Hunt & Hussy Hicks = best Sunday eva!
There’s been hardly any gigs out there, 2020 was the year that killed fun. So when stuff happens – you need to get out there and support it. Especially the arts. We in the arts have had one of the hardest years ever, and it’s not like being a creative is usually a walk in the park. Then Lisa Hunt pulled together Summerstage – a fundraiser for Red Devils Park in Byron Bay and a chance for audiences and performers to be reunited. This Sunday sees the divine Lisa Hunt and her incredible band, Forever Soul, headline. Lisa began singing in the great African American tradition of gospel church where the foundations were laid for her soulful singing style. She went on to study voice at The City College of New York where she received a BFA in music. She has gone on to sell more than one million records around the world… she really is incredible. Sunday’s show will be supported by the powerhouse that is Hussy Hicks – Julz Parker and Leesa Gentz; the girls that Sarah Howells from Double J declared as ‘artists [that] need to be seen to be believed…’. If you want three women to blow your mind – this is the show!
For tickets go to summerstagebyronbay.com.au
Sisters by Story
Emily Wurramara and Áine Tyrrell don’t share the same blood but they call each other sister. Sisters by story. As much as DNA holds the keys to their identity, so does the story of where they’ve each come from and the legends and mythologies from their lands that are so delicately woven into their ancestral memories. Emily Wurramara and Áine Tyrrell both hold a deep spiritual and generational connection to their homes, and through song and story they hope to connect you all to your own too.
These incredibly talented vocalists are making a little stop off in Murwillumbah, on their way through to Woodford Folk Festival, to kick off 2021 in the glory of matriarchal music making. Featuring a two-hour show (one hour set each with a 30 minute intermission), this amazing duo will be bringing their songs, stories and sisterhood into the glorious setting of The Regent Theatre, in Murwillumbah, on Friday.
Show at 9pm. Tickets for this magical performance are $40 ($35 concession.)
Starlight Festival
The Starlight Festival, created by Raym Richards in the Byron Surf club 25 years ago, is now run by his daughter, Rosie Richards. The festival has flourished into a healing festival that capitalises the true Essence of Byron Bay. This festival is a special and sacred event that brings many locals and visitors together. The Starlight Festival offers a place of conscious living, awakening and sharing of knowledge. Festival curator Rosie says, ‘Starlight Festival offers you a chance to sample a wide range of transformative experiences in one place. Experiences, offered by devoted practitioners, that aren’t available in our daily lives. It’s a chance for people to connect and treat themselves by participating and soaking up the knowledge that this incredible weekend has to offer.’
Starlight Festival; a festival of conscious living, of awakening and connection; through interactive workshops, soundbaths, yoga, shamanic journeys and talks with local, national and international presenters. Bangalow A&I Hall: $30 admission (single day), four day pass $75, locals two-for-one days, Thursday–Sunday.
Tickets online or at the door.
www.starlightfestival.com.au
The big man of comedy is back!
Every January Austen Tayshus, the legendary white pointer of Australian comedy makes his way to Byron Bay. It’s his favourite show of the year. ‘It’s a smart crowd’ he says. And he’s right. Not everyone is going to ‘get’ a Tayshus show, but Byron, he reckons, does. And that – he believes – is the point. Austen likes to make people think. Push them to the brink of their comfort zones. And sometimes, way over the edge.
It’s why he’s such a fierce figure in the Aussie comedy scene, a scene where many comics and promoters are terrified of him. Austen, aka Sandy Gutman, doesn’t play safe. He doesn’t suck up to venue owners. And he certainly doesn’t stroke the ego of other performers or promoters. In a landscape where comedy tends to lose its edge because of the corporate need to be mainstream and to be commercially successful, Austen Tayshus still doesn’t give a rats. He is a lone wolf. Smarter, funnier, and more experienced than anyone else in Aussie comedy. But be warned; he’s also a lot more dangerous. A Tayshus show is not for the faint hearted!
There are few comics with the tenacity and killer instinct of Austen Tayshus. The comedy superstar, who first came into being in 1981, has the ability to take a room hostage just with his tongue. He’s the closest thing the Australian comedy scene has to its very own Bill Hicks. Topical, dangerous, irreverent – he’s the high priest of satire; unflappable and relentless. Every Austen show is unique. He has the ability to weave current politics, what’s happening in the room, philosophy, anthropology, religion, sport (of course), and the Pope, all into one gag.
Tayshus is a man of controversy. There is no subject he won’t dissect. Uncomfortable, confronting, but always illuminating, an Austen Tayshus show is both comic and cleansing. He doesn’t need you to like him. In fact he’d probably prefer it if you didn’t.
Get the full COVID download Saturday at the Mullumbimby Ex-Services at 8pm. Sunday at the Byron Services at 5pm and Monday back at the Byron club at 8pm. All tix are $40 on mandynolan.com.au
King of Pop at the Ex
Mullumbimby Ex-Services Club presents Aria Hall of Fame inductee, #1 selling artist, King of Pop, and Australian Icon: Russell Morris! Shooting to fame in the mid ‘60s with Somebody’s Image, Russell had a string of hits including Hush and the Bob Dylan classic Baby Blue. In 1969 he and producer Molly Meldrum released The Real Thing, Australia’s only true psychedelic #1 hit and a song that is played regularly on commercial radio to this day. Following that, Russell penned breakthrough hits such as: Sweet Sweet Love, Wings of an Eagle, Rachel, Part 3 into Paper Walls, The Girl That I Love and many, many more.
In 2012 Russell released the Sharkmouth Album; a collection of tunes written about Australian historical characters. Sharkmouth reached #1 position on the iTunes Blues Charts; and #1 on the Australian Blues Radio Charts – with Russell going on to win the 2013 ARIA award for Best Blues ‘n’ Roots album.
In 2019 Russell released a new album produced by Nick DiDia and Bernard Fanning. After five decades on the road, an album can almost write itself. It might arrive in the space of a few months, fully formed in vision and texture in the mind of the vigilant creator. But it takes a rare combination of talent and circumstances to realise that vision as vividly as Black and Blue Heart.
Constantly in demand, Russell stills tours nationally throughout the year, as well as making appearances internationally.
He’s at the club for a one-off limited ticket show on Sunday 17 January at 4pm. Tickets $35 online www.mullumexservices.com.au/what-s-on
Bangalow Film Festival; Escape to Reality
Are you a documentary lover? Do you find is truth often more fascinating than fiction? In these days of information overload and divisiveness, where people routinely use media not so much to stay informed as to reinforce their own point of view, documentaries are often essential viewing. They allow us to become informed and engaged with the beautiful and tragic in today’s world, frequently focusing our attention on issues faced by other human beings that, in light of our shared humanity, we would be heartless to ignore.
Here are a few of the documentaries screening at the upcoming Bangalow Film Festival:
Descent
Winner of the 2020 Documentary Australia Foundation for Best Australian Documentary, Descent is thrilling, punishing, and beyond treacherous. Freediving in freezing water is not for the timid, but for Kiki Bosch, it was a life saver. Kiki dives into the world’s coldest waters on one breath, without a wetsuit. She’s plunged into Finland’s frozen lakes, and under Greenland’s icebergs. Her initiation into this sport began as a search for healing, following the debilitating trauma of a sexual assault. After discovering the immense release from ice freediving, Kiki has travelled far and wide, not only to push her own physical and psychological limits, but also to inspire others to harness the power of the cold. This unique documentary features stunning underwater footage shot by Australian underwater cinematographers Stefan Andrews, Spencer Frost, Peter Lightowler, and debut director, Nays Baghai.
The Dog Doc
Called a maverick, a miracle-worker, and a quack, Dr. Marty Goldstein is a pioneer of integrative veterinary medicine. By holistically treating animals after other vets have given up, Goldstein provides a last hope for pet owners with nothing left to lose.
The Dog Doc offers a thought-provoking look at alternatives for the animal healthcare industry’s approach to medicine.
White Noise – Australian premiere
The Atlantic’s first feature documentary is the definitive inside story of the movement that has come to be known as the alt-right. With unprecedented access, White Noise tracks the rise of far-right nationalism by focusing on the lives of three of its main proponents: Mike Cernovich, a conspiracy theorist and sex blogger turned media entrepreneur; Lauren Southern, an anti-feminist, anti-immigration YouTube star; and Richard Spencer, a white-power ideologue.
Presented in partnership with Barefoot Law.
The Mole Agent
Charming 83-year-old Sergio Chamy is recruited as a mole agent by private eye Rómulo Aitken to investigate suspected abuse and theft in a Chilean nursing home. Intrigued by this opportunity to distract himself after losing his wife, Sergio embarks on an unlikely adventure armed with camera-embedded spy gizmos and clumsy code words. In a beguiling twist, Sergio begins to forge deepening connections with the residents and finds himself crowned king of the nursing home. Hailed as one of 2020’s best films, Maite Alberdi’s spy-thriller documentary is an exquisite tale of humanity’s desire for companionship, care and empathy, and a poignant reminder of the inevitability of ageing.
The Truffle Hunters
The Truffle Hunters follows a handful of men, between seventy and eighty years young, in Piedmont, Italy, on their search for the elusive Alba truffle. They’re guided by a secret culture passed down through generations, as well as by the noses of their cherished and expertly trained dogs.
The documentary subtly explores the devastating effects of climate change and deforestation on an age-old tradition through a visually stunning narrative that celebrates life and exalts the human spirit.
Lemebel
Writer, visual artist, and pioneer of the Queer movement in Latin America, Pedro Lemebel shook up conservative Chilean society during Pinochet’s dictatorship in the 1980s. Body, blood and fire were protagonists in his work that he attempted to perpetuate in the last eight years of his life in a film he did not live to see finished. In an intimate and political journey through his risky performances dealing with homosexuality and human rights, Lemebel portrays a culmination of yearning toward immortality.
Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles
History Meets Patisserie. Documenting the collaboration between world renowned chef Yotam Ottolenghi (Plenty, Jerusalem) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, this feature film follows five visionary pastry makers as they endeavour to construct an extravagant food gala based on the art exhibit Visitors to Versailles. Exploring the relationship between modern-day social media and the open court of the French Monarchy, the film studies the alarmingly cyclical intersection between food, culture, and history.
Full program and ticket sales available now at: www.bangalowfilmfestival.com.au
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