Author: Larry Heath

Set on the sun soaked shores of Port Macquarie on the NSW central coast, Festival of the Sun is an annual event that brings together punters from all over the region for what is essentially one of the country’s biggest parties. Buoyed by an amazing and eclectic Australian lineup, the fact that the audience is…

Ahead of their Australian tour next month, The Bats have unveiled a new tune from their forthcoming ninth LP, The Deep Set (out January 27 on Flying Nun), “No Trace”, which feels like an instant classic from this iconic New Zealand band. Today, the AU are excited to present the Australian exclusive premiere of the…

Bingefest is set to take over the Sydney Opera House for an epic 24 hours this weekend, and part of this will be The Harambe Memorial Service: 2016’s Viral Hits, where Australia’s best, brightest and funniest internet stars will bring you the definitive story of what went down on the Internet in 2016 – from…

It was confirmed earlier this week that Qantas would be launching the first ever direct service between Australia and London in March 2018, disembarking from an upgraded Perth Airport. This serves as great news for Australian travellers, who – even if they have to transit through Perth – could save hours on their travel to…

“This is my chance to prove myself”, says Spider-Man (Tom Holland), as the first official trailer for the upcoming entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe – Spider-Man: Homecoming – makes its debut. Though Holland’s Spider-Man debuted to praise in Captain America: Civil War, this third incarnation of a live action Spidey in less than ten…

Earlier this morning, Don Cheadle, Laura Dern and Anna Kendrick announced the nominees of the 2017 Golden Globe Awards, with the musical La La Land – fresh from winning Best Film at the Critics Choice Awards – leading the pack with seven nominations, including Best Picture, Director and acting nods for Stone and Gosling. Barry…

In what is game changing news for the Australian travel industry, Qantas has revealed its plans to provide Australian passengers with the first ever direct service to the United Kingdom. The non-stop service will take place exclusively on Qantas’ 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft, which will travel 14,498 kilometres from Perth on the West Coast of Australia,…

Since 1946, there have been plans to build a second airport in Badgerys Creek, about 50 km west of Sydney. In typical political fashion, any progress was continually put on hold, as those in power continued to look for cheaper alternatives (like expanding existing airports in places like Bankstown or Canberra), or simply downgraded its…

A new Marvel series is going to be hitting our TV screens next year – but this one is part of the ever-growing Marvel Universe. Rather, it’s an extension of Fox’s X-Men series, in the new series Legion, which is created by Noah Hawley, who also brought Fargo to the small screen. Based on the…

This past week, United Airlines‘ new Polaris International Business Class began its roll-out, with the launch of a new inflight food and beverage experience, bedding from Saks Fifth Avenue, new amenities from Soho House & Co’s Cowshed Spa and the first Polaris lounge, which opened at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Saks Fifth Avenue’s new bedding…

Last night, American troubadour Ryan Adams treated an intimate room of invited guests at Sydney’s Factory Theatre to what was only his second performance with a brand new backing band. The gig – which was serving as a warm up for their first official performance at the Enmore Theatre tonight – saw Adams and his…

Sydney electronic artist Flume, following a week of winning trophies at the ARIAs and the National Live Music Awards, just picked up two nominations for America’s biggest music prize: The Grammy. The nominations are for his album Skin, which scored a nomination for Best Dance/Electronic Album and his track “Never Be Like You” featuring Kai,…

Situated in the heart of the Brisbane CBD, the Hilton Brisbane is a five star hotel which has served the city for some thirty years. It’s a rather grand – yet unassuming building – nestled in the skyline and offering quite a skyline of its own inside; an open lobby and a glass elevator looking…

The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) has announced a brand new partnership with Virgin Australia and Delta Air Lines, with the strategic alliance partners now sitting as the Exclusive Airline Partners of the 6th Annual Awards in Sydney as well as the AACTA International Awards in Los Angeles. The partnership will see…

Last week, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage added 12 new inscriptions to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. These are forms of expression that “testify to the diversity of intangible heritage and raises awareness of its importance”. You can view all 366 items…

Another year, another new franchise reboot. This time it’s for The Mummy, following on from the Brendan Fraser fronted trilogy of the same name. Directed by Alex Kurtzman (People Like Us), this time around the series will star Tom Cruise as our lead, Nick Morton, with Sofia Boutella (Kingsman: The Secret Service and Star Trek…

Located just across the street from the South Bank’s art and gallery precinct (including the GoMA, which is currently celebrating their 10th birthday), is a small and unassuming cafe/restaurant that produces a Michelin-star quality food at reasonable prices. Jerome Batten is the man behind Gauge, a role he juggles while also helming Sourced Grocer, a…

Sitting at no less than 6,000 square metres, Australia’s largest contemporary gallery, The Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) in Brisbane’s South Bank, turns ten years old this month. To celebrate, the now iconic space has launched a massive, free exhibition dubbed GoMA Turns 10, which revisits some of the curator’s favourite artworks and artists who…

Last week, The Australian Traveller People’s Choice Awards crowned their 2016 winners, with Queensland coming out on top, winning in six categories – including three for Hamilton Island, best beach for Whitehaven, best family holiday spot for the Gold Coast) and sexiest hotel pool for Palazzo Versace in Surfers Paradise (pictured above). Meanwhile, the recently…

New Zealand’s national carrier Air New Zealand has teamed up with multi-platinum artist Ronan Keating and young Hunt for the Wilderpeople star Julian Dennison to record a witty Kiwi interpretation of the Christmas Classic “Walking in a Winter Wonderland”. Given the Southern Hemisphere celebrates Christmas in the Summertime, you will quickly understand the direction that…

After just two weekends in release, it seems cinema fans around the world have been welcoming the return of J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World with open arms, seeing Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them race past the US$500m (AU$673m) mark at the global box office. Australia has added about AU$20m to that cumulative total, while…

When one thinks of rock groups from the late 90s and early 00s, few are more pseudonymous than American/Scottish group Garbage. Between 1995 and 2005 the group – made up of lead vocalist Shirley Manson, iconic record producer and drummer Butch Vig, Steve Marker and Duke Erikson – produced some of the most iconic songs…

Following the roll out of Harry Potter and Simpsons themed worlds at their Theme Parks around the world, Universal Studios has announced this week that they will be adding new Nintendo-themed areas to their parks in Japan, Orlando and Hollywood. Japan and Orlando come as little surprise, especially with the company being based in Japan,…

With some two hundred names on its lineup, the 17th edition of the music festival Primavera Sound in Barcelona is shaping up to be one of the most impressive yet. As it did this year, the majority of the event will take place as a paid, ticketed event at Parc del Fòrum, whilst the Raval…

The hotel booking site hotels.com has had something of a remarkable history, originally launching alongside the internet in 1991 as the Hotel Reservation Network (HRN), which provided guests with hotel bookings over the telephone. Over the 25 years that has followed, this business model evolved and moved with the technology of the times, becoming a…

Back in 2014, Royal Caribbean Cruises returned their ship Voyager of the Seas to service in Australia, following a $3 million overhaul that included everything from a brand new “Surf Rider at Sea” – the FlowRider – to three new restaurants, a 3D Cinema and more. Back around that time, we told you about the…

After months of uncertainty following the defunding of the music export initiative – who, among many other activities, put on great events around the world like The Aussie BBQ to showcase Australian talent – the organisation’s immediate future was revealed on the steps of the State Library in Melbourne today. Fronting media and guests of…

As we approach the end of the second season of Ash vs Evil Dead, we sat down with the iconic star of the series – Bruce Campbell – to talk about working with Ted Raimi (again), what we can expect from the rest of the season and we reflect on “that” scene from “The Morgue”….

Following years of anticipation, and huge ticket sales, The Book of Mormon’s Melbourne season has been extended through to 30th April 2017 at the Princess Theatre, with new seats on sale now. The acclaimed musical – which has won Grammys, Oliviers and Tonys since its debut in 2011 – has already broken the house record…

Pausing from his planned trilogy of films with Brendan Gleeson – which has already seen the release of the brilliant The Guard (2011) and Calvary (2014) – English/Irish director John Michael McDonagh makes his debut outside of Ireland with the incredibly black comedy War on Everyone, starring Alexander Skarsgård and Michael Peña – who are…