Tropical Fruits NYE Party
Lismore Showgrounds, NYE
One of the best NYE parties I can remember was a Tropical Fruits party at Repentance Creek. It was pretty small back then – would have been 27 years ago – I remember wearing two different shoes. I guess, even though I am straight, it felt like a safe place for deviant footwear. The Fruits have grown into a wondrous juggernaut that sees people travel from all over the country to be part of their family. And that’s the theme this year: ‘family’. Be part of this extraordinary New Year’s Eve Festival… you can even camp – literally! It’s on my bucket list to do a drag number there one year… with Maude Boat and maybe my good mate Bob Downe. I could be Boob Downe (an ageing hippy sex-goddess who won’t get implants). Anyway, it’s a bloody cracker of an event that celebrates our LBTQI+ community! All welcome, provided you’re 18 or older.
And don’t forget the Recovery Fruits… come to the Tropical Fruits Recovery Party. Sometimes getting over the party is almost as much fun as the party. The Tropical Fruits peeps are offering Northern Rivers locals a discount on tickets for Recovery; $20 off all categories of the recovery party tickets – you just have to show your photo ID with a Northern Rivers postcode.
NYE at the Lismore Showgrounds. Tix from tropicalfruts.org.au
DJ Lady K
Lismore Quad & Lismore Regional Gallery | Monday 12pm – 6pm | Free
Lismore Quad and Lismore Regional Gallery are putting on the perfect afternoon soiree for a pre-Tropical Fruits get together on Monday, 12pm-6pm. Think picnic rugs, tipples and nibbles, and tunes from the fabulously swanky DJ, Lady K (2pm–6pm). Lismore Regional Gallery will also open on Monday so people can experience the incredible Partnershipping and Alchemists exhibitions – and much more, in air-conditioned comfort!
DJ Lady Kay’s electronic roots lie in the underground rave and house scenes of Perth back in the mid ‘90s. After moving to the east coast, Lady K (aka Kaz Hernandez) has risen to become an integral part of the music scene of the Northern Rivers. Both as a respected DJ and passionate LGBTQI+ community member, Lady K’s flexible disk and vinyl stylings transcend the boundaries of modern house music. Unconfined, she surges through the borders of tech and vocal house, techno, electro and across the spectrum of tribal and progressive beats.
British India, Dopamine
Kingscliff Beach Hotel | Sunday | 3pm
Melbourne based indie rockers British India play Kingscliff Beach Hotel on Sunday, 29 December as part of their Countdown to New Year tour. Over the course of their impressive career, British India have released six albums and earned four Top 10 ARIA albums, eight entries into the Hottest 100, and their classic single I Can Make You Love Me is accredited Gold in Australia, and is soon to be accredited with Platinum status.
On the upcoming tour, the boys will be armed with tracks from their entire discography; particularly boasting those from their bulging back-catalogue of Australian live favourites – think Hottest 100 tracks like Vanilla, I Can Make You Love Me, Suddenly, Run The Red Light, I Said I’m Sorry and the song that started it all, Tie Up My Hands.
The show will be an afternoon twilight session with doors open at 3pm and support from Brisbane band Dopamine. Be sure to catch the legendary Melbourne rockers doing what they do best on Sunday at the Kingscliff Hotel. Tickets from www.britishindia.oztix.com.au
Earth Frequency Festival
Ivory Rock, Qld | 14 – 17 Feb
In 2020, Earth Frequency will be returning to its awesome venue Ivory Rock for its 15th anniversary edition. From its origins in 2006 as a one night Landcare music event, Earth Frequency Festival has grown over the past 14 years and become a highlight of the QLD festival calendar.
The 2020 music line-up features a huge range of international and domestic talent across a wide spectrum of live and electronic music genres. Highlight acts include Koan Sound who will be touring a unique audio-visual show. Clozee, the new female star of psychedelic bass music, German techno master Thomas Schumacher, and Australia’s favourite bass funk producer – Opiuo. The international psytrance and techno line-up features names such as Talpa, Menog, Quivver, Gabriel Moraes, Zen Mechanics and Smoke Sign.
The international bass music line-up includes Culprate, Dub Phizix & Strategy, kLL sMTH, Kayo Project, K+Lab, and many more.
Festival favourites from around Australia include Twisted Sibling, Smilk, Safire, Terrafractyl, Skwid, Sumiruna, Mood Swing & Chevy Bass, Purple Hayes, Paul Abad, Doe, Z.I.V and many more. Over 100 artists will complete the music line-up which spans four stages, for four days.
Music is not the only focus with visionary art headliners Mugwort (Canada) and Amanda Sage (USA), Miles Toland (USA) and Luke Brown (Bali) and over a dozen Australian artists will be showing their astonishing works in the Luminarium Gallery and performing live painting throughout the festival.
The festival also features a wide range of roving and stage performances, a full program of inspirational and educational talks, workshops and yoga, a huge craft market and food area, a family space with activities for the young ones, and amazing decor and stage design throughout the festival.
Tickets are on sale now, and the organisers have announced a limited capacity of 5000 for the festival this year and beyond, to help preserve the intimate and welcoming vibe that the festival is so well known for. 14–17 February at Ivory Rock. Tickets and info from earthfrequency.com.au
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