Beccy set for Bangalow!
Australian country music’s poster girl Beccy Cole is without question one of the great live entertainers in Australia and continues to deliver sensation performances that leave you stomping your feet, clapping your hands and yelling for more. After such a big year, Bangalow Bowling Club will be her final performance for 2015 and the perfect reason to indulge in the magic she offers onstage during this special afternoon show. Don’t miss out: it’s a 3.30pm concert allowing fun for all the family this Sunday. Tickets can be booked by calling 6687 2741.
Wombats for Falls
English indie rockers return to Aussie shores this summer dipping their white pommie toes into Byron with a performance at Falls Festival. Glitterbug is the latest offering from the band, who have toured across the world this year in support of their release with shows at Lollapalooza, and dates in Europe and the US. Don’t forget it’s Boogie Nights theme for NYE. Single tix are sold out but two- and three-dayers are still available, so get busy!
Falls Festival Byron tickets are ON SALE NOW at fallsfestival.com. Thur 31 Dec 2015 until 3 Jan 2016 at North Byron Parklands, NSW. 18+ event.
Uke out your songbook
Want some more music? Miss Amber and Stukulele are presenting the best of the 2015 UKE NIGHT songbooks. Bring a uke and tuner if you have one or just bring your smile and singing voice. From 6.30pm at Club Mullum in the Mullumbimby Ex-Services on Thursday (last Thursday every month). Still only $10 for adults and $2.50 for kids. Always a blast!
From Bombay to Melbourne to Uki?
Melbourne’s 10-piece funky cult big band, The Bombay Royale, play Uki Hall for a very special performance. Reviving the funky bizarre and mysterious music of vintage Indian films, this is a rich palette of classic cinema from lonesome spaghetti to surf-rock, from psychedelia to spine-bending space disco, overlaid with the voices of protagonists The Tiger and The Mysterious Lady. Tickets $25 available at www.GLOdance.com.
Show is Friday 8pm, Uki Town Hall.
Song and dance man back on stage
Song and dance man Mike McClellan returns with a new album of songs, his second in three years. The stunningly eclectic and evocative Dancing in the Rain will only further enhance Mike’s reputation as one of Australia’s finest songwriters. In 2011, Mike made a long-awaited return to performing and recording, with an album of brand-new songs – if only for a moment – and again began to do concerts and folk festivals across the country. At the Ballina RSL on Saturday 12 December. Tickets on sale now – $25.
Music of the mystics
Music offers a powerful way to connect with world cultures and traditions. And so when traditional world music comes to our little town, it is indeed a special thing.
This Friday night Byron Theatre hosts Music of the Mystics – a concert of Qawwali music. This is a passionate and deeply devotional art from the Sufis of India and Pakistan that is rarely experienced outside the East.
Performer and teacher Tahir Qawwal has spent many years immersed in the tradition of Qawwali, in the homes of his esteemed teachers and at mehfils (musical spiritual gatherings) in Pakistan. He is well respected for carrying the tradition of Qawwali music to the West, connecting people to a spiritually rich piece of Pakistan. Tahir is also completing a documentary called Music of the Mystics – a film about the culture of Qawwali. A selection of footage from the movie will be screened at Friday night’s concert and contains deep seeds of wisdom from Sufi masters and beautiful videography of scenes at shrines and sacred music gatherings.
The Byron Theatre hosts Music of the Mystics concert and screening this Friday at 8pm. Presale tickets $25 at www.byroncentre.com.au.
Getting the Byron vibes
Byron vibes is about celebrating and showcasing the incredible musical and artistic talent in the Byron Shire. The Friday event at The Byron Bay Brewery features headline acts in the back room: The Dominiques, Drama King, Duncan Woods and Andy Jans-Brown kicking things off on the outside stage. The infamous jam stage will be in full swing in the beer garden. This event also features The Funmaker silent disco, fire twirling and much more. Jam party kicks off at 5pm. Free entry.
Atypical Thrills
Palms Trax has cultivated his own twist on house that is so beautifully distinct it elevates him above all else in the game. His unmatched talent lies in his ability to create a signature sound that situates itself within the past, present and future. Get some Atypical Thrills with Palms Trax at the Byron Brewery on Saturday from 4pm. Free entry.
Hitchin’ your Lagwagon
Having already toured their latest album Hang across America and Europe, Santa Barbara punk rockers Lagwagon are blazing across Australian stages, touching down at the Hotel Great Northern on Thursday.
After a nine-year lag, the band are back with the powerful and long-awaited album Hang from punk rock mainstays Lagwagon. It’s not that the band broke up or even went on hiatus after releasing 2005s Resolve; they’ve continued a robust tour schedule, and frontman Joey Cape has released a steady stream of original material as a solo artist and with his other projects Bad Astronaut, Scorpios, and Bad Loud (not to mention cranking out cover albums with his other other project Me First and the Gimme Gimmes). ‘I’m writing all the time,’ says Cape, ‘but a lot of times it doesn’t feel appropriate for Lagwagon. It’s not who the band collectively is at the time, and the mould is constantly changing. Sometimes it takes a decade for all the stars to align!’
Singers support World AIDS Day
On Tuesday 1 December in the Byron Bay Theatre, some of our region’s finest musicians and singers will meet up to celebrate the songs of Cole Porter and raise awareness of World AIDS Day.
The singers are Lisa Hunt, Parissa Bouas, Jimmy Dowling, Ilona Harker, Benhur, Shelly Hughes, Shai Shriki, Amber and Stukulele with the amazing musical talents of Steve Russell, Thierry Fossemalle and Dave Sanders.
Money raised will be donated to WOFAK – a grassroots organisation in Kenya run by women with HIV to help women and children who are infected with HIV. The evening starts at 7pm and tickets are only $35.
Lighting up You Lightbody
DJ Ozzy will be spinning mind-blowing music at this weekend’s Lightbody 5 event. Known for his slinky sets and incredible sounds, Ozzy presents an aural assault on the senses with access to the magical music vaults of tribeadelic artists. Come celebrate with our Shire community as we dance under the stars to sounds by the best DJs around Australia: Jahzen Lewis, Pob, Nick Taylor and more. This is one incredible night you won’t want to miss! Friday at Durrumbul Hall from 6pm till midnight. $25.
Tribute to the Eagles
The Eagels Band is a stunningly accurate tribute to Southern California’s most famous musical group, The Eagles. Comprising six talented musicians, each bringing their own style and flair to the group, The Eagels Band is intent on delivering a near-replica of a live eagles performance that is so precise, so intense, so unbelievable, it comes frighteningly close to the originals themselves. Catch them at the 2-course dinner show at the Ballina RSL on Saturday 5 December. Ticket Price: $54.90 (18+). Bookings essential. Tickets and enquires to the Ballina RSL.
Moving to the Grooving at Movember in Mullum
The Mullumbimby Golf Club hosts Movember in Mullum with fabulous Light Bulb Theory with special guest Guy Kachel in a three-hour show. Mo bros and mo sistas are asked to join in for a night of mo fun than a soul thought possible with hot grooves, cold drinks and cool food. The Light Bulb Theory is a soulful powerhouse brought together especially for the event. It features the WOW voice (and keys) of Ms ‘Mo’ Mohini Cox (international performance artist), Rex Carter (drums, formerly of Round Mountain Girls), Robby Cenda (guitar – Well-Swung Daddies, Hard Word) Evangelos Hondroudakis (vocals, guitar, composer, producer – Garage d’Or, Kelly Gang, Slyru, Flyte), Andy Shrimpton (bass – Rock Express & AirKraft). The Light Bulb Theory unites the talents of five dynamic performers (individually recognised in their own right within their specific artistic spheres) for the first time, to bring to the stage the experience that is The Light Bulb Theory uniqueness.
Mo and her boys deliver dynamic R&B, soul, funk, blues and a touch of classic rock. Friday at the Mullum Golf Club.Tickets: $10 entry – tix at the door (all entry proceeds going to Movember Foundation). Info – 0427 740 645 or www.mullumgolf.com.au.
Chocolate, food, music and wine
Ah, is there any better way to celebrate life than with the finer things? Celebrating one year in Byron, Love Byron Bay, the artisan chocolate shop, are hosting a tasting with flamenco, paella and some vino! Thursday from 5.30pm, at Love Byron Bay Alleyway – Lawson St next to Spar Supermarket, Byron Bay.
Finding Your Tribe
A Tribe Called Red aims to challenge stereotypes about indigenous people by using video segments taken from pop culture (movies, cartoons) in order to poke fun of the racist imagery. They not only mix tradition with contemporary art via music and video, but also their dancers, who mix b-boy style with traditional hoop dancing. The JUNO award-winning Canadian collaborative featuring native producer/DJ crew famous for their experimental blend of instrumental hip-hop, reggae, electronic music and elements of first nations traditional drumming and chanting are producing a truly unique sound that’s impacting on the global electronic scene and urban club culture. Their self-titled album, released in March 2012, was long-listed for Canada’s prestigious Polaris Music Prize and included in the Washington Post’s top 10 albums of the year. Since 2010 ATCR – currently made up DJ NDN, Bear Witness and 2oolman, have toured the globe performing at festivals such as Coachella, Bonnaroo, Made in America, Electric Forest, Osheaga, Squamish, Global Fest, AfroPunk Fest, Mad Decent Block Party, Jazz Fests (Montreal, New-Orleans, Winnipeg, Halifax, Saskatoon), TIFF, Shambala, Transmusicales de Rennes, The Great Escape and many more.
They perform at Lismore City Hall on Saturday – tickets through NORPA.
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