Tia Gostelow & Noah Dillon among acts announced for The New Colossus Festival in NYC 2020

Earlier this year we had the pleasure of attending the first ever New Colossus Festival in New York City, a boutique showcase festival sitting in the city’s Lower East side in the days before SXSW. It gives travelling bands from Australia, Canada and around the world the opportunity for an extra showcase on their trip to the US, outside of the true madness of the iconic Austin festival. And now the event is due to return for the second time, from 11th to 15th March 2020, with their first wave of showcasing acts having been recently announced.

Among them is National Live Music Award nominee Tia Gostelow (pictured) and WA singer songwriter Noah Dillion (Editor Update: Noah Dillon has since pulled out of the event). They’re expected to be joined by more Australians in future announcements, but for now they are joined by the likes of Stealing Sheep and The Orielles from the UK, Devarrow from Canada, Pom Poko from Norway and Swallow The Rat from New Zealand.

But don’t expect all these acts to make it onto SXSW as well – the festival makes a point to mention that only a few of the 100+ acts who’ll play the event will also be at South by Southwest. “When choosing bands, we don’t really care about buzz or numbers, how the band looks or marketing angles,” says festival co-founder Lio Kanine. “We’re interested in bringing back the joy of experiencing live music in a real NYC environment, period.” Co-founder Steven Matrick adds, “I am so excited about this year’s lineup and the opportunity to see these bands; many will be playing their first US show.”

The full first announcement is below.

For tickets and more details about the event, head to http://newcolossusfestival.com/.  

CONFIRMED BANDS:

ALEXIA AVINA (CA)
AUSTERITY (UK)
BEGONIA (CA)
BEST FERN (CA)
BODYWASH (CA)
BUZZARD BUZZARD BUZZARD (UK)
CATHLIC ACTION (UK)
CEREMONY (US)
COURRIER SUD (FR)
DEEP SEA PEACH TREE (US)
DEVARROW (CA)
DIEALPS! (US)
DJ CHARLIE ASHCROFT (UK)
DOG IN THE SNOW (UK)
DONNA BLUE (NL)
FOREVER (CA)
FRANKIIE (CA)
GHOST WORLD (FI)
GLOIN (CA)
GO HAWAII (IT)
HALFSOUR (UK)
HANYA (UK)
HONEY CUTT (US)
HONEY LUNG (UK)
HUSSY (UK)
ICE CREAM (CA)
JACKIE (CA)
JAYWOOD (CA)
JEANINES (US)
JEANNEL (DE)
JEKYLL (UK)
KARKOSA (UK)
KINGS OF THE BEACH (ES)
KIWI JR. (CA)
KNIFE WIFE (US)
L.A. PEACH (UK)
LIFE (UK)
LUKE DE-SCISICO (UK)
MYSTIC PEACH (UK)
NEW LUNA (UK)
NO CRAFTS (ES)
NOAH DILLON (AU)
PAT DAM SMYTH (UK)
PEANESS (UK)
PETROL GIRLS (UK)
PHOBOPHOBES (UK)
POM POKO (NO)
PORT JUVEE (CA)
RED TELEPHONE (UK)
ROSEHIP TEAHOUSE (UK)
SHELTER BOY (DE)
SLEEPLESS NIGHTS (CA)
SPORTSFAN (CA)
STEALING SHEEP (UK)
STOLEN JARS (US)
SWALLOW THE RAT (NZ)
TALLIES (CA)
THE BARRATTS (UK)
THE CHEAP THRILLS (UK)
THE GULPS (UK)
THE HIDEAWAYS (UK)
THE NATVRAL (US)
THE ORIELLES (UK)
THE SILVER LINES(UK)
THE VAN T’S (UK)
TIA GOSTELOW (AU)
TIBERIUS B (UK)
TOFLANG (ES)
TOOMS (NZ)
TUGBOAT CAPTAIN (UK)
TUNIC (CA)
VOLUSPA (US)
WEEPING ICON (US)
WEIRD MILK (UK)
ZOONGIDE’EWIN (CA)

Larry Heath

Founding Editor and Publisher of the AU review. Currently based in Toronto, Canada. You can follow him on Twitter @larry_heath or on Instagram @larryheath.