STACK #219 January 2023

FEATURE MUSIC

Yes, NewYear’s is over. But the sun still beams upon our live music-adoring faces! There are plenty of festivals coming up over the next three months, so now’s the time to get out your brand new Dinky Diary and pencil in the corkers filling up the 2023 slate. Words Zoë Radas THRIVING LIVE

Knotfest knotfest.com/australia If you haven’t yet heard of the ripsnorter that will be Oz’s first Knotfest, get around it, rápido! There’ll be 14 premium metal acts – we’re talking Slipknot themselves, Megadeth, Parkway Drive, Amon Amarth, Trivium, and more – plus the Slipknot Museum, which will showcase a bunch of the band’s instruments, memorabilia, masks ‘n’ fits, and personal items. The Sydney event is strictly 18+, but there are conditional junior tickets (for those aged 15-17) for the other two dates – head to the site to get all the details.

Byron Bay Bluesfest bluesfest.com.au This year, for the first time ever,

Bluesfest will be expanding its funky tentacles out from its Byron home! Your full line-up will be determined by which city’s bash you attend, but the selection of treats on offer includes lauded Grammy-chompers The Doobie Brothers, Mr Jones’ besties Counting Crows, plus insanely iconic legends Beck, Allison Russell, Bonnie Raitt, Elvis Costello and the Imposters, Femi Kuti, Gang of Youths, Lucinda Williams, Buddy Guy, and Christone 'Kingfish' Ingram . 1 Apr Bluesfest Perth, WA 8-9 Apr Bluesfest Melbourne, VIC 6-10 Apr Bluesfest Byron Bay, NSW

24 Mar Melbourne, VIC 25 Mar Sydney, NSW 26 Mar Brisbane, QLD

Laneway Festival lanewayfestival.com

By the time Laneway laces its boots up next month, it’ll have been three years since we saw anything performed under its banner. But we’re not staying sore about it because the line-up is a humdinger: HAIM and Joji in Aus exclusive shows, alt-rock cherub on-Earth Phoebe Bridgers , British steel-wheel-spinner Fred Again.., and captivating Irish post-punkers Fontaines D.C. are just the beginning.

4 Feb Brisbane, QLD 5 Feb Sydney, NSW 10 Feb Adelaide, SA 11 Feb Melbourne, VIC 12 Feb Perth, WA

Sydney WorldPride 2023 sydneyworldpride.com “What’s WorldPride, and what happened to Mardi Gras?” you ask. Well, Sydney was selected from a pool of bidding cities to host WorldPride (much like the way the Olympics works, which is apt because Sydney’s WorldPride is tipped to be the biggest event in the capital since 2000’s games). And it just so happens that WorldPride matches up with the 45th anniversary of Mardi Gras! So isn’t this the best possible knees-up at which to champion inclusivity, diversity, and acceptance within the LGBTQIA+ community? Nicole Scherzinger, Kelly Rowland, Kylie Minogue , Charli XCX, Jessica Mauboy, MUNA, and G Flip are just some of the talent slated to appear at this party of the year. 17 Feb-5 Mar Sydney, NSW

Make sure your leatherwear is conditioned and primed for March, when a sparkling saddlebag of top country talent will descend on Queensland. It’s a one-two-three headliner punch in the Zac CMC Rocks QLD cmcrocks.com

will be buttermilkin’ their way across the Willowbank Raceway. 17-19 Mar Ipswich, QLD

Brown Band , Morgan Wallen, and Kip Moore, while the lesser-billed are nothing to sneeze at: Randy Houser, Ashley McBryde, The Wolfe Brothers, Caitlyn Shadbolt, The Buckleys, and more

All images: Beth Garrabrant

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