Nothing beats live music, and so we've collated a list of must-see gigs over the coming months. Let us know if you make it along to any of them, we love to hear about your concert experiences.
Oh, and just a gentle reminder to stay away from those nasty ticket re-seller sites and ALWAYS buy from a trusted source. We recommend using the artist's official website or the tour promoters website.
APRIL 2019
Stars
One of the most unassuming but most loved Australian bands of the second half of the 70s, Stars, quietly regrouped last year to release the acclaimed new album Boundary Rider. Having recently performed at the Port Fairy Folk Festival, they have another run of shows starting this weekend. Of course, they’ve done this without the great guitarist and songwriter Andy Durant, who died of cancer at the age of 25 in 1980, which brought about the end of the band in the first place, but they do perform some previously unreleased Durant songs they recorded on the new album. Stars were discovered by Beeb Birtles of LRB and were the band that Michael Gudinski signed when he famously passed on fellow Adelaide band Cold Chisel in 1976. With a country rock and boogie sound more along the lines of the Dingoes and even earlier Australian bands like Sid Rumpo than more streamlined pub rock contemporaries like the Sports and the Angels, they were somewhat out of time by their demise, but they remain much loved by their fans and other musicians alike.
April 12 - Thornbury Theatre, Melbourne
April 13 - The Loft, Warrnambool
May 31 - Kingston City Hall (Moorabbin), Melbourne
June 1 - The Yarraville Club, Melbourne
July 5 - The Gov, Adelaide
Arlo Guthrie
American folk and rock royalty – Arlo, of course, is the son of Woody Guthrie and one of the original stars of Woodstock – Arlo Guthrie has had a long love affair with Australia since the 70s, and he’s back in this Woodstock Silver Jubilee year courtesy of Bluesfest, performing his classic 1967 album Alice’s Restaurant in its entirety and more.
17 April - City Recital Hall, Sydney
17-21 April - Bluesfest, Byron Bay
22 April - Canberra Theatre Centre
23 April - Melbourne Recital Centre
24 April - The Gov, Adelaide
Gary Clarke Jr.
The most important young blues musician to appear for years has also developed a close relationship with Australian audiences and is also performing at Bluesfest again this year. His latest tour follows the release of the powerful new album This Land.
April 18 April - Enmore Theatre, Sydney
April 19 -22 April - Bluesfest
April 23 - Canberra Theatre
April 24 – Forum Theatre, Melbourne
April 25 - Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide
April 27 - Perth Concert Hall
Iggy Pop
Iggy at the Opera House – who woulda thought it? He’s gone from one of rock’s great outsiders to one of it’s most prominent names in recent decades, and, and having last appeared here upfront of the Stooges in 2013, he’s now set to appear at Bluesfest for the first time. Of course, the Stooges still feel prominently in Iggy’s set, and, unbelievably, he’s still got pretty much all the moves he had back in 1970 when this classic footage was shot.
15 April - Sydney Opera House
17 April - Sydney Opera House
21 April - Festival Hall, Melbourne
Air Supply
Possibly as far away from Iggy & The Stooges as you can get and still stay within the realms of popular music, Air Supply were perhaps embraced more internationally than they were at home. I’m not sure many of us realise they had a massive eight Top 10 hits in the US. Not many of us realise either, I bet, that the band’s original guitarist was none other than future Divinyls mainstay Mark McEntee! Of course, Australia does still love hits like “Love and Other Bruises” and “Lost in Love,” and Russell and Graham return this month with an orchestra in tow for Air Supply Orchestral.
April 23 – QPAC, Brisbane
April 24 - The Plenary, Melbourne
April 25 – Sydney Opera House
April 28 – Astor Theatre, Perth
MAY 2019
Hugh Cornwell
The Stranglers may have been here last year, but it was without Hugh Cornwell, who wrote and sung their classic 70s and 80s stuff like “Peaches,” “Get A Grip,” “Skin Deep” and of course “Golden Brown.” Hugh, who left The Stranglers nearly three decades ago, has released a series of acclaimed solo album’s including the recent Monster, but of course, it’s the classic Stranglers tracks that still pull the old fans in, and he plays them just great. Coming just a couple of months after his infamous first Australian tour with The Stranglers in 1979, this promises to be something special, as this killer “No More Heroes” suggests.
4 May - The Triffid, Brisbane
5 May - The Gov, Adelaide
8 May - The Basement, Canberra
9 May - Manning Bar, Sydney
10 May - Max Watts, Melbourne
11 May - The Rosemount, Perth
Cedric Burnside
Cedric Burnside is another important young name in blues, and one with a great pedigree – his grandfather was none other than North Mississippi great RL Burnside. Indeed Cedric first toured Australia late last century as a teenager, as his grandfather shy young drummer. These days Cedric is very much his own man, and his last two albums – as a singer, songwriter and guitarist - have both been nominated for Grammys.
May 11 – Bridge Hotel, Castlemaine
May 12 – The Spotted Mallard, Melbourne
May 15 - Caravan Music Club, Melbourne
May 16 – Lansdowne Hotel, Sydney
May 17 & 18 Blues on Broadbeach, Gold Coast,
19/05/19 – The Junk Bar, Brisbane (matinee & evening shows)
Baby Animals & Killing Heidi
Two much loved Aussie bands are hitting the road to celebrate 30 years of baby Animals forming in Perth in 1989. Suze DeMarchi is still one of the great Aussie rock voices and along with Dave Leslie, a phenomenal guitarist, will deliver the hits we know and love including "One Word", "Early Warning" and "Rush You".
May 4 - Metro Theatre, Sydney
May 10 - Croxton Bandroom, Thornbury
May 17 - The Gov, Melbourne
May 18 - The Gov, Melbourne
May 26 - Metropolis, Freemantle
June 1 - Tivoli, Brisbane
JUNE 2019
The Monkees Present The Mike & Micky Show
While it’s sad that Davey and now Peter are no longer with us, we should be thankful that we still have these two. The Mike & Mickey show, which has been on the road for a year now, will be a different show to what the Monkees gave us back in 2013. That was effectively the Peter & Micky Show. With the involvement of Mike Nesmith, we are now going to get some of the many great songs he wrote for the band back in the day, like “Sweet Young Thing,” “Listen To The Band,” “What Am I Doing Hangin’ Round” and this lesser-known but no less wonderful gem.
June 12 - QPAC, Brisbane
June 15 – Palais Theatre, Melbourne
June 16 - Astor Theatre, Perth
June 18 - Sydney Opera House
Billy Ocean
While the Trinidad-England singer had his great international successes in the early to mid-80s, we suspect most ILYOS will most fondly remember his very first hit from his very first album, the wonderful “Love Really Hurts Without You,” from 1976. Check out this great live version from the 90s.
June 17 - Crown Theatre, Perth
June 19 - Palais Theatre, Melbourne
June 24 - The Star, Gold Coast
June 21 – Enmore Theatre, Sydney
June 22 - WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong
JPY & The All-Star Band The Vanda & Young Songbook
If you haven’t caught Squeak and his mates (featuring original All-Stars Rockwell T James and Warren Morgan) doing this show, now is the time to remedy that. Not only do you get one of Australia’s great pop singers of the 70s singing his hits, but you also get all the other great hits from the songwriting and production team responsible for the likes of “Yesterdays’ Hero”, “I Hate The Music” and “Love Is In the Air”, Harry Vanda & George Young. So that means you get great hits from The Easybeats (including “Friday On My Mind”), Stevie Wright (“Evie”), Flash & The Pan (“Down Among The Dead Men”), Ted Mulry (“Falling In Love Again” and more – even AC/DC’s “A Long Way To The Top”. What are you waiting for!
13 April - Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide
25 June - Empire Theatre, Toowoomba
26 June - Brolga Theatre, Qld
27 June - Moncrieff Entertainment Centre, Qld
28 June - Pilbeam Theatre, Rockhampton
29 June - Mackay Entertainment & Convention Centre
7 September -Twin Towns, Gold Coast
13 September - Norths Leagues, Sydney
22 September - Lizottes, Newcastle
