Festivals & Venues: March 29

JUNCTION ARTS ANNOUNCES 2018 DATE

Northern Tasmania’s Junction Arts, which good naturedly markets itself as “Tasmania’s Other Festival” will be held September 5—9 in Launceston for its eighth edition.

It’ll shine the spotlight on the Apple Isle’s artists, musicians, food producers, award-winning winemakers and boutique brewers.

It’ll be positioned in and around Launceston’s architectural and natural gems, including a bustling Festival Hub in a 19th century square tucked between iconic architecture.

The free Hub hosts late night clubs, visual art, performances, disruption, food and wine; illuminated at night by after dark art trails, intimate and hidden performances, and multicultural music and dance.

MORE BEHIND THE BASEMENT’S CLOSURE

More background stuff has been unearthed about the closure of the Basement at its Circular Quay.

According to pro-audio CX Media, there’d been an attempt to sell the venue but that failed.

Landlord AMP Capital agreed to an early close to the lease, and is looking at a replacement tenant, either another music club or a restaurant/ bar.

CX Media reckons that a social media posting by a musician about the end of the Basement’s Monday Jam certainly finished off the chance of any last minute reprieve.

The Basement was facing a drop in patronage while still paying $10,000 a week.

CX also claims that there was tension between the two operators who bought the Basement in 2015, restaurateur Dave Wallace who runs the Opera Kitchen at the Sydney Opera House, and lawyer Andrew Robinson.

WA FESTIVAL GETS FUNDING

Bunbury, WA, based free youth festival Shift 2018 received a $15,000 funding boost from Healthway.

Organised by the City of Bunbury and its youth advisory committee, it will be staged on April 15 in Koombana Bay and headlined by British India with local acts.

Aside from the music, patrons also get a pop-up skate-park, bubble soccer, art workshops, market stalls, food trucks, jumping castles and other beach activities.

BY THE MEADOW 5 ANNOUNCES HEADLINERS

By The Meadow 5 (April 6-8, Bambra, Victoria) will be headlined by New Zealand dream-pop outfit, Fazerdaze, local noise-folkists Tiny Little Houses, and Tame Impala/Pond member Jay Watson's quirky solo alter-ego GUM.

Full list of acts at www.bythemeadow.com

BANK, BOUTIQUE NIGHTCLUBS RETURNING

Ravers ahoy! Two famous nightclubs in two different cities are switching on their neon lights again.

The Bank, in Townsville’s Flinders St East precinct, will about to reopen after extensive renovations began this week, its Sydney-based operator Shiv Suri said.

Melbourne’s Boutique in Prahran re-opens in April, six months after the death of its owner Darren "Razzle" Thornburgh.

The new operator Paul Laver had worked closely with him in the business.

BAD FRIDAY SELLS OUT …

Tomorrow’s Bad Friday block party in Marrickville, Sydney, pushed the sell-out button earlier this week for its ninth instalment.

Promoter Music and Booze Company has a secret headliner to spring on patrons, after Boo Seeka, The Belligerents, Ecca Vandal and Straight Arrows among others finish their set.

Those who buy tickets can nominate to support two charities,

Father Chris Riley’s Youth Off The Streets or the Aboriginal Women and Children’s Crisis Service.

…SO DOES YACKANDAH FOLK

Despite the prediction of storm clouds, Yackandandah Folk sold out in its 21st year two weeks ahead.

Festival director Chris Smith said that travellers from Ireland, Canada, Serbia and the UK and across Australia were among the 2200 who checked out the music in six daytime and three evening venues.

MANCHESTER ARENA INQUIRY: FIREYS KEPT AWAY

In the confusion following the shooting of 22 people at the Ariana Grande show at Manchester Arena, firefighters were mistakenly kept away for two hours from helping, an inquiry has found.

Cops arrived within minutes after the first explosion, and medicos and more cops minutes after.

But a senior cop thought that the shooter was still alive and a danger and kept the fireys away.

The inquiry also found that police helped save more lives when one cop decided to override protocol and let police and medics stay at the arena and treat the wounded even though there was always the possibility that more bombs could go off.

FIRST FOR DARK MOFO

The first artist announced for Tasmania’s Dark Mofo (June 15—24) is UK band Electric Wizard, making its sole Australian appearance there.

The festival said: “If sacrilege, occult themes, low-end riffs, H.P. Lovecraft, B-grade horror movies, drug-crazed heavy rock, and performing Satanic rituals on a triple dose of LSD are your thing, Electric Wizard is the band for you, sicko.”

MUSIC FOR BYRON’S SPIRIT

Among the music merchants at Byron Spirit (April 20—22) are Tijuana Cartel, Sacred Earth, Amaru Pumak Kuntur (Peru), Edo Kahn, Haitch, Temple Step Project, DJ RAIO (Bali), Si Mullumby, Murray Kyle, Rebekah Ray and Gopala Amir.

Its themes of ealthy lifestyle and wellness saw it become the recipient for this year’s Regional Flagship Events Program for NSW.

Co-director Kate Little said, “We are excited to work more closely with the lifestyle businesses in the Byron Shire to help our audience to experience the ultimate Byron lifestyle holiday.

“We are working on a digital directory called the ‘Spirit of Byron’, which will highlight experiential tourism of the area.

“The 2019 Byron Spiritfest will include pop up experiences with businesses around the Shire.”

2018 sees the addition of a number of new workshop streams to the program including, Communication in Relationships, Conscious Business and Rites of Passage, and in a first for the fest, the Australian BreathFest on the Monday following the Festival in association with Breath of Bliss (TM).

HOTA HONOURS GOLD COAST FAMILY

The new Gold Coast venue HOTA (Home of the Arts) honoured the region’s pioneering Hicks family by naming  the walking trail at the amphitheatre after them.

The family arrived in the 1920s, built the road into the hinterland with horse drawn carriages, worked with a number of local charities and donated some of their land to the city.

CRUISE CELEBRATES ELVIS

Now in its fourth year, the concept behind the 2018 Cruise N Groove music festival at sea is Elvis Meets The Legends.

30 music acts including a number of world famous Elvis impersonators will perform for 2000 fans on the seven-night cruise, departing Sydney in November.

Choose Your Cruise’s Caitlin Manov says, “We have always payed homage to The King on board Rock The Boat, having at least one Elvis Tribute Artist on board.

“Seeing how much our passengers love the energy and sense of nostalgia that comes with someone performing his songs, it was always a dream we could honour him on a whole cruise.”

There are also the Viva Las Vegas Glitz and Glamour Theme Party, Blue Hawaii Luau Theme Party, Vegas Renewal of Vows Ceremony, Young Elvis Rising Star Contest, Elvis and Priscilla look-al-like contests, and Elvis cooking shows.

APPLICATIONS FOR DESERT FESTIVAL

Artist applications have opened for Alice Spring’s Desert Festival (August 30—October 13).

Utilising local venues, the festival will provide acts with on-going developmental support for shows and artists through “our wide range of member services. We also provide venue, production, promotion and ticketing support for all shows.”