Warming up for Splendour
Byron Bay Brewery | Thursday 18 July | 5pm–late | $25/$30
Start your Splendour weekend with The Warm Up.
This Splendour Thursday the Byron Bay Brewery has teamed up with some of the biggest industry crews from Byron and beyond to curate the most banging pre-festival party in town across the two beautiful stages of the Brewery.
Inside, Aussie dance legend LDRU will be on headlining duties making the venue sweat alongside some of the industry’s most respected labels. Supporting LDRU are Audiopaxx DJs, CLUB Raiders DJs, Banquet DJs, and Blac Karnivale.
Outside, beneath the beautiful big fig, local legends The LaLa Allstars will be reunited for their first show together since the iconic LaLa Land Byron first closed its doors. Also on the outdoor stage are Byron House Mafia, Sammy 2 Towels, Rhys Bynon, Stretch, Webber, SPACIE, Casey Atkinson, and OH!
Amanuael Visser at Cheeky Cabaret
Brunswick Picture House | 7pm | Friday Adult $35-40, Saturday Adult $40-45
Byron talent Amanuael Visser is a young contemporary soul pop singer/songwriter who has been performing since eight years of age.
Amanuael was a finalist on Ten Network’s Young Talent Time. He’s done a duet with Marina Prior at Opera in the Alps, played at Bluesfest and the Wangaratta Jazz Festival… the list goes on. Amanuael hopes to inspire other adopted kids to follow their dreams and realise anything is possible. In more recent times, Amanuael has been busy performing, singing, recording, and exploring the craft of songwriting, both in Australia and the US, combined with simply being a teenager at school and at home with his family in Byron Bay. It’s been a patient and necessary journey towards defining Amanuael’s particular and original take on soulful pop that showcases his prodigious vocal talents and musicality.
This weekend Amanuael is part of the Cheeky Cabaret in Brunswick on Friday and Saturday.
Phil and Tilley
Byron Brewery | 6pm | Saturday | FREE
Hotel Great Northern | Monday | FREE
Phil & Tilley started playing music together in 2008. Surrounded by the New Forest (UK), an ancient woodland situated on the southern coast of England, the self-taught musicians began experimenting with ambient sounds, which opened new doors for their songwriting.
In 2016, Phil & Tilley arrived in Byron Bay with little more than their instruments, a few clothes, and a tent. In order to pay for food, busking on the streets became a necessity until they began to establish themselves in local bars, cafes, and farmers markets. Two years later they are now playing over 250 gigs a year throughout Australia, gaining a rapidly increasing fanbase.
Their troubadour philosophy of being on the road as much as they can, playing shows wherever there’s a stage, has helped them gain airplay on National Radio NZ, BBC Introducing (UK), and various local radio shows around Australia.
A yearning for travel and playing music has seen them play across UK, Australia, New Zealand, France, Belgium, and South East Asia, but their story continues to take them wherever the music allows them to go. You can see them on Saturday at 6pm at the Byron Brewery and the Hotel Great Northern on Monday.
Marshall OKell
Hotel Great Northern | Tuesday | FREE
Marshall grew up on the NSW far north coast area of Byron Bay and was aptly named after two of music’s greatest rock/bluesmen: Jimi ‘Marshall’ Hendrix and Johnny ‘Dawson’ Winter. Marshall Dawson Okell was born on 13 April 1979 into a rock’n’roll arena, with a guitar case for a crib. His father Glenn was a Melbourne-based rock’n’roll guitarist who nourished his son’s musical appetite with Hendrix, Winter, Waters, Little Feat, and AC/DC.
Jump forward 30-plus years, Marshall himself is a muso with his dues well and truly paid. He has made a notable return to the music of his youth, in his fourth, yet-to-be-titled new album. The result is a deep, raw, honest, dirty blues sound that grabs you by the throat and then soothes you with a sweet honey-tasting musical medicine. There are pure guts, sweat, and emotion in his latest material that leave you exhausted and elated in their wake.
Be warned. Marshall has emerged with a new level of addictive, heart- and mind-altering musical energy. This guy doesn’t just make music; he’s a roaring powerhouse of a man, and this album will get under your skin, into your blood and course through you like a visceral super-high the likes of which you won’t come down from easily.
See him next Tuesday at the Northern.
Izzy Day
Byron Brewery | 6pm | FREE
Izzy Day has a strong passion for social justice and global equality; she is an advocate for the ones who cannot be heard. Living to inspire and be inspired, Izzy uses music as a platform to spread medicine and to promote healing across all corners of this planet.
‘Music has always been a massive part of my life,’ she says. ‘Growing up I was continuously surrounded by the sounds of my biggest inspiration, my dad, and his banjo, guitar, and harmonica playing. I am continuously finding inspiration from countless experiences, people, my environment, and just the simple things in life that tend to pass us by.’
Grounded by her passions and will to generate more positivity she is actively seeking to make a change singing songs to help liberate people’s consciousness.
See Izzy on Friday at the Byron Brewery from 6pm.
