When: Saturday 28th September
Where:
Factory Theatre
Legendary Scottish indie rockers Big Country
return to celebrate the 35th Anniversary of their classic album ‘Steeltown’.
As an added bonus, they will play an Encore of Greatest Hits. ‘Brilliant
music, atmosphere great, everybody singing and joining in’. Big
Country’s live show is always full of energy and enthusiasm with a set
list that includes all their Classics - In A Big Country, Fields of
Fire, Chance, Look Away, Wonderland, East of Eden and more! ‘Big Country
are great fun to see Live, a rousing performance, tons of smiles, and
the crowd totally into it. Very highly recommended.’
When: Friday 11th October
Where: EVAN Theatre,
Panthers
Taking Care of Elvis – The
King Is Back
Ben Portsmouth -The World’s Number One
Elvis Tribute Artist. Ben, a multi-talented musician, singer and
songwriter had Elvis's DNA in his blood from an early age. His father
was an avid Elvis fan and Ben grew up on a diet of Elvis songs. Having
honed his musical talent Ben started his journey as an Elvis Tribute
Artist in 2005 when he formed the "Taking care of Elvis" band. Audiences
quickly realized that this was someone with a special talent. He looked
like Elvis, sang like Elvis and had an on-stage charisma that had
audiences believing at times they were watching the King himself. This
talent saw Ben rapidly rise through the ranks of Elvis Tribute Artists.
In August 2012, Ben made history when he won the Elvis Presley
Enterprises "“"Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest" which took place
in Memphis, crowning Ben as the "“"Worldwide Ultimate Elvis Tribute
Artist"”", the only artist from outside the USA to ever win this
prestigious title from 2007 thru 2017. Fans from all over the world
declare Ben Portsmouth as the closest they have ever seen to Elvis
Presley. Social media forums are overwhelmed with fans demanding his
return to their country. On this night, you will see the live
performance that left David Letterman at a loss for words exclaiming,
“Oh my God, Oh my God!” when Ben headlined his show in February of 2013.
Internationally renowned as one, if not The Best Elvis Tribute in the
world today, Ben Portsmouth will bring his unique style and charisma and
will show audiences why he is regarded as the best in the business.
Stand by for a triple shot of dirty, gritty,
sleazy, street wise Rock 'n' Roll as Los Angeles' notorious,
multi-platinum-selling rock band BUCKCHERRY return to Australia and team
up with special guests Sweden's Kings of thrashy sleaze rock HARDCORE
SUPERSTAR, and upcoming Sydney rockers, BAD MOON BORN. BUCKCHERRY head
back to Australia for the first time since 2016 and staunchly uphold the
commandments of rock music with an arsenal of anthems primed to explode
on impact live on stage and teeming with riotous energy, sexy swagger,
and primal chops intact. Will be performing their hits including Lit Up,
For the Movies, Say F** It, Crazy Bitch and many more.
Frontier Touring is delighted to announce
that much loved Australian duo Busby Marou will be touring Australia in
October and November in support of their upcoming fourth studio album
The Great Divide, due for release on the 27th of September (Warner
Music). The APRA Award-winning duo will kick off their thirteen date
tour in Brisbane on Friday 25 October before embarking on a month's
journey across the country, stopping at locations in QLD, NSW, VIC, SA
and WA, including a host of regional shows. The duo will be accompanied
nationally by Byron Bay musician Bobby Alu and in Cairns by Leanne
Tennant. This upcoming tour follows the momentum of a huge past year of
summer performances and new songwriting material from Tom Busby (hailing
from Queensland, Australia) and Jeremy Marou (from the beautiful Torres
Strait Islands). The duo rounded off 2018 with their biggest ever
headline show, playing to over 3,000 people at their own One Hot Night
festival in Rockhampton, QLD. 2019 began with the recording of their
fourth studio album The Great Divide with producer Oscar Dawson (Holy
Holy), with whom they had an immediate and compelling connection. The
album which was born as a result is a powerful chapter in the story of
two men from two very different worlds, on the same journey and having
reached a new level of maturity. The duo said of the new album, "The
Great Divide is not about division or adversaries. It's about
recognising that we all have a different account of events in our own
lives and celebrating how those differences combine to create a unique
and colourful story. Without our great divide, there is no Busby Marou
story". Just this month, Busby Marou shared the first taste of their
forthcoming album with the hit track ‘Over Drinking Over You'. 'Over
Drinking Over You' is a song about when fun habits stop being fun. The
symptom is a broken heart and the medicine is the whiskey to endure it."
A mark of difference between Busby Marou and many other live bands is
their ability to captivate a crowd in a country theatre or pub in
regional Australia equally as much as in a slick inner-city venue. The
duo make a point of sticking close to their roots by touring regional
areas, and regardless of venue, their live performances fill the room
with distinct Australian storytelling and heavenly vocal interplay. "The
two Queenslanders know how to improvise, how to pace themselves, how to
entertain. And they know their way around everything from plaintive
country ballads to bombastic rock 'n' roll wig-outs." - The Australian.
"There's something about them that keeps drawing crowds… Their chemistry
is intriguing: Busby could hold an audience for days, he is so engaging
[and] Marou's more-than-steady hand and blinding short solo riffs on
guitar add spice to the lyrics." - The Newcastle Herald Tom and Jeremy
have come a long way since they met years ago, busting out tunes in the
corner of Rockhampton's Oxford Hotel to anyone who might listen. A gift
for storytelling, exquisite harmonies and a potent chemistry between the
two mates make for a sound which is truly unique to Busby Marou. Their
success over the past decade includes millions of global streams, top 20
airplay, three ARIA charting albums and twice winning the APRA Blues &
Roots Work of the Year. Their debut self-titled album was certified ARIA
Gold in Australia in 2014, while their follow up album Farewell Fitzroy
debuted at #5 on the album chart. Their most recent album Postcards From
The Shell House, released in 2017, is their first ARIA #1 album. Last
year, they released their Aussie anthem, ‘Sound of Summer' which
currently has over 2.5 million global streams. Joining Busby Marou on
tour is Gold Coast born-and-bred singer and multi-instrumentalist Bobby
Alu, whose chilled out, ukulele-driven tunes nod to a strong family
lineage of Polynesian performance and bring a sense of Island-time
serenity and gentle optimism to his live shows. Following his
exploratory self-titled debut in 2010 (which made triple j Roots ‘n All
top 10), and his widely-praised 2013 album Take It Slow, Bobby Alu has
spent the past five years touring internationally on drums for Xavier
Rudd. During this time, he also recorded and released his solo
five-track EP Bay Sessions, released in 2015. Alu will bring to the
stage this October & November flavours from each of these albums as well
as, hopefully, a taste of his fresh material to come. Leanne Tennant
will be joining Busby Marou in Cairns, with her alternative roots
bringing an escape from the everyday, taking inspiration from nature and
her own life experiences. Landing firmly on the map with her debut album
Pull Up Your Britches in 2015 and follow up Red Wine, Late Nights
(2016), Leanne Tennant was awarded the esteemed Carol Lloyd Award in
2018. Now in the process of creating her third album, her sound is
expanding into something new and bold, whilst still remaining true to
her alternative roots. The debut single ‘Cherry Cola' has already had
extensive airplay on Double J and BBC Radio. Leanne will bring her
strong live presence to Cairns in November alongside Busby Marou, armed
with all the hits from her first two albums and if we're lucky, a taste
of her new record. Secure tickets ASAP to bear witness to what will be a
powerful and moving show. As an added bonus, ticket buyers will be
offered the exclusive chance to pre-order The Great Divide at a
discounted price when checking out.
Versatile maestros who excel in straddling
the invisible boundaries between moody dance, shimmering pop and glacial
rock, duo Bob Moses have locked in two very special East Coast shows
this November, making the most of their upcoming trip to Australia as
part of the huge Strawberry Fields line up. Appearing at The Metro in
Sydney on Thursday November 28, and following up the next night at 170
Russell in the heart of Melbourne, these recent Grammy nominees will
enrapture audiences with spectacular cuts from their two albums, Days
Gone By (2015) and Battle Lines (2018), exhibiting the skills that have
made them a radio hit here in Australia, and a festival favourite the
world over. The duo made up of Tom Howie and Jimmy Vallance attended the
same high school, where they shared the distinction of each having
already begun to pursue his musical ambitions in the hours after school
with Vallance playing clubs as a DJ and Howie performing his own songs
at local venues. Years later a fortuitous meeting in the parking lot of
a Brooklyn hardware store on the way to separate rehearsal spaces led to
a long dinner and an almost immediate beginning to making music
together.
After an emotional final performance with
the Beasts of Bourbon, Tex Perkins thought of getting the band’s
members, past and present into a recording studio just to celebrate the
band and see what resulted. Sadly, bassist Brian Hooper died a week
after the show. But weeks later former Beasts Charlie Owen, Boris
Sujdovic, Tony Pola, Spencer Jones, Kim Salmon and Tex Perkins assembled
without a plan, save for the crazy M.O. employed back in 1983 when the
Beasts first recorded The Axemans Jazz in that fateful 8 hour session.
As back then, they went at it! Songs weren’t so much learned as ideas
thrown together and recorded the moment they coalesced. The result is a
collection of pieces with names like ‘Pearls Before Swine’, ‘My Shit’s
Fucked Up’, ‘Drunk On A Train’ and ‘On My Back’ in a raucous celebration
of their own Beastliness. Spencer was sadly only around long enough to
make it onto one track. But what a track – witty observations from the
hospital bed entitled ‘At The Hospital’. This isn’t The Beasts of
Bourbon. It would need to have Jonesy on every track to be that! But
loudly and proudly this is: the Beasts Still Here.
British pop superstars Bastille are
returning to Australia at the beginning of next year on the Doom Days
Tour, Part 2, giving fans their first chance to hear the band’s third
studio album Doom Days performed live. Bastille have sold more than 8
million albums and racked up global streams well over the 6.5 billion
mark, making them one of the most streamed acts on the planet. Their
recent Marshmello collab ‘Happier’, which they performed in Times Square
on New Year’s Eve, is now certified Platinum in the UK and 5x Platinum
in Australia.
When: Saturday 1st February
Where: Hordern Pavilion
Frontier Touring are thrilled to welcome
back the inimitable punk superstar and Grammy nominee for a series of
special headline shows in January/February 2020 - Idol's first tour of
Australia since 2015! Idol will be bringing his full band back down
under, including his long-time collaborator and legendary lead-guitarist
Steve Stevens. The iconic singer will perform at Brisbane's Riverstage
on Friday 31 January, followed by a show at Sydney's Hordern Pavilion on
Saturday 1 February. Don’t delay in grabbing your tickets to Billy Idol,
live in Sydney this summer!
When: Saturday 1st February
Where: Hordern Pavilion
Frontier Touring are thrilled to welcome
back the inimitable punk superstar and Grammy nominee for a series of
special headline shows in January/February 2020 - Idol's first tour of
Australia since 2015! Idol will be bringing his full band back down
under, including his long-time collaborator and legendary lead-guitarist
Steve Stevens. The iconic singer will perform at Brisbane's Riverstage
on Friday 31 January, followed by a show at Sydney's Hordern Pavilion on
Saturday 1 February. Don’t delay in grabbing your tickets to Billy Idol,
live in Sydney this summer!
When: Tuesday 12th May - Thursday 14th
May
Where: Metro Theatre
Handsome Tours is thrilled to announce that
Billy Bragg will be returning for a very special tour entitled “One Step
Forward. Two Steps Back.” In each city Bragg will perform three unique
shows on consecutive nights.
NIGHT 1
Career Spanning Billy Bragg Set
NIGHT 2
Songs From First Three Albums
'Life's a Riot with Spy Vs Spy' (1983)
'Brewing Up with Billy Bragg (1984)'
'Talking with the Taxman about Poetry' (1986)
NIGHT 3
Songs From Second Three Albums
'Workers Playtime' (1988)
'Don't Try This at Home' (1991)
'William Bloke' (1996)
The first night's performance will
feature Bragg's current set, which ranges across his 35 year career. The
second will see Bragg perform songs from his first three albums: his
punk rock debut Life's a Riot with Spy Vs Spy (1983), its similarly raw
follow-up Brewing Up with Billy Bragg (1984) and Talking with the Taxman
about Poetry (1986). The third performance will see Bragg perform songs
from his second three albums: the positively jangled Workers Playtime
(1988), the pop classic Don't Try This at Home (1991) and the
back-to-basics William Bloke (1996). Says Billy: “After more than three
decades of travelling around the world in a van, or spending all day
flying vast distances to play a gig, I'm looking forward to having some
time to explore cities that I usually only get to see between the
soundcheck and the show. And this three night stand format is a way of
keeping things interesting, both for me and the audience. I tried it out
in Auckland recently and had a lot of fun revisiting my back pages.”
Billy Bragg has been a fearless recording artist, tireless live
performer and peerless political campaigner for over 35 years.
Politicised by a Tory government operating without love or justice, this
previously adrift young man from Barking, whose failure at national
exams had reduced his career opportunities to two, eventually bought
himself out of the British Army in 1981 ('the best £175 I ever spent'),
determined to make a living out of song. Don't miss the orator,
entertainer, rabble-rouser, negotiator, pamphleteer, the fabled 'Bard of
Barking', Billy Bragg, across three extraordinary evenings.
Backstreet’s back, alright! Get your group
together, because the biggest selling Boy Band of all time (100 million
albums), the BACKSTREET BOYS are heading back to Australia in 2020 for a
national arena tour. AJ McLean, Brian Litterell, Nick Carter, Howie
Dorough and Kevin Richardson have been enthralling fans for more than 25
years and are expanding their massive world tour to Australia. Featuring
their signature, flawless choreography, costume changes, a
pyramid-shaped stage of light, trap doors and giant video screens,
Australian fans will experience their harmony-laden vocal prowess and
arsenal of mega-watt hits such as; >‘I Want It That Way’, ‘Everybody
(Backstreet’s Back)’ and ‘As Long As You Love Me’, plus songs from their
tenth studio album, ‘DNA”.