West Coast Blues and Roots Festival

Music:

Member Since: 11/26/2006
Band Website: sunsetevents.com.au
Band Members:

WEST COAST BLUES ‘N’ ROOTS FESTIVAL

FRI 15th & SAT 16th MARCH 08 * THE ESPLANADE RESERVE FREMANTLE

After 2007’s staggering sell-out festival which welcomed over 30,000 euphoric punters, the fifth annual West Coast Blues ’n’ Roots Festival is returning to Fremantle for two perfect days of song and the greatest line-up of Roots, Rock, Blues, Jazz, Reggae, Gospel and Soul to ever come to Western Australia, presented by Sunset Events and Bluesfest.

50 artists will make this the finest assembly of blues ’n’ roots legends and newcomers to ever hit our shores over three stages at the idyllic Fremantle Esplanade Reserve, with 23 international acts named in this first announcement alone – all handpicked for their respect and status in their genres.

SATURDAY, MARCH 15
Buddy Guy, Sinéad O’Connor, Don McLean, Maceo Parker, Gotye, Ian Brown, Keb’ Mo’, Xavier Rudd, G. Love & Special Sauce, The Bellrays, Clare Bowditch & The Feeding Set, KT Tunstall, Angus & Julia Stone, Seasick Steve, Brandi Carlile, Damien Dempsey, The Basics, Ozomatli, and more to be announced

SUNDAY, MARCH 16
John Fogerty, Eskimo Joe, London Community Gospel Choir, Jools Holland & His Rhythm And Blues Orchestra, Vusi Mahlasela, Lee Ritenour, Patty Griffin, The Beautiful Girls, Galactic (featuring Charli 2Na [from Jurassic 5] and Boots Riley [from The Coup]), Salmonella Dub, Jeff Martin, Mia Dyson, The Audreys, Sugarland, Lior and more to be announced

sunsetevents.com.au

Sunset Events & BluesFest announce the 5th annual West Coast Blues & Roots Line-up!

John Fogerty ’s contribution to popular culture cannot be overstated; his songs have become part of rock’s DNA, the very building blocks upon which much of American rock’n’roll has been built. Fogerty, writer of such rock classics as Proud Mary, Centerfield, Bad Moon Rising, Rockin’ All Over the World, Born On The Bayou and Fortunate Son, was inducted into the prestigious Songwriters Hall Of Fame in 2005. His latest album, Revival is not just a great John Fogerty album – and a great rock album – it’s an essential musical work by an artist without peer, which will certainly stand as one of the most compelling albums of the year. Similarly will be his performance at the West Coast Blues ’n’ Roots Festival. We’ll see you there…fight at the foot of the master!

The man. The Legend. Mr Buddy Guy ! Any discussion of Buddy Guy invariably involves a recitation of his colossal musical resume and hard-earned accolades. He’s a Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame inductee, a chief guitar influence to rock titans like Hendrix, Clapton, Beck and Vaughan, a pioneer of Chicago’s fabled West Side sound, and a living link to that city’s halcyon days of electric blues. Guy, the purveyor of a stinging, attacking electric guitar style and wild, impassioned vocals, captured the minds of a growing number of rock musicians. “He was for me what Elvis was probably like for other people," Eric Clapton remembered at Guy’s Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction in 2005. “My course was set, and he was my pilot." Buddy Guy…only at the West Boast Blues ’n’ Roots Festival.

She’s the songstress and icon who needs no introduction…the revolutionary Sinéad O’Connor ! Some people live life and others change lives. Sinéad O’Connor inarguably the latter. She’s broken every rule, made it right again and then broken them once again. She has shrugged off every single stereotype that has been thrust towards her. For a while she even gave the music away. And now she is back with a brand new album, Theology! Both icon and iconoclast, O’Connor has been making music, rejecting stereotypes and defying expectations for more than a quarter century. Twenty years after she first began transforming the pop cultural landscape with the release of her debut solo album, O’Connor continues to delight and surprise, challenge and inspire. And we honourably welcome her to the fifth annual West Coast Blues ’n’ Roots Festival.

Three years ago, KT Tunstall stepped out the front door of her flat in Harlesden, north-west London. She was off to work, and to play. She didn’t get to go home again until she’d recorded debut album Eye To The Telescope. Since that seminal moment she’s wowed the world with her one-woman blues-stomp, become a festival favourite, secured a Mercury Music Prize nomination, outsold every other female artist in the UK in 2005 (bye bye Madonna, see ya Mariah), won a Brit Award for Best British Female Solo Artist, won the Ivor Novello Best Song award for writing Suddenly I See and a Q Award for Track Of The Year for Black Horse And The Cherry Tree, landed a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, sold almost four million copies of Eye To The Telescope, including over 1.5 million in the UK alone and over 1 million in America. Now, just give us a second to get out breath back… At the heart of Drastic Fantastic, her latest recording, is an album rich in beautiful songwriting and beautiful sentiment. An album made in scruffy, comfy environments but that sounds rich, deep and intimate. An album to go round the world but that won’t cost the earth.

They paint their fingernails black. They fancy a red wine. They are the endearing trio that goes by the name of Eskimo Joe . And even a hammer and chisel couldn’t nudge their latest mammoth-selling album – Black Fingernails, Red Wine – from the album charts. Forming in 1997, Kavyen Temperly (bass and vocals), Joel Quartermain (drums and guitar) and Stuart MacLeod (guitar) united in WA to enter the Australian National Band Competition, and cleaned up even though it was one of the band’s first ever shows. Pumping with chic pop and deep symphonic orchestrations, Black Fingernails, Red Wine came in at the very top of the album charts earlier in 2006, and has gone on to achieve multi-platinum status. After a year seducing the rest of the globe Eskimo Joe is back, and coming to the West Coast Blues ’n’ Roots Festival…backed by strings!

They are renowned as one of the finest choirs on the plant. Their voices have come together to create pure magic for more than 20 years. They are the London Community Gospel Choir . In 1982 a dream and a vision came alive. Reverend Bazil Meade, with the help of Lawrence Johnson, Delroy Powell and John Francis, made a mark in history pioneering the first concert gospel choir in Britain…but with a difference. And so became the London Community Gospel Choir. LCGC are known for their funky gospel flair, swing-beat, R&B, traditional and soulful arrangements, with invigorating choreography and vocal gymnastics. Simply, LCGC are outstanding to watch and will undoubtedly be the surprise hit of the fifth annual West Coast Blues ’n’ Roots Festival. They continue to go where angels fear to tread.

He wrote the song that defined the 1970s. And he wrote so many other hits it’s hard to keep count. He is Don McLean . His transition to major international stardom began in 1971 with the release of American Pie. The song was recorded on May 26, 1971, and a month later received its first radio airplay. Thirty years later, American Pie was voted number five in a poll of the 365 ‘Songs Of The Century’ compiled by the Recording Industry Association Of America and the National Endowment for the Arts. Don McLean has remained very much in the upper echelons of popular music. In 1987, the release of the country-based Love Tracks album gave rise to the hit singles, Love In My Heart (top-10 in Australia), Can’t Blame The Wreck On The Train and Eventually. In 1996, McLean’s Killing Me Softly With His Song, performed by The Fugees, was one of the biggest selling singles of the year. We are humbled to welcome him to the fifth annual West Coast Blues ’n’ Roots Festival.

He’s the piano legend that all of the other legends want to play with. He’s the quick-witted celebrity who revolutionised music television. He is Jools Holland . At the age of 15, Holland was introduced to Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford; together they formed Squeeze. Up The Junction and Cool For Cats made Squeeze’s success meteoric and their popularity rapidly extended to America, where their stadium tour included performances at Madison Square Garden. In 1987, Holland formed The Jools Holland Big Band which gradually metamorphosed into the current 18-piece Rhythm & Blues Orchestra. Holland has maintained a prolific recording career since signing to Warners in 1996 and has sold millions of albums. His career as a television presenter has run parallel to his musical career, namely as co-presenter (with Paula Yates) of The Tube between 1981-86. Holland’s achievements were formally recognised in June 2003, when he was awarded the OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. His autobiography – Barefaced Lies & Boogie-Woogie Boasts – was published late in 2007 and became an immediate best seller and his 12th studio album, Best Of Friends, entered the UK charts at &035;9.

Maceo Parker ’s name is synonymous with funky music. His pedigree impeccable. His band is the tightest little funk orchestra on earth. Everyone knows by now that he’s played with each and every leader of funk, starting with James Brown, later jumping aboard the Mothership with George Clinton and then stretching out with Bootsy’s Rubber Band. More recently Prince called on Parker to be part of his record breaking Musicology tour. In short, if you want funk you’d better call Parker! He’s the living, breathing pulse that connects the history of funk in one golden thread. The cipher that unravels dance music down to its core. All of Parker’s last three releases (Funk Overload, Dial M-A-C-E-O and Made By Maceo) entered the top 40 in the European charts upon release. In short, Maceo is the man…pure and simple.

Gotye is many things to many people and, at once, many things to just one person (himself for instance). Although at times he may be a few things to a few people. Let’s just say Gotye is a rather special case. And in this case it is Wally De Backer. On record, De Backer is prolific. What 2004’s Boardface didn’t do 2006’s Like Drawing Blood did. And what they both didn’t do you can find on Gotye’s latest offering, the remix album Mixed Blood. Oh, and FYI, De Backer was born in Belgium (though he speaks English good). Test the freshly decorated ARIA winner at the fifth annual West Coast Blues ’n’ Roots Festival.

Ian Brown comes with a history and its one that has cemented his iconic status for a whole generation. Can it really be 20 years since The Stone Roses were Manchester’s best-kept secret? Those underground gigs, those packed Mancunian nights as the Roses created the legend that was about to take the nation. It was a beautiful moment. They could have been the biggest band in the world, but they let it go. However, Brown bounced back with a solo career that confounded the doubters. He kept his edge and his king monkey cool. Now, more than a decade since the Roses took their final bow, Brown is back with his best solo album. And there are some heavyweight guests along for the ride – Sinéad O’Connor, plus members of The Smiths, Happy Mondays and Sex Pistols. It’s a masterpiece; the album that finds Ian Brown burying all his ghosts and setting the world to rights and making a stand. The World Is Yours at the fifth annual West Coast Blues ’n’ Roots Festival.

Keb' Mo' is a living link to the seminal Delta blues that travelled up the Mississippi River and across the expanse of America before evolving into a universally celebrated art form. His acclaimed self-titled 1994 debut album introduced that now famous appellation to the world, and his latest album, 2006’s Suitcase, brings it to new heights. In 2006, Keb’ Mo’ was Grammy-nominated for Country Song of the Year for I Hope, a collaboration with the Dixie Chicks that appears on their new album. And now the great man comes to the fifth annual West Coast Blues ’n’ Roots Festival.

A white Australian who grew up on the infamous breaks of Bell’s Beach in southern Victoria, Rudd has, somewhat accidentally, become a universally-adored travelling exhibition for one the greatest facets of Australian Aboriginal culture. With his intimidating selection of didgeridoos – Yidakis – and his bare-footed optimism, this folk troubadour has brought a renewed awareness of Aboriginality to a contemporary and culturally sensitive global community. And never has Rudd explored his intrigue more so than on his fourth and latest album, White Moth. Xavier Rudd makes a triumphant return to the fifth annual West Coast Blues ’n’ Roots Festival.

Tart, Tangy, Smooth, and oh so lip-smacking Sweet! Aaah yes, time to praise the almighty summer sippin’ thirst quencher that is G. Love And Special Sauce – ice cool and always refreshing. On their second release for Brushfire Records, the Philly boys offer up Lemonade, a series of soul drenched tracks pouring out their blues infused hip hop, which people have been trying to label for years. The best advice – don’t try to tame it or claim it; it’s simply their sonic trademark, instantly recognisable and addictively delicious. Yes indeed, what you hold in your hands is pure, fresh, organic, summer sound. So go ahead, scratch it, sniff it, squeeze it, bite it until its juices slide down your elbows and leave you satisfied. G. Love And Special Sauce slide back to the West Coast Blues ’n’ Roots Festival.

Welcome to Ozomatli version 12.0. Rested, revived and ready for the next level. On the surface, nothing’s changed. There’s the same core line-up, the same oppositional politics, the same live shows that erupt into drum-line blessed community parties, and the same devotion to polyglot urban sound clashing. But here’s what’s new: after 12 years of collaborative song-writing, 12 years of constant touring everywhere from Denver to Tokyo to Sydney, 12 years of supporting anti-war mobilisations and global human rights movements, 12 years of pioneering Spanish-English mash-ups of hip hop, salsa, cumbia, dub and Middle Eastern funk, and (most importantly), 12 years of facing up to internal battles and personal struggles, they’ve emerged anew with their fourth full-length studio album, Don’t Mess With The Dragon – the band’s most cohesive, polished and joyous record to date.

One of the hardest things to learn as a musician is when to not only recognise inspiration, but when to trust and follow it. Over a musically and socially consequential career, South African singer-songwriter and poet-activist Vusi Mahlasela has successfully followed his muse. Mahlasela, an accomplished guitarist, percussionist, composer, arranger, bandleader and performer, has bridged generations at home and abroad. His sound is a hybrid of folk, world, blues and soul, one that connects South Africa’s Apartheid-scarred past with its promise for a better future. Over the past three years of heavy, worldwide touring and spreading his message, Mahlasela has remained true to his roots. The bulk of his latest album, Guiding Star, was recorded on a farm in rural South Africa. And now we are honoured to bring Vusi Mahlasela to Australia for the fifth annual West Coast Blues ’n’ Roots Festival.

The prolific Lee Ritenour has established himself as one of the world’s leading jazz guitarists with a series of classic albums released over three decades of impeccable song. Kicking off his career at the age of 16, Ritenour played his first session with folk legends The Mamas & The Papas. Two years later he was backing Tony Bennett and Lena Horne at LA’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Know affectionately as ‘Captain Fingers’, Ritenour became a sought-after session player in the mid-’70s. However, in 1976, he began his own solo career which today includes over 30 albums and collaborations. His list of session work is awesome (some 3,000 sessions), but some of his notable performances were with Herbie Hancock, Steely Dan, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins and Pink Floyd.

Patty Griffin ’s new album Children Running Through continues the remarkable creative evolution that’s quietly established Griffin as a vital and singular musical force. It also belies her persistent sensitive-singer-songwriter image – a limiting perception that fails to fully convey the emotional depth and breadth of her songwriting or the emotive power of her fluid, soulful singing. This heartfelt forthrightness has won Griffin a fiercely loyal fan base that’s continued to expand, even as she’s retreated from the cookie-cutter machinery of the mainstream music industry. Among her higher-profile admirers are the Dixie Chicks, who’ve recorded covers of many of her songs. The legendary Emmylou Harris has also recorded a number of her compositions, as did the great Solomon Burke on his latest record.

There are some beautiful things in this world, but few more so than The Beautiful Girls . Five years ago, no band could get arrested playing acoustic instruments in Sydney. Periscopes was therefore a bracing staple of Australian airwaves in 2002. Two albums later, Learn Yourself and We’re Already Gone, and four songs would echo the zeitgeist to lodge in the Triple J Hottest 100 in Australia, the latter picking up nominations for an ARIA and a J Award. Meanwhile, a grassroots live following had escalated to bushfire proportions in the US. It was there that Ziggurats – the group’s latest effort – began to take shape. Welcome to the world of The Beautiful Girls: divinely inspired and realised by human hands; magnificent monuments to unattainable perfection. Ziggurats. Get beautiful at the West Coast Blues ’n’ Roots Festival.

Let us introduce Seasick Steve : a real American, train-hopping, jailbirding, cowboying, carnival working, migrant farm picking, occasionally tramping, near-fatal heart attack surviving old hobo. Indeed, he’s real deal. Steve was invited to leave his home before his fourteenth birthday (enough said). Having spent many hours listening to stories from the hobos, tramps and bums who would come by his childhood home asking for work or just a handout, he reckoned he was ready for a life on the rails. While doing shows with R.L. Burnside, Steve saw how young audiences went crazy for what he was doing. This is what got Seasick Steve out again and doing what he does best – being the pied piper of the low down hobo blues. And wait ’til you see and hear the three-string trance guitar. Be a part of blues’ latest (living might we add) folk legend at the fifth annual West Coast Blues ’n’ Roots Festival.

Damien Dempsey is from Donaghmede on Dublin’s Northside. His earliest musical influences were the post-pub singsongs that his parents used to have at their home when he was a toddler. Good, bad or indifferent, everyone had to sing. Today his unique sound reflects the influence of traditional Sean-Nós as well as his musical heroes: Bob Marley and Elvis Presley. After completing his secondary education, Dempsey went on to the Ballyfermot Rock School for two years where he studied musical performance as well as the practical side of the music industry. The school had its own small record label and star students were awarded a release on the label. Dempsey was chosen for that honour and the EP, The Contender, was released in 1995. Since then, Dempsey has released 5 albums, reaching &035;1 on the Irish album charts and achieving platinum sales. For the second year in a row Dempsey won Best Irish Male at the 2007 Meteor Awards. His new album, To Hell Or Barbados, released worldwide in June 2007, entered the Irish album chart at &035;2.

With the release of their sixth album, From The Corner To The Block, the five-man group Galactic (featuring Charli 2Na [from Jurassic 5] and Boots Riley [from The Coup]) reaffirms its standing as one of the funkiest outfits in the known universe. If you haven’t yet been acquainted, please let us introduce drummer Stanton Moore, bassist Robert Mercurio, saxophonist/harmonica player Ben Ellman, keyboardist Richard Vogel and guitarist Jeff Raines. Many contemporary, all-star collaborations are purely commercial exercises, yet From The Corner To The Block stands as a labour of love, connecting Galactic’s hip hop fervour for funk aesthetics. The result isn’t just the grooviest, funkiest record of the year but perhaps the finest post-Katrina album to come out of New Orleans.

Formed fifteen years ago in Christchurch, New Zealand, Salmonella Dub have rightfully been called the pioneers and originators of a unique Pacific style of dub, drum’n’bass, reggae/hip hop and groove based rock. Acts such as Fat Freddy’s Drop, Scribe & P Money, Shapeshifter, Cornerstone Roots, Kora, King Kapisi as well as the new wave of Australian acts like Budspells, Rastawookie, King Tide, Red Eyes and the likes, can all thank Salmonella Dub for paving the way and opening Australian ears to an alternative mantra. Heal Me – the band’s latest release – Is an 11-track vocally lush, musically seamless, horn laden, long player featuring the band’s hallmark heavy rhythm section layered with Salmonella Dub psychedelic colourings.

For those of you who didn’t realise yet… The Bellrays are the real deal friends! Sexy and intelligent, passionate and powerful all at once…listening to the Bellrays is like getting kicked in the tender regions by James Brown. No lie! The Bellrays call their music ‘Maximum Rock & Soul’, which is as much a description of the heart that goes into their music, as it is the music itself. Taking a nod from groups as diverse as the MC5, Parliament, James Brown, Miles Davis, The Stooges, 1960s R&B and The Who, The Bellrays have succeeded in doing what few bands have ever done – making visceral music that emanates straight from the soul. Imagine a bus full of Motown recording artists being steamrolled by Black Flag, and you have a pretty good idea of what The Bellrays sound like.

There are few who have traversed the broad sweeps of music as solidly as Jeff Martin . From rock to blues to mystic eastern musings, to symphonic masterpieces, there is good reason why Martin is seen as one of the greatest guitar players and songwriters of our time. Exile & The Kingdom is Martin’s first solo album. As songwriter, singer, producer and guitarist with The Tea Party, Jeff Martin brought grandeur, majesty and mystique back to rock music. The Tea Party endeared itself to a rabid fan base on the strength of its manic, marathon live shows, the smoky sensuality of Martin’s voice, the musical expeditionary nature of the group’s evolving palette of musical colours, the sheer ambitious scope of its studio recordings. Here, in Exile & The Kingdom, is the full flourishing of Martin’s talents as both writer and storyteller as a messenger of the muse.

From indie secret to an Australia-wide hero of all things heartfelt, Lior sings to the soul of a nation. Some people go to extremes of volume, vision and hype to attract attention to themselves while others are happy to simply do what they do and rely on building a reputation by the responses of those around them. Such is the case with Sydney singer songwriter Lior. In early 2005, Lior released his critically acclaimed debut album Autumn Flow. Due to the overwhelming response to Autumn Flow as well as to his dynamic live show, Lior released a live album in 2006, entitled Doorways Of My Mind.

Sugarland ’s Kristian Bush recalls his reaction when fans first started to sing along to their songs in concert. “I’d seek those people out and give them a guitar pick,” he says with a laugh. “Now I don’t have near enough picks.” That’s what happens when the world falls in love with your music. It’s already been a year of extraordinary firsts for Sugarland, the chart-topping singer-songwriter duo of Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush. For starters, their Mercury Nashville debut, Twice The Speed Of Life, was certified Double Platinum. In addition, they received the award for Breakthrough Favourite New Artist at the American Music Awards (their competition included artists from all genres of music). Between the tours and the TV appearances and the awards shows, Sugarland has found the time to get back in the studio to begin recording their highly anticipated sophomore CD, expected to hit store shelves soon. The multitalented, hands-on duo are co-writing the material, as well as co-producing the project with revered Nashville producer Byron Gallimore (Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Lee Ann Womack). Check out the latest US country sensation at the West Coast Blues ’n’ Roots Festival.

Like Sly Stone said, you should keep it in the family – and that’s exactly what Sydney’s Angus & Julia Stone have done. And on the way they have become one of Australia’s most beloved acts. It’s this language of music that forms the basis of Angus & Julia’s debut album, A Book Like This – a collection of 13 heartfelt and organic songs that share their experience and observations with listeners. Heartbreaking. Mesmerising. So many perfect pages. Get ready for a tale at the West Coast Blues ’n’ Roots Festival.

Mia Dyson is on the road. Yeah, we know she’s been there since she was 19, but with her third album, Struck Down, she’s no longer looking back. It stretches forever in every direction. It’s no longer possible to define her by the Australian bush home she left behind, or by how long ago. Dyson’s revolution has been both public and private. To the world at large, it began with a nationally televised milestone, the 2005 ARIA Award for Best Blues And Roots Album for her second album, Parking Lots. (Her debut, Cold Water, had been nominated in ’03). From the rollicking waltz of Never Felt Young to the climactic lament of My Country, Struck Down is an album that pulls you in and takes you for a ride. And this is just the beginning. We welcome Mia Dyson back to the West Coast Blues ’n’ Roots Festival.

Clare Bowditch has never been short on imagination, or originality yet she still claims that there’s no method to her writing. “I have no real discipline at all actually. I think the compulsion to write is really just a side effect of being an emotionally curious person. We’ve spent the previous two years singing songs that mainly centred around the theme of grief and death (What Was Left 2005). Of course, what next, but an album about being completely and utterly alive?" After the success of What Was Left, and a year spent touring with the likes of Paul Kelly and Bernard Fanning, Bowditch (who writes both on the road and at home) found herself with an entirely new sort of song on her hands. The Moon Looked On explores the highs and lows of desire, the humour in having a cheeky imagination, the confusion of watching life pan out in strange ways, the joy and triumph of choice. The result is nothing short of wonderful.

South Australia’s The Audreys feature the sultry voiced Taasha Coates and her four dapper suited boys. They burst onto the scene in early 2006 when their debut album Between Last Night And Us was released on ABC Roots/Warner Music Australia to rave reviews. Singles Oh Honey and You & Steve McQueen were on high rotation on Triple J, and they went on to collect that year’s ARIA Award for Best Blues & Roots Album. A release on Canadian label True North Records followed and the band spent two months travelling through Europe and Canada before returning to do a sold-out national tour of Australia. A string of summer festivals saw the band reeling into 2007, followed by one last lap around the country on their May/June tour before they stop to focus on the recording of their second album. A favourite at festivals and clubs alike, their shows are exquisite, enchanting and always unforgettable.

The Basics – you either get them or you don’t. They are unconventional, true enough. Fellow Australian band Palorus Jack describe them best as: “45 years behind, but a million years ahead.” Simone Ubaldi of Beat Magazine recognises the same paradox when she writes: “they play 60s-cast retro rock, sure, but they play it like they invented it.” With their “forward-thinking-while-looking-back” sound, The Basics are a band at odds with the current Australian music scene. Perhaps it is naïve arrogance, but they continue to defy accepted notions of originality. They are acknowledged as “the feel-good sensation of the year”, “inspirational”, “immensely talented” and “faultless”. They have recently toured Japan, Norway and the UK – three countries now enamoured with The Basics’ enthusiastic approach, their stories of love and loss, wonderfully tailored appearance and the cleverly arranged three-part harmony work that underpins their songs. This love is evidenced in their album Stand Out/Fit In being made iTunes Japan’s Feature Album in October and an invitation to headline the re-opening of the Marquee Club in London (famous for hosting performances by Jimi Hendrix, The Who, The Sex Pistols etc) among other honours unexpectedly bestowed on this little band from Melbourne. The Basics have become an international quantity, but their love for their island home brings them back to Australia to keep telling their stories, and demonstrate that notions of ‘retro’ and ‘originality’ are not mutually exclusive.

18+ event (children with parents permitted)

Early Bird tickets on sale Mon Dec 10 – Thurs Dec 13th

Tickets on sale Friday Dec 14th from www.sunsetevents.com.au , Ticketek 132 849 www.ticketek.com.au & the usual retails outlets

VIP tickets also available, only from www.sunsetevents.com.au and Ticketek 132 849 www.ticketek.com.au