GAYC/DC
The World’s First And Only All-Gay Tribute To The Music Of AC/DC
Touring Australia For The First Time This February

“GayC/DC have taken the songs of perhaps the globe’s most heterosexual band and turned them into something altogether more fabulous.” Classic Rock Magazine

There are tribute bands, and then there are ideas so strong they reframe the music they’re built on. GAYC/DC fall squarely into the latter.

Taking the catalogue of AC/DC, arguably rock’s most overtly masculine institution and filtering it through unapologetic queer celebration sounds, on paper, like something that shouldn’t work. Then you hear it, you see it, and it becomes immediately obvious that this is exactly what rock and roll needs right now.

Founded by Christopher Freeman (bassist for queercore pioneers Pansy Division) alongside drummer Brian Welch, GAYC/DC have earned something rare in tribute-band territory: genuine respect from the wider rock community, including the artists whose songs they reinterpret.

Kerrang! describe the band succinctly as “Glam/Sassy/Porn/Punk/Metal/Dirty Rock ’n’ Roll… with class,” while Louder call their live show “spot on with the music, unforgettable in every way.” Beneath the glitter, boas and knowing wink is a band that takes the songs seriously, because the songs deserve it.

That respect is evident throughout their catalogue of lovingly subversive reworks, for example, “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” becomes “Dirty Dudes (Done Dirt Cheap).” Their video for
“Gay Boy Boogie,” a homoerotic reimagining of “Bad Boy Boogie,” doubles as a tribute to
Twisted Sister’s We’re Not Gonna Take It, complete with approval from Dee Snider himself with Dee delcaring that “I think this is great!”

As Welch explains, “Twisted Sister took rock and drag further than anybody at the time. As young gay kids, seeing fully grown men in drag on MTV meant a lot to us, decades before RuPaul’s Drag Race was a thing.”

Even their take on “Highway to Hell” underscores how seriously the rock world takes the project, featuring cameos from Johnny Martin (L.A. Guns), John Bush (Armored Saint, ex-Anthrax) and dUg Pinnick (King’s X).

While the presentation may read as camp at first glance, the musicianship never does. Broadway Rock put it best: “While the band and their presentation may be campy, their musicianship is pure, unadulterated rock.”

For their first-ever Australian tour, GAYC/DC, rounded out by bassist Glen Pavan, guitarist Topher Ruby and lead guitarist Steve McKnight (known to ’80s and ’90s hard rock fans from Cry Wolf), will hit six cities across the country, playing intimate venues that suit their high-energy, sweat-soaked, up-close-and-personal approach.

Whether you’re a lifelong Acca Dacca purist, a rock fan open to reinterpretation, or simply curious about what happens when rock’s most masculine catalogue is flipped on its head, this is a live experience that makes its point the moment the first riff lands.

GAYC/DC don’t parody rock history, they reclaim it, reminding us that rock and roll has always belonged to those bold enough to step forward and claim it for themselves.

TOUR DATES
Thursday, February 19: The Brightside, Brisbane
Friday, February 20: Mo’s Desert Clubhouse, Gold Coast
Saturday, February 21: Stay Gold, Melbourne
Wednesday, February 25: Lion Arts Factory, Adelaide
Thursday, February 26: Milkbar, Perth
Friday, February 27: Mary’s Underground, Sydney

Tickets & Information:
tributetouring.com

Yungblud

Sidney Myer Music Bowl

January 13, 2026

Yungblud fever has hit Melbourne, and the music bowl is flowing to the brim of fans eagerly awaiting the rocker to hit the stage.

The lights dim and the iconic riff of Ozzy Osbourne’s War Pigs rings out, heralding the  arrival of Yungblud.

Opening with ‘ Hello, Heaven, Hello’ he is alive with energy and fire as a confetti cannon erupts into the crowd, he is on fire.

Ripping off his leather vest just thirty seconds into the second song, Yungblud has the crowd completely mesmerised, the energy electric. He doesn’t just command the stage, he owns it, cementing himself as the biggest rock star in the world.

He is wildly flirtatious with the crowd, at one point putting his hands out and begging someone to abduct him- although he promises he won’t be good, throwing in a seductive hip swivel for good measure before launching into ‘ Fleabag’.

Yungblud is an authentic performer, you can tell he feels each moment with depth, while performing ‘ Changes’- dedicated to Ozzy, he looks around taking it all in with awe, emotion written all over his face. He is overwhelmed, humbled and thankful all at once.

As the show comes to a close, he runs off the stage, telling people to meet him at the fountain in thirty minutes.

FLEA’S DEBUT SOLO ALBUM HONORA OUT MARCH 27 VIA NONESUCH RECORDS
​
​FEATURING FLEA ON TRUMPET & BASS, JOINED BY AN ELITE BAND OF MODERN JAZZ VISIONARIES, ALBUM INCLUDES HIS ORIGINAL COMPOSITIONS PLUS INTERPRETATIONS OF SONGS BY GEORGE CLINTON, JIMMY WEBB & FRANK OCEAN
​
​NEW SINGLE “TRAFFIC LIGHTS” FEATURING THOM YORKE OUT TODAY
​
​HONORA TOUR KICKS OFF IN MAY, PLAYING INTIMATE VENUES IN SELECT NORTH AMERICAN & EUROPEAN CITIES

After a nearly five-decade (and counting) career as one of his generation’s defining rock bassists, Fleahas announced that he will release his first full-length solo album, Honora, on March 27 via Nonesuch Records. Pre-order HERE. Time and space have finally allowed him to return to his first musical loves: jazz and playing the trumpet. The album track “Traffic Lights,” co-written with Thom Yorke and Josh Johnson, is available today. Listen HERE. Flea and the Honora band embark on an international tour, playing intimate venues in select cities, this May. Further information is available HERE.

For Honora, which takes its name from a beloved family member, Flea composed and arranged the music, and also plays trumpet and bass throughout, joined by an elite crew of modern jazz visionaries: album producer and saxophonist Josh Johnson, guitarist Jeff Parker, bassist Anna Butterss, and drummer Deantoni Parks. The record features vocals from Flea, as well as friends Thom Yorkeand Nick Cave. Mauro Refosco (David Byrne, Atoms for Peace) and Nate Walcott (Bright Eyes), among others, also join the band. The album comprises six original songs–including one co-written by Flea, Johnson, and Yorke–as well as interpretations of tunes by George Clinton andEddie Hazel, Jimmy Webb, Frank Ocean and Shea Taylor, and Ann Ronell.

“Deantoni and I played what became ‘Traffic Lights’ the first day. Something about it reminded me of Atoms for Peace, so I sent it to Thom. Just knowing him, I thought it would be a rhythm and a sensibility that he would relate to. And I was right, he did. With a gorgeous melody and the words, you know, about living in the ‘upside down’ and how do you make sense of things when we’re getting all this fake shit and real shit? Everyone has their ways of dealing with the world. But he’s just the warmest, free flowing, jamming motherf*cker.” says Flea.

Best known as a founding member and bassist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Flea was first introduced to live jazz as a child, when family friends played the music together in his own living room. “It was the greatest thing I ever saw,” he recalls. “The wildness, warmth and we of it. Straight Bebop. Boom. I knew there were higher things on this earth, way above the pettiness that had left me disheartened. The holy trifecta of my life, music, sports and nature was complete.”

Though he dreamed of being like his heroes Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, and Clifford Brown, Flea’s path went a different direction: His close friend Hillel Slovak asked him to pick up the bass and join his rock band when he was sixteen, leading Flea into a decades-long career with the hugely successful Chili Peppers.

But late one night in 1991, in the midst of that band’s ascent, Flea was acting in the now-classic Gus Van Sant film My Own Private Idaho when he shared with a friend, “I want to make an instrumental record with deep hypnotic grooves, trippy melodies layered on top, meditations on a groove.” The caveat was that he first needed to get his trumpet-playing together.

As Flea neared his sixtieth birthday, he realized if he did not pick up the trumpet again, he probably never would. So he resolved to practice every day for two years–in the midst of a stadium tour with Red Hot Chili Peppers, with a wife and newborn at home. At the end of those two years, he would make an album, regardless of where his knowledge or talents ended up.

Until Honora, Flea had never been scared of making music before. He worried that the all-star band he had assembled would think he was “a non-playing motherf*cker, charlatan, rock poseur or fan.” But, he says, “It turns out they were all the most genuinely supportive people, moving me deeply and daily with their generous spirits…Sitting in a room and playing the music with them made me feel like I was on drugs. I was buzzing, tripping and floating around the studio. I love them, they truly gave of themselves. I bow all the way down.”

Honora Tracklist
​Golden Wingship
​A Plea
​Traffic Lights
​Frailed
​Morning Cry
​Maggot Brain
​Wichita Lineman
​Thinkin Bout You
​Willow Weep for Me
​Free As I Want to Be

The Honora Tour Dates
​May 7 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall
​May 9 – Toronto, ON – The Opera House
​May 10 – Montreal, QC – Théâtre Beanfield
​May 12 – New York, NY – Webster Hall
​May 13 – Washington, DC – Black Cat
​May 16 – Los Angeles, CA – The Fonda Theatre
​May 21 – Berlin, DE – Heimathafen
​ May 22 – Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso
​May 26 – London, UK – Koko
​May 28 – Paris, FR – Alhambra

Despite only forming in 2020, in the midst of the global pandemic and all its associated upheaval, Beyond The Pale, Utrecht’s thrash/death metal machine, have already had to cope with more adversity than most bands ever encounter. During their very first live show guitarist, song writer, friend and founder member, Jeroen van Donselaar, suffered a fatal heart attack and the band’s future hung in the balance. Thankfully, they collectively decided to soldier on, to pay tribute to Jeroen by taking his music to the world. They recruited ex-Martyr guitarist Geoffrey Maas and in 2024 independently released a limited edition EP entitled Monument In Time. However, this collection of songs deserved to be heard by a far wider audience; so now, with two additional bonus tracks, Monument In Time is being re-released by up-and-coming British label, Black Metal Archives. Finally Beyond The Pale and the songs they wrote with their fallen friend are set to achieve the recognition they so richly deserve.

Monument In Time opens with the hard hitting ‘Liberation For The Damned’, a song that sets the tone for all that is to follow; superb riffs, an instinctive rhythm section, top notch song writing, an inherent sense of melody and one of the most ferocious voices you will ever hear. Behind the mic ex-Altar vocalist Janneke de Rooy breathes fire and spits venom, snarling out the lyrics to pulverizing thrashers like ‘Payback Is A Bitch’ in the most vehement manner imaginable. From the intensity of first single ‘The Age Of The Pariah’ to the atmospheric intro and seething riffs of the anthemic ‘Walk The Plank’, Monument In Time is a relentless outpouring of metallic power. The two bonus tracks come in the form of the very first Beyond The Pale recording, the 2021 single ‘Storm en Drift’ and a mechanistic remix of EP highlight, the hook laden ‘Facts And Figures’, by Japanese recording artist Frost – known for his work with Gods Of Decay and Godfrost. Together these eight tracks form a release of the highest quality, steeped in the proud traditions of Dutch thrash and death metal.

Recorded and mixed at Utrecht’s respected Mass Audio Studios and then mastered by Tony Lindgren (Amorphis, Arch Enemy, Insomnium, Kreator etc) at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden, Monument In Time sounds positively incendiary – the guitars ripping and tearing at the skin, the bass and drums obliterating all in their path and those vocals, an acidic banshee scream from the darkest of nightmares. When Black Metal Archives unleash this beast on January 30^th Beyond The Pale will have ensured that they – and Jeroen – will never be forgotten.

Find out more about Beyond The Pale at IPR here
Visit the Beyond The Pale website here
Follow Beyond The Pale on Facebook
Visit the Beyond The Pale on Instagram here
Visit Black Metal Archives here

CHET FAKER ANNOUNCES BRISBANE & SYDNEY HEADLINE SHOWS – MARCH 2026

NEW ALBUM A LOVE FOR STRANGERS OUT NEXT MONTH

BEYOND THE BLACK Share Video For ‘Let There Be Rain’ + New AlbumBREAK THE SILENCE Is Out Now!

“Beyond The Black […] present their most colourful, mature and richest album to date.” – Metal Hammer (DE)

“… an outstanding album.” – Sonic Seducer (DE)

“Kudos for a multi-faceted and bold opus.” – Rock It! (DE)

“yet another confirmation of the greatness of this band” – Chaos Zine (FI)

“within the confines of this genre, we can’t think of many names capable of doing better than Beyond The Black these days” – Metalitalia (IT)

“It’s only January, but this is already year-end worthy for it’s energetic, fun, and addictive melodies.” – dead rhetoric (US)

“Absolutely killer and bereft of filler, “Break The Silence” is another near-flawless effort from a band that has the wind in its sails and bigger and better things etched into their future.” –Blabbermouth (US)

Symphonic metal sensation BEYOND THE BLACK are celebrating the release of their eagerly awaited sixth studio album Break The Silence!

Break The Silence is a concept album rooted in melodic metal with ethno influences, it explores themes of communication, inner strength, resilience and the urgent need to reconnect in a divided world. Tracks like ‘Let There Be Rain’, ‘(La Vie Est Un) Cinéma‘, ‘Ravens‘ and ‘The Flood‘ examine how words – and their absence – shape our reality. It’s an emotional, multi-layered experience that mirrors today’s complex world and invites fans to be part of this new chapter.

Coinciding with the album release, BEYOND THE BLACK have premiered a music video for the song ‘Let There Be Rain‘, which features Gergana Dimitrova, a soloist of the Grammy award-winning ensemble The Mystery Of The Bulgarian Voices, on guest vocals.

Singer Jennifer Haben commented:
“‘Let There Be Rain‘ is about embracing the storm instead of fighting it, because sometimes the rain is what we need to let go, find clarity and move forward. With this song, our chapter is complete and we’re excited that the full story is now yours to experience.”

PURCHASE / STREAM THE NEW ALBUM BREAK THE SILENCE:
https://beyondtheblack.bfan.link/break-the-silence-album

WATCH THE MUSIC VIDEO FOR ‘LET THERE BE RAIN’:
https://youtu.be/PR0BmiZ6Mis

BEYOND THE BLACK
BREAK THE SILENCE
Release Date: January 9, 2026
CD | LP | Digital Album

1. Rising High
2. Break The Silence
3. The Art Of Being Alone (feat. Lord Of The Lost)
4. Let There Be Rain  (feat. The Mystery Of The Bulgarian Voices)
5. Ravens
6. The Flood
7. Can You Hear Me (feat. Asami from Lovebites)
8. (La vie est un) Cinéma
9. Hologram
10. Weltschmerz

About BEYOND THE BLACK:

German symphonic metal band BEYOND THE BLACK have become one of the most exciting forces in modern symphonic metal, carving an impressive path since their formation. It started with their debut album in 2015: Songs Of Love And Death was an instant success and stayed strong in the German Top15 for weeks, earning the Metal Hammer Award for “Best Debut.” Its successor Lost In Forever(2016) entered the German charts at #4 and paved the way for a major tour through Germany, the UK, Russia and Japan. Since their live debut in 2014, the band has played the world’s biggest metal festivals like Wacken Open Air and supported international metal acts such as AEROSMITH, KORN, SCORPIONS, SAXON, and WITHIN TEMPTATION.

With the release of their third album Heart Of The Hurricane, BEYOND THE BLACK launched their first European headline tour in fall 2019 – over 20 shows in 10 countries, most of them sold out. The band returned to the studio soon after and in June 2020 released the highly anticipated Horizons, which entered the German album charts at #3 (CH #6, AT #16, BE #53).

After the pandemic-induced break, BEYOND THE BLACK came back stronger than ever: Following a successful European tour in fall 2022, their self-titled fifth album BEYOND THE BLACK dropped in January 2023, charting in several countries (DE #2, UK #2 Rock, CH #6, AT #12, SE #12, US #7 Top New Artist) and marking a new career high.

Following a powerful festival summer, the band toured Australia and New Zealand for the first time in late 2023, as special guests of Swedish metal act THE HALO EFFECT. In early 2024, BEYOND THE BLACK played their most successful European headline tour to date – Dancing In The Dark – followed by more celebrated shows across the continent that summer.

In early 2025, the band reached another milestone with their first-ever Latin America tour, playing headline shows in Argentina, Chile and Mexico, as well as performing at Brazil’s renowned Bangers Open Air. In summer 2025, they will once again take the stage at Europe’s most prestigious festivals, including Wacken Open Air, Hellfest and Graspop

Hailing from Melbourne/Naarm, Steph Strings is a dynamic singer-songwriter and guitarist whose music merges fingerstyle brilliance with storytelling steeped in nature, emotion, and adventure.

With a combined social media audience size of 1.1M and sold out shows across the world, Steph’s journey from sharing acoustic videos online to becoming a world-touring artist is a testament to both her talent and tenacity. 

10 items on your fantasy rider and why you’ve chosen each one (please be as wild as you like!) 

1. Amaretto Sour (it’s my favourite cocktail)
2. 1x puppy golden retriever (self explanatory)
3. 1x adult golden retriever (to look after the puppy)
4. Lucinda Light(from Married at First Sight) to be in the room because I would love to meet her and I know her energy would set me up for a great show
5. Sauna (I’m currently in my sauna era, I always feel really relaxed post show, after I sauna!)
6. Double Bed (a preshow nap is sometimes necessary, but I still want to be in the green room so I don’t miss out on any action!)
7. A machine that takes your makeup off and gets you ready for bed as soon as you walk off stage (this machine will immediately delete the worst part of the day)
8. Medium rare steak with salad, chips and peppercorn sauce on the side (my favourite dinner at the moment – it sets me up for a good night!)
9. A wall of different types of guitars/banjos for me to play around with pre show (I tend to write new songs on new instruments!)
10. A plate of Baby Guiness shots to have pre and post show (hehe)

Steph Strings debut album Feel Alive is out now everywhere.