After three months of renovations, Crowne Plaza Surfers Paradise has unveiled some enhancement to their public spaces as well as two new dining venues, a wine bar named Balthazar and a specialty restaurant named SIFU, both located on the ground floor of the popular hotel. Having been named for a 12 litre wine bottle, Balthazar…
Canadian Club are getting in on that slice of summer celebration by introducing pop-up racquet clubs across Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane for December and January. In an effort to build anticipation for one of the country’s largest annual sporting events, the Australian Open, the pop ups will be using some of the country’s best known…
Sometimes it pays to be a little over-the-top, which should explain the success of The Thirsty Wolf’s colourful “Unicorn Month” which recently ran throughout November. It’s pretty straight forward, for an entire month the popular Newtown bar replaced a typical Melbourne cup celebrate with a four-week homage to a different breed of horse, channeling the…
The cavalcade of emotional, digital, political and cultural disasters that have hit the internet in 2016 ended up being so numerous that it’s hard to look back and take stock of things. Still, someone’s got to do it. At least, that was the idea behind Bingefest’s Harambe Memorial Service. After all, if you’re going to…
Rockpool Dining Group’s rapidly expanding Saké Jr has just seen a second venue open up for Melbourne, this time at St Collins Lane. The popular fast-casual spin off to Sake Restaurant & Bar debuted earlier this year as part of a larger expansion for Urban Purveyor Group (now Rockpool Dining Group following a merger with…
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…
Heads of Charm are a Melbourne-based trio, of David Gagliardi (vox, guitar), Zaire Kesha (bass) and Lachlan Ewbank (drums). Their music is hard-to-define, an astoundingly dynamic sound that led them to being pinned one of our top BIGSOUND acts of 2016. They’ve just dropped their second single of the year, “OK Yes Pls”, are about…
Popping over to enjoy the Australian summer is Scottish band Frightened Rabbit. They begin their Australian tour in Brisbane in March. Coming to showcase their talents with their fifth album, Painting of a Panic Attack follows the band’s already successful tour across Europe/UK, America, and Canada. No strangers to success, the band have been on a…
Four piece all male, but don’t be mistaken, this isn’t a boy band, Adelaide band The Byzantines are touring in 2017, with their good mates The Montreals. Releasing their much anticipated EP via Marshmallow Pavement Records on February 17th, the boys will then hit the road for a summer tour. Touring is second nature to…
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…
This week in album news, Asta gives us a release date for her debut EP after doing some living and finding her sound, an all-girl psych-punk band out of the US have some gnarly new music for any fans of The Dead Weather and WAAX, and yes it’s time to accept Christmas is officially coming with…
Who would’ve thought the moody, indie-rock sounds of Warpaint could be transformed into something so dance-floor ready? Bask in the six-minute, bass-heavy groove of Soulwax’s remix of “New Song” and prepare to have your senses confused, but so delighted. Soulwax chucks in a faster tempo, driving keys and some disco lasers and synths, making for a psychedelic…
The new music video for I Know Lepoard’s “Rather Be Lonely” is a swift hop, skip and a jump over the line separating beauty and morbidity. The footage used for this music video was originally filmed by LA director Wyatt Winborne, who was looking for the right outlet for the then silent film and just so happened…
Next March, Mov’In Bed will be hosting a unique outdoor cinema experience, giving people the chance to lie comfortably in bed while watching their favourite films on the big screen. This is the second season of the program, and it will be held at The Crescent, located at the heart of Parramatta Park, west of…
This Boxing Day, Australian audiences will be introduced to Disney’s latest heroine in Moana. The first ever Polynesian princess has already caused much conversation even before the film saw its recent premiere in the United States – while there was obvious excitement surrounding this new territory being tread when it came to exploring Polynesian cultures on…
It’s not often you wonder about a composer after you watch a film, but British composer Joby Talbot is certainly the sort to warrant that reaction. Joby has helped bring the Minion-crazy animators over at Illumination Entertainment their new film Sing to the big screen with his crafted musical genius. Previously, Joby Talbot’s works have…
With the gradual easing of sanctions and restrictions on Cuba from the USA (at least under Obama’s administration), U.S. Operators are, for the first time in some 55 years, able to provide their passengers service between mainland USA and Cuba. It all started back in August when JetBlue hosted the first scheduled commercial passenger flight,…
Award-winning Canadian Indigenous performer and playwright, Cliff Cardinal, and Native Earth Performing Arts are bringing the critically-acclaimed one-man show, Huff, to Sydney this January. The piece follows Wind, a First Nation’s boy who escapes his own painful reality by sniffing solvent. Chatting to us from the theatre home of Canada’s VideoCabaret – where he is…
For the past few years, locals and visitors have been watching Jupiters Gold Coast stand at the forefront of an enormous wave of change for the area. 2015 and 2016 especially have seen the tourist destination take on a dramatic evolution ahead of the 2018 Commonwealth Games, from artists taking over nearby hotels to a…
After being named fastest growing food chain last year, Guzman Y Gomez have designs on expanding their Mexican fast food beyond expectations come 2017, recently announcing at least 12 drive-through outlets to roll out across Australia over the next 12 months. As reported by The Australian, the popular Mexican chain [which honestly deserves the praise]…
Festival of the Sun this year saw Sydney’s Gang of Youths top the bill at Port Macquarie, drawing in strong numbers for what was to be one of their first festival shows of the summer. After spending 2016 on the road with The Positions and the Let Me Be Clear EP, the boys have hit the studio hard in recent months…
Yesterday we published part one of an interview with the director of the Art Gallery of Ballarat, Gordon Morrison. In that first half, we heard his vision for the gallery and what its place will be for future exhibitions stemming from the gallery’s recent exhibition of the touring Archibald Prize artworks. For those art lovers…
What an absolute trip 2016 has been as we’ve immersed ourselves in incredible live music scenes around the country. We’ve seen some stellar artists emerge from all corners, really making the year their own. As 2016 approaches its final weeks, the Australian industry and its artists have been celebrated in all different forms; from multiple…
In this week’s industry wrap up, the Victorian State Government promised to provide $10 million funding to create the long awaited Australian Music Hall of Fame, St Kilda Festival released their first confirmed line-up for 2017, and more! An Australian Music Hall of Fame is finally coming After 15 years of lobbying from Australian music big-names Michael Gudinski, Molly…
Irish girl group, B*Witched started the worldwide craze of bubble gum pop, dance moves and double denim in the mid-90’s. Coming off the success of the television series, The Big Reunion, which saw the band reunite after twelve years apart; B*Witched are set to return Australia, for the first time in 18 years, in February…
The silly season is most definitely upon us, friends. While festive food comas await as Christmas Day continues to creep up on us, we’re looking forward for some time off (as are you, no doubt) just to kick back and look ahead to another year – a clean slate. What better to get into the…
Following their debut album Speak Up released earlier this year, Geraldton-hailing punk-rockers Alex The Kid have dropped single “Untitled” as part of the band’s label Pee Record’s compilation Pee Approved 5. It’s infectiously melodic from the opening bars and continues to soar with crashing percussion and endless guitars. Frontman Ken McCartney‘s vocals are honest and grungy,…
It’s 10pm in the UK when Patty Walters beamingly greets me on the phone, explaining he’s running on caffeine for a night of press. After cultivating a successful YouTube following by posting covers of emo heavyweights including Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance, Walters formed the pop-punk As It Is in 2012. We chatted…
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…
From Monday 19 December, fans who are unable to attend this year’s BINGEFEST at the Sydney Opera House can tune in to Red Bull TV and stream some highlights from the event. This program (titled The Best of BINGEFEST) will be hosted by Marc Fennell and Ash London and it will feature some of the…
