK before settling in their current abode of Melbourne. Ploughing the fields sown by Springsteen, Strummer and Berry, King Cannons’ ferocious and passionate MO has been felt in recent singles Teenage Dreams and Take The Rock. Now see it in the flesh when these nomadic road warriors hit up Pyramid Rock.

Globe-trotting Ballarat boys GOLD FIELDS are emerging as hot property not only in their homeland but all around the world. The disco popsters broke out of obscurity last year with their runaway hit Treehouse, before they were snared by hip London label Lost & Found and sent to Los Angeles to record their debut album. The big time beckons for Gold Fields. Catch them while you can at the Pyramid Rock Festival!

LOON LAKE describe themselves as “smiley, loose and fun”, which is a pretty good starting point. The Melbourne outfit write such catchy, fun-fuelled songs it’s hard to listen to them without a smile on your face. With last year’s unofficial summer anthem ‘In The Summer’ only just dimming down, the band will be out to repeat their heroics with new tune ‘Bad To Me’. Catch the hype-worthy quintet this year at Pyramid Rock.

Fremantle indie pop darlings SAN CISCO have had a lot on their plate in 2011, like year 12 and university preferences. They also managed to put out their highly acclaimed Golden Revolver EP and a cracking new single in ‘Awkward’. Sounds like they need some time off! Luckily school’s out this summer and these highly talented teenagers are bound for an almighty schoolies trip to Phillip Island for the Pyramid Rock Festival.

There are fewer more exciting live bands in Australia than bratty Ballarat kids HUNTING GROUNDS. Since conquering triple j’s Unearthed High competition in 2009 under their former moniker Howl, the multi-membered outfit have been making ears ring and knees quiver with their awesome blend of garage-disco-funk-punk at venues across the country. With two EPs already to their assorted names and a debut album not far away, Hunting Grounds will be tearing Pyramid Rock to shreds come the end of 2011.

What do you get when you mix one of Australia’s finest bluesmen with one of its best drummers? You get KRASH, a new collaboration made up of Kram from Spiderbait and Ash Grunwald (Kram + Ash = Krash). Born out of a beer-fuelled jam session, the two musicians are set to take their psychedelic blues rock concoction from the rehearsal room to the Pyramid Rock live stage. Be amongst the first to check out Krash this New Year’s season.

Their song Fly has really taken flight, and now indie pop troupe NANTES are set to take the festival circuit by storm. The Sydney group have been playing together for a number years (most notably as the backing band for Jonathan Boulet) but 2011 has been a year to remember. Unearthed by triple j, ubiquitous airplay of their first single and now with an EP not far away, Nantes will be closing out the year in style at the Pyramid Rock Festival.

When Sydney two-piece GEORGIA FAIR look for collaborators, they aim high. Like when they managed to rope in Lisa Mitchell and Boy & Bear to perform on their single ‘Marianne’, or when they convinced Band Of Horses bassist to produce their debut album All Through Winter. Their little black book reads like a who’s who of global folk hook-ups, and yet things are only getting started for this delicate guitar duo. Catch their organic, low-key harmonies at Pyramid Rock 2011

Melbourne DJ duo NAYSAYER & GILSUN have spent the past three years carefully honing their mash-up production style with an eye-catching visual show to create one hell of a pop culture jam. The pair have held residencies across the globe and have been endorsed by dancefloor heavyweights like Diplo and Ajax. In 2011, they bring the party times to Phillip Island for the Pyramid Rock Festival.

There’s a good reason why Purple Sneakers is renowned as one of the country’s best indie clubs, and that reason is the PURPLE SNEAKERS DJs. Relentlessly hopping from one musical style to the next, a set from these guys can jump from Californian chillwave to hyperactive indie pop, heart-stopping dubstep and laid back folk rock in the blink of an eye. Party on down with the Purple Sneakers DJs thisyear at Pyramid Rock.