Sons of the East
Byron Brewery | Saturday | 6pm | $18.10
Sons of the East are an indie-folk band from the Northern Beaches of Sydney. Bandmates Dan Wallage, Nic Johnston, and Jack Rollins have already seen their music achieve 70 million streams and over 16 million YouTube views as their popularity continues to soar worldwide.
The band’s motley acoustic-electric sound has become a unique and charismatic trademark. Soulful, joyous and irresistible. With a huge year ahead Sons of the East have decided to go bigger. In early March they released their brand new single Silver Lining. An anthemic riff on hope and resilience, Silver Lining is set to become another timeless classic from Sons of the East. This week the band release their third studio EP Burn Right Through.
To coincide with the release of Silver Lining and their new EP the band kick off a massive tour that will see them return to the UK and Europe with their full five-piece band.
Sons of the East are taking their brilliant live show through 14 countries, playing over 40 venues and ten European festivals, and they are coming to play the Byron Brewery on Saturday at 6pm. $18.10 at oztix.com.au
Manoa album launch
The Rails Byron | Sunday 14 April | 7pm | Free
Three years in the making, inspired by his deep love for the natural environment and sharing the story of an emergent regenerative culture empowering the earth and its people, local activist, eco-educator and roots musician Manoa is debuting his Change is in the Air album at The Rails in Byron Bay on 14 April.
Marking the beginning of his Australian national tour, before heading overseas to tour the west coast of the USA and Hawaii, The Rails audiences will be treated to a rare full band show featuring Manoa’s uplifting reggae grooves and laidback folk melodies combining soulful vocals, conscious lyrics, alongside sax, keys, drums and bass while supporting a great cause with 10 per cent of EP sales from the night being donated to local ocean warriors Positive Change for Marine Life.
Fans can look out for the official video release for the EP title track, Change is in the Air, featuring Bobby Alu on drums, next week.
He is an ambassador for Stradbroke’s Pacific Island Earth School, and motivated by his lifelong desire to be of more service to people and nature. Manoa’s music has been enormously inspired by his participation at the Bentley Blockade and other eco-activism sites around the globe, with each track on the EP speaking to his deep reverence for the earth, yearning for personal and cultural transformation, as well as the desire to bring more joy, fun and presence to life. His first single from the EP, The Water Song, received worldwide acclaim in 2016 and is about the importance of clean water, and each of the tracks released since, speak to reclaiming sustainability and co-creating a new collective narrative connected to country, community and protecting wild places.
Mark your diary for Sunday 14 April when Manoa launches his brand-new album at the Rails.
Nudge Nudge Wink Wink
Billinudgel Hotel | Sunday | 2–9.45pm | $25
The Cunning Stunts’ party with a conscience: Nudge Nudge Wink Wink is raising money for Tweed Headspace this month. This is the 35th event and part of a shared vision by the crew to use their passion for dancing and bringing the community together for good. They have raised in excess of a quarter of a million dollars for local charities! For those not familiar with Tweed Heads Headspace, the service provides free support for 12–25 year-olds going through a tough time. They have a policy that dictates that no young person will be turned away without being supported to access services in or outside of Headspace. At Headspace Tweed Heads they currently have five youth access clinicians including an Aboriginal youth access clinician, five psychologists, a GP, a drug and alcohol worker, a dietician, an exercise physiologist, and employment and training advisers working within their centre. They also have hot desks available in the centre and invite local organisations from the community who support youth to work from them. They also have a community-engagement worker to build links with the community.
This month’s Nudge Nudge welcomes DJ / percussionist / producer SHE J, currently a member of Tijuana Cartel, who has performed at other Cunning Stunts events as a musician. This is her Nudge debut as a DJ. Australian DJ royalty, the legendary DJ Stephen Allkins, is playing a special 2-hour set. Stephen moved to the Northern Rivers a few years ago to live a semi-retired life. His alchemy with selections, mixing, and panache leave us satiated and desirous at the same time! The Cunning Stunts’ resident DJs Lord Sut and Dale Stephen are guaranteed to freshen your palate, excite your senses, provide you auditory bursts of happiness, and ensure your feet don’t stop moving! Their acclaimed sets will be filled with unexpected twists and turns to keep the dancers and music enthusiasts always wanting more!
All DJs donate their time and play their incredible tunes to support our local community and raise awareness at this party with a conscience.
Nudge Nudge Wink Wink is a ticketed monthly event running from September till June that brings the community together in an all-inclusive way, while raising much-needed funding for beloved and deserving local charities which help improve the lives of northern NSW residents. Food, entertainment, an outside bar, and amazing raffle prizes all contribute to this special event that the first Sunday of the month has become.
Funds at their events are raised through ticket sales, vendor and attendees’ donations, sponsors, and the selling of raffle tickets. One hundred per cent of profits is donated to local well-deserving charities.
Tix are $25 at eventbrite.com.au.
The Celtic Tenors
Byron Theatre, Community Centre | Friday 17 May | 7.30pm | $69
When you put together three brilliant tenor voices with natural Irish charm, singing spine-tingling classical, folk, Irish, Gaelic and pop favourites in stacked three-part harmonies, then mix them up with quick-witted banter, you have The Celtic Tenors. The charismatic, globe-trotting trio are the most successful classical crossover artists ever to have come out of Ireland and are returning to Australia in May 2019. They just sing songs they love, and they most certainly don’t take themselves too seriously. It’s all about the music, the harmonies, and the fun. Three unique solo voices, but when called upon – one tenor sound! While each of The Celtic Tenors has been influenced by the musical traditions from their own individual parts of Ireland, Daryl Simpson, James Nelson, and Matthew Gilsenan show great flexibility in melding their voices to suit the appropriate genres. The Celtic Tenors will also perform the Irish Songbook on their 2019 Australian tour with such classics as Finnegan’s Wake, In The Gloaming, Song For Ireland, Danny Boy, The Dutchman, Caledonia, You Raise Me Up, and many more favourites. With a polished international reputation and over a million album sales worldwide, The Celtic Tenors offer something truly unique: the skill, range, and ability of world-class tenors combined with the personality and fun of genuine Irish performers.
They perform at the Byron Theatre on Friday 17 May at 7.30pm. Tickets $69 at the byroncentre.com.au
Music In Community
One Vision Productions Creative Hub | 4/10 Wollongbar Street Byron A&I Estate | Friday | 5pm
Wildlands will screen alongside a mentoring and culture impact film as part of a Music in Community Showcase, and free youth workshops to be held at the One Vision Productions Creative Hub in Byron Bay on Friday from 5pm till 9pm.
Twenty Indigenous youth from the Cabbage Tree Island community have taken part in a dynamic hip-hop music, dance, and film production workshop to create the short film clip Wildlands.
The workshop was proudly supported by the NSW government through Create NSW and delivered by local not-for-profit organisation One Vision Productions (OVP) in partnership with three Indigenous youth who graduated from the 2016 SAE/OVP Certificate III in music production and who went on to become Indigenous hip-hop ambassadors on the world stage with their band Indigenoise.
The multimedia workshop provided the young people with an opportunity to combine Indigenous culture with contemporary creative arts – sharing firsthand their inspirational real-life pathway to pursuing a career in music and the arts.
‘Hip-hop music has not only proven an effective way for Indigenous youth to reclaim their culture; it empowers them by providing an outlet to engage with community elders and learn about their traditional stories and songlines.’
In 2016, OVP director Mark Robinson was compelled to run hip-hop workshops across Australia. He founded One Vision Productions (OVP) shortly after. His vision: ‘To use culture, connection and creativity to work with people’s passion in the arts, to help them make positive life decisions’.
The Music in Community showcase will also feature live music by members of Indigenoise and introductory workshops by DJ Tetrameth and Dave Green.
‘Whether a youth wants to become a DJ, world-class musician, or a performing artist, we help that reality come alive. We teach youth to become mentors, to become leaders, and we help them shine in their everyday life. If you’re keen to be part of making a real difference in our community, come and check it out.’ One Vision Productions was named a leading grassroots organisation by the NSW Council of Social Service and has worked with more than 50 communities throughout Australia and more than 10,000 youth, focused toward changing their lives. Contact email: [email protected]
SAE Masterclass with Taya Mills
SAE in Byron | Wednesday | 1.30–4pm | Free
Long-term Main Arm local Taya Mills, aka TAYA, has been writing and performing music since he was a child. At just nine years of age he started DJing. Finding his passion, TAYA was on the path to a lifelong love affair and career journey with music producing and DJing. Growing up in the local Byron Shire scene, TAYA solidified his place within the vibrant music community. To broaden his horizons and develop his craft TAYA moved to Berlin seeking fresh inspiration from one of the biggest electronic music scenes in the world, and also spent time residing and playing in Bali. While living in Bali in 2017, TAYA’s skill and determination won him Beatport’s first international Beats In School Producer Competition in conjunction with Yousef’s Circus Recordings. Consequently, TAYA is the newest member of the world-renowned label. This recognition and status was what led to TAYA being asked to close out Splendour in the Grass in 2018. Now back living and working at his home studio deep in the hills of Main Arm, TAYA has been his most creative and productive self and has been working on releases with major labels as a result of winning the Beatport competition. He still travels to Melbourne and the Gold Coast to play, but the homegrown shows are where he has the most fun.
TAYA says there are plenty of opportunities in the region to see and enjoy good music. During his career TAYA has had residency at most of Byron Bay’s iconic late-night venues as well as working closely with local touring and events company Club Raiders. He now has realised his dream of being able to travel the world and perform to people who know and love his music, but he isn’t stopping there; inspired by his drive to succeed TAYA is spending countless hours in his studio in Main Arm, in an effort to see how much farther his career can go. TAYA began his professional music journey in 2005 studying at SAE Byron Bay and now he is coming back to where it all started with a free and exclusive masterclass. TAYA says he was absolutely thrilled to be invited back to SAE to present the masterclass.
‘To come so far in my career, now is the time to give back to all the young and aspiring DJs and producers in the region, at the most respected music college in the world,’ TAYA says.
TAYA’s masterclass will be held at the SAE Byron Bay campus on Wednesday 1.30–4pm. To register for this event please visit facebook.com/SAEInstituteByronBay/TAYA – Masterclass in Music Production and DJing.
Upfront Featuring Sacred Geometry Banned
Pottsville Hall | Saturday | 8pm | $10
UK act Sacred Geometry Banned will be making a special guest appearance at Pottsvile Beach Upfront Festival this Saturday around 8pm.
Members of this band have been staying locally to avoid the British weather and to write new material, and have decided to play a local intimate gig to roadtest the new set list before their UK Summer Festival shows.
These guys blend old-school trance-dance grooves with psychedelic guitars and otherworldly keyboards, a sound heavily influenced from the UK alternative festival scene, and have worked with legendary 70s pace rockers Hawkwind and Gong and well-known departed local Daevid Allen.
Pottsville Community Hall, Saturday, 8pm. $10 at the door
Tumbleweed at the Northern
Hotel Great Northern | Friday | 9pm | $35.20
Coming out of Tarrawanna, Tumbleweed is an Aussie rock group that formed back in 1990. With Aria-nominated albums and a swag of Top 50 hits on the Aria chart, the group had a year-long hiatus from April 1998. After reconvening in 1999 they recorded Mumbo Jumbo (March 2000). Tumbleweed disbanded in 2001. In 2009 Tumbleweed re-formed with their early lineup of Jay Curley on bass guitar, his brother Lenny Curley on guitar, Paul Hausmeister on guitar, Richie Lewis on lead vocals, and Steve O’Brien on drums. They were called the ‘ultimate stoner’s band’ for the 1990s. From within a post-psychedelic underground haze that evoked the spirit of 1969, they came on with lashings of fuzz-drenched wah-wah guitar riffs, hard-driving beats, languid vocal melodies, and more hair than any band had a right to possess! Garage stoner at its best!
They play the Hotel Great Northern on Friday at 9pm. Tix are $35.20 at thenorthern.oztix.com.au
The AC/DC Story
Ballina RSL | Thursday 18 April | 7.30pm | $30
History lessons are, by nature, elongated and tedious affairs full of facts and figures and not much else, but when you combine history and live music things, become interesting and entertaining – Fast. Such it is with The AC/DC Story, a three-hour-plus interactive performance that documents the life and times of one of Australia’s finest-ever musical exports. Taking you on a journey from the humble beginnings of the legendary band through the Bon Scott era and the fallout from his death, through to the many highlights with Brian Johnson at the helm, The AC/DC Story succeeds where others have failed through the use of visual media such as filmclips, interviews, and rare photographs, and combines them with a live performance from Accadacca in selected increments; performing songs from each album and adding an authenticity to the show that takes you back to the days when this cheeky group of Aussie underdogs defied all odds to reach the summit of rock’n’roll. It is a show that will inform and entertain, with the famous bells from Hells Bells and the cannons from For Those About to Rock making a welcome return. It is an all-encompassing spectacular that tells the story of AC/DC with music and allows you to actually feel and enjoy the journey from a unique and rewarding perspective. Accadacca have been belting out all of your favourite AC/DC tunes since 2000, with vocalist Larry Attard having supported and run in the same circles as an up-and-coming AC/DC in their early years – occasionally drinking with Bon himself at the Victory Hotel Sydney, as well as… well, you will just have to catch the show to hear the rest.
Thursday 18 April at the Ballina RSL. Doors 7.30pm. Show 8pm. Tix $30.
