The global celebration of music making is back, with Make Music Day taking place on Saturday 21^st June around Australia and the world.

Originating in 1982 as Fête de la Musique in France, now taking place in a thousand cities and places across 120 countries, Make Music Day is a musical free-for-all celebrating music in all its forms. People are encouraged to band together and play in free public concerts in many different locations and online.

“Music making is something that resonates with people from all walks of life, all over the world,” said Australian Music Association CEO and ARIA Award winning musician Alex Masso. “Make Music Day is an opportunity to celebrate the way music making brings us together and gives us an outlet for expression, connection and so much else.”

Rock bands, songwriters, ukuleles, community bands and choirs, schools and individuals will be part of the musical offerings at Make Music Day events across Australia and online.

The City of Adelaide is cementing itself as a Make Music Day destination city. With 2025 being the 10^th Anniversary of their UNESCO City of Music designation (the only designated city in Australia), they’ve organised a full Make Music Day takeover of the city, with over 200 performers playing in 40 venues from 9am to midnight.

In Victoria, Wyndham City Council has provided grants to community members to encourage and support accessible, participatory music-making activities on the day, which has resulted in a fantastically diverse range of interactive opportunities including a morning walk and sound listening experience, a community drum circle for kids and families, recording and music production sessions for emerging musicians, public piano and choir workshops and more.

“The best part of Make Music Day is that anyone can get involved”, says organiser of Make Music Day in Australia, Emma Bienvenu, Projects Officer for the Australian Music Association. “While we love to see local councils hosting large scale community events, we are equally as excited to see the smaller gatherings being planned in places like music stores and conservatoriums. All across Australia we have individual musicians and bands creating their own performance spaces in local parks, town halls and recording studios.”

Guitars Plus, a guitar store in Sandringham Victoria are hosting ‘Music of the Ages by Musicians of All Ages’, where the youngest performers will be twin girls age 7 and the oldest a solo artist, who turns 90 this year.

The Wollongong Conservatorium of Music Community Ensembles in New South Wales are celebrating with an early evening set outside Lux Bistro Bar, featuring the Curious Rendition Orchestra, a 35-piece dynamic, inclusive community band known for their spirited performances and diverse repertoire.

The City of Moreton Bay in Queensland are turning up the volume at their galleries, museums, libraries and beyond with a month-long music trail featuring free events, live performances, jam sessions, workshops, and more, with over 60 individual events planned in the lead up to and on Make Music Day.

“It’s wonderful to see the diversity in event types, as well as the participants ages, music styles and skill levels. It really is a day for everyone,” says Emma, “Whether you’re playing for a crowd or just getting together in your back yard to jam, it’s all music and it’s all worth celebrating.”

Join the celebrations this Make Music Day, Saturday June 21st.

Search for an event near you or register your own performance at makemusicaustralia.org.au.

Participate online by tagging @makemusicaustralia, or search #makemusicday to watch what’s happening around the world.

Make Music Day is presented in Australia by the Australian Music Association and the NAMM Foundation.

Short Stack delivered one of their biggest and most electrifying shows to date at The Forum on June 14, 2025. The sold-out crowd packed into the iconic venue, buzzing with anticipation, and the energy was palpable from the moment the lights dimmed. As the band hit the stage, they were met with deafening cheers and an explosion of colour—beach balls bounced across the crowd, creating a playful, chaotic atmosphere that perfectly matched the band’s high-octane pop-punk sound.

From the opening notes, it was clear this was no ordinary gig. Short Stack pulled out all the stops, treating fans to a mix of old favourites and newer anthems, each song met with screams and singalongs. Tracks like “Shimmy a Go Go” and “Planets” had the crowd jumping in unison, while slower moments gave fans a chance to catch their breath and soak in the emotional weight of the lyrics.

Visually, the production was next-level. Bright strobes, smoke cannons, and vivid visuals transformed The Forum into something more akin to an arena, underscoring just how far the band has come. Frontman Shaun Diviney was in top form, commanding the stage with ease and gratitude, taking moments to reflect on the band’s journey and the loyalty of their fans.

By the time the encore rolled around, the floor was a mess of confetti, sweat, and smiling faces. This wasn’t just a concert—it was a celebration of everything Short Stack has built over the years. A night to remember.

photos and words by Monique Pizzica

A bewitching bullseye balancing soul folk, raw relatability and beguiling melodies, the new single Arrows out today from ARIA-nominated and WAM award-winning duo Mama Kin Spender tantalisingly parts the curtains further into what lies in wait on the pair’s upcoming sophomore album Promises, also announced today and set for release on Friday August 15. With the anticipated LP set to drop ahead of a special run of national album launch shows through September and October, Mama Kin Spender will be hit the road to share their new record with audiences in Pomona, Murwillumbah, Brisbane, Melbourne, Archie’s Creek, Belgrave, Sydney, Milton and Dashville.

Opening with gritty guitars, oozing harmonies and plenty of elegant swagger, Arrows evolves into a powerful yet delicate outing, wearing its heart defiantly on its sleeve as Mama Kin Spender, aka Danielle Caruana and Dingo Spender, detail bad behaviour in relationships. Also drawing inspiration from the likes of Alabama Shakes, Shovels and Rope, Liz Stringer and Pat Benatar for Danielle, as well as Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Nina Simone, The Motels and Sam & Dave for Dingo (all of which also permeate on the broader Promises album), Arrows explores, as the band puts it, “the drifting apart through small acts of carelessness, and yet somehow aching to connect. Near misses – every attempt landing awkwardly, landing wrong, lashing out, sly evasive remarks eroding the fabric of love.”

Co-writing Arrows and the entirety of Promises together, the album saw Mama Kin Spender work alongside engineer, mixer and co-producer Dan Carroll, with mastering courtesy of Lacklan Carrick. A concept album that explores love’s optimism, decay, rampage and transformation, Promises is an enchanting journey, accompanied by a primal fusion of garage, soul and folk. A roaring yet tender and vulnerable collection of songs that plunge the depths of emotion and experiences, Promises begins with today’s new single  Arrows, before traversing into perky instrumentals and suggestive yet warmly relatable lyricism via Bleeding Out. From here, Mama Kin Spender weave their powerful spell over pounding percussion and raw ruminations (Promises), hazy soundscapes lined with hypnotic melodies (Desert Rain), and musing melancholia that goes down like a shot of smooth whiskey (We Are The Water). Heralding the album’s back end with potent urgency and sinuous harmonies (Dance With Me), Promisesgoes on to tug at the heartstrings with haunting, soulful beauty (A Love That Will Not Die).

“These are songs hewn from real life journeys,” shares Danielle. “Bruises, Shame, Rage, Desire, Contempt, Bad Behaviour. Death by a thousand cuts of carelessness, small unkind moments, projections, stacked up and smothering the innocence of love’s true desire – to change the very shape of us. This is a coming-of-age/coming-of-rage album. This is the doorway of the domestic debris that we accumulate, which ultimately needs to flush out to make way for who we might become as adults; real adults, responsible to ourselves and others, accountable, respectful, liberated from our child wounds and teenage tantrums.”

 

“The songs are essentially taking any single journal entry from the last 3 years of my love life and adding music to it,” Dingo adds. “The ending and transformation of a marriage, the pain of grief, the yearning for love, the twisted top lip of sarcasm in response to the honesty of accountability, the owning of a great many slippery truths that lay hidden in my guts, the searing, cleansing power of rage, of letting go, of accepting something I just couldn’t stand to accept… It’s basically very complicated and ornate therapy but woven into songwriting, self-expression, the joy of singing, and ultimately, the power of our friendship as we held each other through storms that were set to break us…”

Renowned for their raw, percussive energy and beguiling harmonies, Mama Kin Spender is the collaborative creative project from long-time friends and creative partners Mama Kin (Danielle Caruana) and Dingo Spender. With a stalwart reputation for songwriting that grips at your core, as well as their unforgettable live performances, Mama Kin Spender released their debut full-length album in 2018, with Golden Magnetic scoring an ARIA Award nomination for Best Blues and Roots Album. The pair have previously won Best Folk Act (2013) and Best Blues / Roots Act (2018) at the West Australian Music Industry Awards, and have also performed at the likes of WOMADelaide and Woodford Festival, Perth, Darwin and Vivid Festival, and toured across North America and Ireland and across Australia; with plenty more to come.

With the impending arrival of Promises this August, the stage will also be firmly set for an expansive new Mama Kin Spender chapter that extends beyond the new album and into the theatre. The theatre show; Promises & Wild Beasts, led by multi-award-winning director Craig Ilott, transforms the album Promises into a powerful live theatrical production; a multi-disciplinary show that will bring the album’s themes to life through live music, design, movement and storytelling. Set for an early 2026 premiere through international arts festivals, Promises & Wild Beasts is guaranteed to transcend audiences with its gripping and relatable adaptation of Promises.

“You’re gonna laugh, you’re gonna feel uncomfortable and at the same time, not alone, you’re gonna yell with us, and then most likely cry,” says Dingo of what fans can expect from the upcoming album release shows this September and October. “You’re gonna reflect on your own heart, your own little journey with love and pain and grief and happiness. You’re gonna feel elation, you’re gonna feel brave and also need a hug and a whiskey at the end.”

“We are storytellers,” adds Danielle “we mine the depths of our experiences to build the bridge of connection. Our songs are the vehicles, the embodiment of our shared experiences, joys, grief, confusion, and transformation. We seek to reach towards each other, play our hearts out, howl in harmony.”

But before Mama Kin Spender return to stages later this year, the arrival of Arrows today and the upcoming release of Promises are truly landmark moments from the pair, ultimately serving as a universal vessel for catharsis that pulses with honesty, resonant vulnerability and astonishing craftsmanship.

“It’s a relief to be putting these real and gritty songs into the world,” reveals Danielle. “Cathartic to reach from the depths of personal experiences into distilled works that will reach into other’s lives. I understand myself better because of these songs – they have been doorways through to becoming a better person, to forgiving myself, to making changes, to owning my shit, to realising the impact of promises that I made when I was too young and naive to understand what keeping them would really mean.”

 

 “It really has been a labour of love”, Dingo concludes, “nurturing and growing these songs from strange and challenging seeds in the odd weather of the current music industry and in the dark and, at times, gritty soil of singing about things that feel uncomfortable. This album is a coming of age into the realisation and understanding of mature relationships, mature love, actually listening to love and letting it humble me in its wisdom and, at times, brutal truth. It’s a huge weight off my shoulders, to be honest.”

 

Arrows is out today.

Promises tour tickets are on sale today.

Promises is due out Friday August 15.

MAMA KIN SPENDER – UPCOMING ALBUM TOUR DATES:

FRI 05 SEP | MAJESTIC THEATRE, POMONA QLD

Tickets available from https://www.trybooking.com/DCRQO

 

SAT 06 SEP | THE CITADEL, MURWILLUMBAH NSW

Tickets available from https://events.humanitix.com/mama-kin-spender

 

SUN 07 SEP | LEFTY’S MUSIC HALL, BRISBANE QLD

Tickets available from https://tickets.oztix.com.au/outlet/event/3f3d0a57-6292-43f9-a87f-8f323901e9fe

 

FRI 12 SEP | BRUNSWICK BALLROOM, MELBOURNE VIC

Tickets available from https://moshtix.com.au/v2/event/mama-kin-spender/181349

 

SAT 13 SEP | ARCHIE’S CREEK TAVERN, ARCHIE’S CREEK VIC

Tickets available from https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1416568?embed

 

SUN 14 SEP | SOOKI LOUNGE, BELGRAVE VIC

Tickets available from https://sookilounge.oztix.com.au/outlet/event/8b1839a3-e2d9-4cd4-93f5-bd67b48ae868

 

FRI 03 OCT | PADDINGTON UNITING CHURCH, SYDNEY NSW

Tickets available from https://tickets.oztix.com.au/outlet/event/0ade135c-14c9-47b4-9f15-b461f0d88f84

 

SAT 04 OCT | MILTON THEATRE, MILTON NSW

Tickets available from https://www.stickytickets.com.au/uz0rr/mama_kin_spender.aspx

 

SUN 05 OCT | DASHVILLE SKYLINE, DASHVILLE NSW

Tickets available from https://www.dashville.com.au/dashvilleskyline

DAVID BYRNE ANNOUNCES WHO IS THE SKY? NEW ALBUM AND WORLD TOUR – AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND JANUARY 2026 

Frontier Touring is thrilled to announce American musician, writer, visual artist, and filmmaker, David Byrne will return to Australia and New Zealand in January 2026 in support of his new album Who Is The Sky? – out September 5, 2025, via Remote Control/Matador.

Last in Australia and New Zealand in 2018 for his critically acclaimed American Utopia tour, David’s brand-new live show will comprise of 13 musicians, singers and dancers, including members of the American Utopia band, all of whom will be mobile throughout the set. The North American tour begins in September, with Australia & New Zealand dates kicking off in January 2026, followed by European & United Kingdom dates. Tickets go on sale Friday 13 June at 1pm local time via frontiertouring.com/davidbyrne. Frontier Members can get early access via their presale, which starts Thursday 12 June at2pm local time.

“unprecedented, exquisite live show” – ★★★★★ The Guardian

“a career-topping, jaw-dropping spectacle, American Utopia is a glorious celebration of music as unifying force, joy as an act of resistance.” – UNCUT

“David Byrne’s ‘American Utopia’ tour might just be the best live show on the planet.” – Tone Deaf

Who Is the Sky? is David’s first new album since 2018’s award-winning American Utopia. The album was produced by the Grammy-winning Kid Harpoon (Harry Styles, Miley Cyrus), while its 12 songs were arranged by the members of New York-based chamber ensemble Ghost Train Orchestra. Click here to pre-order the album, including a limited Cantaloupe Orange / Strawberry Pink split vinyl featuring a lenticular cover.

Watch: David Byrne – Everybody Laughs

Musical friends old and new, including St. Vincent, Paramore’s Hayley Williams, The Smile drummer Tom Skinner and American Utopia percussionist Mauro Refosco, also make appearances on Who Is the Sky?, which is led by the infectious single “Everybody Laughs.” ​ Along with the song, Byrne has released its official video, directed by multimedia artist Gabriel Barcia-Colombo.

“Someone I know said, ‘David, you use the word “everybody” a lot.’ I suppose I do that to give an anthropological view of life in New York as we know it,” says Byrne. “Everybody lives, dies, laughs, cries, sleeps and stares at the ceiling. Everybody’s wearing everybody else’s shoes, which not everybody does, but I have done. I tried to sing about these things that could be seen as negative in a way balanced by an uplifting feeling from the groove and the melody, especially at the end, when St. Vincent and I are doing a lot of hollering and singing together. Music can do that – hold opposites simultaneously. I realized that when singing with Robyn earlier this year. Her songs are often sad, but the music is joyous.”

“It took me a second to realize, oh yeah, these songs are personal, but with David’s unique perspective on life in general,” adds Kid Harpoon (aka Tom Hull). “Walking around New York listening to the demo of ‘Everybody Laughs’ was so joyous, because it made me feel like we’re all the same – we all laugh, cry and sing. The thing about David that resonates with a lot of people is that he’s in on the joke. He gets the absurdity of it all, and all of these personal observations are his perspective on it.”

In 2023, as his triumphant American Utopia era came to a close after morphing from an album and tour into an acclaimed Broadway show and then a Spike Lee-directed HBO film, Byrne began jotting down the occasional groove, chord or melody. It had been a minute.

During the tumultuous three prior years, “I did a LOT of cooking (Mexican and Indian mostly) and a LOT of drawing,” says Byrne, who also started compiling lyric ideas and phrases for possible songs. “I’ve found that when the time comes, it’s easier to start if there’s a little stockpile – and before too long there was. Very rudimentary songs began to emerge, with just me on acoustic guitar singing over a programmed loop or beat.”

And with the world, and the in-progress American Utopia Broadway run, on pause, he, like much of humanity, took the opportunity to ask, “Do I like what I’m doing? Why am I writing songs, or working this job, or whatever? Does any of it matter?”

Byrne’s attempts to answer those weighty questions can be found on Who Is The Sky?, which builds upon the optimistic themes laid out by American Utopia and its supporting tour, and more specifically spelled out by the Grammy-winning Broadway show and subsequent movie. With this offering, Byrne continues his lifelong exploration of human connection and the potential for societal unity against the chaotic backdrop of the world. Who Is the Sky? is particularly cinematic, humorous and joyful, but often with a lesson baked in – that love is unexplainable, that enlightenment means very different things to different people and that it’s always a good idea to moisturise, whether you wake up the next morning with skin like a baby or not. Most importantly, the songs evince Byrne’s gift for riding the razor’s edge of avant-garde and accessible pop.

Byrne was inspired to enlist Ghost Train Orchestra for the album after hearing their 2023 tribute album to the blind New York composer and street poet Moondog, and later that year jumped on stage with the group during a Brooklyn performance. Enticed by the 15-member Ghost Train’s varied instrumental lineup – which includes drums, percussion, guitar and bass along with strings, winds and brass – he thought to himself, “what if that’s what these new songs of mine sounded like?” Byrne asked if they’d want to serve as his band for the Who Is The Sky?sessions, and they quickly agreed.

“David sent me some demos and asked us to put together some orchestral ideas,” says Ghost Train Orchestra leader Brian Carpenter. “Curtis Hasselbring and I quickly wrote a couple rough draft arrangements of his songs for Ghost Train, including ‘My Apartment Is My Friend,’ which was the first song we rehearsed at our tiny rehearsal space in Chinatown. To hear him singing with us for the first time on that song was just incredible.”

Via an introduction at a party by a friend, Kid Harpoon came into the picture next. “Sometimes things do happen at parties,” Byrne notes. “I knew this could all get complicated, and I also wanted to be sure the recordings sounded as good as possible. An outside set of ears can be super helpful. A few artists I knew had worked with Kid Harpoon, and I thought those records sounded really good.” Byrne sent Harpoon some demos, and after a discussion at the former’s Santa Monica hotel, he jumped aboard too.

There are “more story songs than usual” on Who Is the Sky?, according to Byrne. These “mini-narratives based on personal experience” include “She Explains Things to Me” (sample lyric: “how come it’s all so obvious to her?”), “A Door Called No” (which magically opens after Byrne receives a kiss), “My Apartment Is My Friend” (“you’ve seen me at my very worst / but we always get along,” he sings) and “I Met the Buddha at a Downtown Party” (at which the onetime spiritual guru is more interested in the unhealthy deserts than deification).

Marked by the inviting vocal interplay between Byrne and Paramore’s Williams, the jaunty “What Is the Reason for It?” aims to codify love in a way logic can rarely accomplish (“does it do something useful? / nobody understands it”), while “The Avant Garde” wrestles with the merits of art for art’s sake (“it’s ahead of the curve / it’s deceptively weighty, profound, absurd / it’s whatever fits” – a meta observation if ever there was one from one of the most iconoclastic artists to emerge from the New York rock underground.

“I suspected that intimate orchestral arrangements would bring out the emotion I sense is there in these songs,” says Byrne. “It’s something that folks don’t always hear in my work, but this time for sure I thought it was there. At the same time, I also see myself as someone who aspires to be accessible. I imagined that Kid Harpoon would help with that, as well as being a set of trusted ears, since there was a lot going on. People think of producers as people who mainly make a record sound good, and Kid Harpoon did that, but he was also aware of how important the storytelling is.”

An admitted “stickler when it comes to grooves,” Byrne welcomed late-in-the-game contributions from Skinner and Refosco, with whom he’s recorded and toured for more than 30 years. Mixed by Mark “Spike” Stent and mastered by Emily Lazar, the finished product is about both hiding and revealing, or as Byrne puts it, “a chance to be the mythical creature we all harbor inside. A chance to step into another reality. A chance to transcend and escape from the prison of our ‘selves.’” These concepts are heavily incorporated in the Who Is The Sky? album package, which was designed by Shira Inbar and finds Byrne nearly obscured by radiating, coloured patterns and psychedelic, spiky outfits designed by Belgian artist Tom Van Der Borght.

“At my age, at least for me, there’s a ‘don’t give a shit about what people think’ attitude that kicks in,” Byrne says. “I can step outside my comfort zone with the knowledge that I kind of know who I am by now and sort of know what I’m doing. That said, every new set of songs, every song even, is a new adventure. There’s always a bit of, ‘how do I work this?’ I’ve found that not every collaboration works, but often when they do, it’s because I’m able to clearly impart what it is I’m trying to do. They hopefully get that, and as a result, we’re now joined together heading to the same unknown place.”

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DAVID BYRNE
​WHO IS THE SKY? WORLD TOUR
​AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND JANUARY 2026
​Presented by Frontier Touring

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FRONTIER MEMBER PRESALE 
​via frontiertouring.com/davidbyrne 
​Runs 22 hours from: Thursday 12 June (2pm local time) ​
​or until presale allocation exhausted

TICKETS ON SALE
​Begins: Friday 13 June (1pm local time) 

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Wednesday 14 January
​Spark Arena | Auckland, NZ
​Lic. All Ages
​ticketmaster.co.nz

Saturday 17 January
​Brisbane Entertainment Centre | Brisbane, QLD
​Lic. All Ages
​ticketek.com.au

Wednesday 21 January
​ICC Sydney Theatre | Sydney, NSW
​Lic. All Ages
​ticketek.com.au

Thursday 22 January
​Sidney Myer Music Bowl | Melbourne, VIC
​Lic. All Ages
​axs.com.au

Saturday 24 January
​Adelaide Entertainment Centre Arena | Adelaide, SA
​Lic. All Ages
​ticketek.com.au ​

Tuesday 27 January
​RAC Arena | Perth, WA 
​Lic. All Ages
​ticketek.com.au

KENDRICK LAMAR TAKES HIS GRAND NATIONAL TOUR TO AUSTRALIAN STADIUMS

 

BRUCE DICKINSON More Balls To Picasso His Classic 1994 Album Revisited And Reinvented Out July 25 via BMG

In 1994, having left Iron Maiden for a time (he rejoined in 1999), Bruce Dickinson released his second solo album, entitled Balls To Picasso. Named in honour of the cubist pioneer whose representations of spherical objects were as squares, and reflected on the cover in graffiti style on a tiled bathroom wall, the album belied its irreverent title by solidifying Dickinson’s reputation as a serious solo artist.   His first record with collaborator Roy Z, and recorded with Z’s band Tribe Of Gypsies, it went through various iterations before its release, produced by Shay Baby. The original album included a number of classic tracks and live favourites from Dickinson including the singles ‘Tears Of The Dragon’ and ‘Shoot All The Clowns’, alongside the much-loved epic ‘Laughing In The Hiding Bush’, which was the original title for the album.   Yet despite its positive reception at the time, it never quite captured Dickinson’s original vision which was even more expansive in scope and ambition. However, with the ability to revisit his solo catalogue – and following on from Dickinson’s hugely acclaimed album The Mandrake Project in 2024 – the brand new part re-recorded, remixed and newly mastered version of the album, now entitled More Balls To Picasso, reimagines it as a fresh and contemporary release; a roaringly full-throttle and ambitious collection of supremely crafted and realised songs.   Dickinson says of it, “While mixing all my catalogue into Dolby Atmos I had a nagging desire to revisit and reinvent the record. So putting more balls into ‘Balls…’ was a labour of love. Of course, we beefed up the guitars – courtesy of our ‘Swedish shredder’ Philip Naslund and we added some really beautiful work by Adassi Addasi on ‘Tears…’ as well. Fellow Brazilian composer Antonio Teoli added some stunning orchestral arrangements, and in a unique contribution, added indigenous instruments from the Amazon (recorded by himself when he lived there!) at the beginning of ‘Gods Of War’.  Listen To ‘Gods Of War’ here brucedickinson.lnk.to/moreballstopicassoPR    “‘Shoot All The Clowns’ gets the benefit of a horn section fronted by the Berklee College of Music, and all of the record gets the benefit of the mix by Brendan Duffey, (who worked on The Mandrake Project), with notes along the way from Shay Baby, the original father of the album”.   Additionally, More Balls To Picasso includes two previously unreleased live in-the-studio tracks, ‘Gods of War’ and ‘Shoot All the Clowns’. It will be available as a splatter vinyl double album and tri-panel digisleeve CD album. Tracklisting 1. Cyclops 2. Hell No 3. Gods of War 4. 1000 Points of Light 5. Laughing in the Hiding Bush 6. Change of Heart 7. Shoot All the Clowns 8. Fire 9. Sacred Cowboys 10. Tears of the Dragon 11. Gods of War (Live in the Studio)* 12. Shoot All the Clowns (Live in the Studio)* * Previously unreleased More Balls To Picasso will be available on July 25 – Pre Order here brucedickinson.lnk.to/moreballstopicassoPR

Black Rheno release ‘A Bad Ass Love Song’ and announce “A Bad Ass East Coast Tour”

With the release of their latest single “A Bad Ass love Song”, Black Rheno have just announced a massive slew of dates across NSW, VIC, QLD and the ACT while also appearing at Brisbane’s Necrosinic Fest and the Canberra Metal Fiesta. Bringing their high-voltage blend of sludged-out grooves to heaving party pits all along the east coast of Australia this August, these guys are on a tear. Having released a bunch of absolute bangers in recent times such as “Snake Will Rattle” and “Chopping Heads Wearing Fancy Threads” this absolute powerhouse of riffs is back once again with another intoxicating fusion of sludged-out punk, laced with heavy grooves and hooky rock ’n’ roll flavours that’ll keep you blasting this track over and over.

‘A Bad Ass Love Song’, something not often seen in heavy music, is a straight up love song, but with total venom! It takes what can easily be a corny/ cheesy topic and amplifies it with a ferocious energy that draws you in constantly evolving as the song progresses. This really is “A Bad Ass Love Song”… and yet a total punch to the face at the same time.

It’s undeniable: Black Rheno have well and truly cemented their place in the Australian underground and their contribution to the nation’s heavy music scene. These guys have been pushing the envelope ever since they first stepped onto the scene in 2015, and they’ve never slowed down. Over the years, they’ve toured with heavyweights Napalm Death, Brujeria, Revocation, EyeHateGod, Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals, and supported acts like Red Fang and the mother of all, the mighty Pantera. Ever hungry and always on the quest for more action, Black Rheno shows no signs of slowing down, continuing to release new music and take it on the road.

Keen for some carnage?

Catch Black Rheno this August and check out their latest tune, ‘A Bad Ass Love Song’.

Tickets, Music, Merch & More here: https://linktr.ee/Black_Rheno

Fri, August 1 – Dee Why – NSW – Wing n Tins

Sat, August 2 – Penrith – NSW – Elton Chongs 

Thur August 7 – Bendigo – VIC – The Golden Vine

Fri, August 8 – Geelong – VIC – Medusa Bar 

Sat, August 9 – Melbourne – VIC – The Bergy 

Fri, August 15 – Ulladulla – NSW – The Marlin Hotel 

Sat, August 16 – Dapto – NSW – Diamond Dogs Music Lounge & Bar 

Fri, August 22 – Lismore – NSW – Lismore City Bolwo

Sat, August 23 – Brisbane – QLD – Necrosonic Fest 

Fri, August 29 – Sydney – NSW – The Botany View Hotel

Sat, August 30 – Canberra – ACT – Canberra Metal Fiesta

 

In 2025, fourth time’s the charm for Dublin’s The Coronas, with the beloved rock trio set to return down under for a fourth year in a row this November. Gearing up to visit Melbourne, Sydney and Perth later this year, prepare to once again fall head-over-heels with the energetic and magnetic stylings of The Coronas in a live setting, with plenty of new and old favourites in store.

Tickets for The Coronas’ upcoming Australian tour go onsale to the general public on Friday 13 June at 10am local time from https://thecoronas.net/. Fans can register for presale tickets now from https://troubadourpresents.com/events/the-coronas, with a 24 hour presale kicking off at 10am Thursday 12 June.

“Honestly it’s one of my favourite places in the world to tour,” says The Coronas lead vocalist Danny O’Reilly of returning to Australia for a fourth year in a row. “It reminds me of home in a certain way. The Aussies know how to have fun, a bit like the Irish. My favourite thing about touring Australia is the people; the coffee; the weather; the breakfasts; the atmosphere at the shows – I guess that’s the people again. We’ve been so welcomed in Aus every time we’ve played there. We can’t wait!”

 

“The expats love to make themselves seen (and heard!) at the shows,” adds Danny. “They’ve no shame, Irish flag waving, shouting at the top of their lungs like they’re out for the first and last time ever! The Aussies at our shows still know how to have fun but they’re a bit cooler and understated.”

Named for the typewriter used by protagonist William Miller in the 2000 flick Almost Famous, The Coronas have been charming crowds across the world for decades, with the trio’s original brew of inspirations drawn from The Beatles and The Stone Roses ultimately paving the way for the eventual signature Coronas sound, announced via their 2006 debut EP The Coronas EP. Swiftly garnering attention, the group went on to take Ireland’s indie scene by storm via a run of sold-out shows in Dublin, and went on to make chart history as the only independent Irish band to claim four consecutive chart-topping albums, while also ticking off supporting Bruce Springsteen in Hyde Park, playing for then-President Joe Biden, and taking out the Hot Press #1 Live Act of the Year Award.

In the studio, The Coronas have released seven full-length albums to date, spanning their acclaimed 2007 debut LP Heroes or Ghosts through to their most recent opus, 2024’s Thoughts & Observations, with the latter cementing a fourth consecutive #1 album for the trio. And between their trademark energetic live performances internationally and their ongoing love affair with Australian audiences, The Coronas have also previously shared stages alongside the likes of Kaiser Chiefs, The Kooks and Ellie Goulding, with an upcoming performance later this month at Glastonbury Festival along with The 1975, Olivia Rodrigo, Rod Stewart and many more.

“The set is gonna be a little different for sure,” shares Danny of what Aussie fans can expect this November. “We’ve been on the road now a lot of this year already, around Europe and we’re just about to start a UK tour then we’ll be off to the US and Canada for a tour in July, so we should have the show pretty tight by our Australian tour. There’s gonna be a mixture of newer stuff and some old Coronas songs but loads of energy and good vibes.”

And with back-to-back Australian visits as well as back-to-back chart topping album releases of late, The Coronas absolutely aren’t slowing down anytime soon, as Danny concludes, “We’ve just started work on our next record, it’s exciting to be back writing new material. I imagine we will keep writing in between all our touring this year and try record early next year! That’s the plan.”

 

Tickets for The Coronas’ upcoming Australian tour go onsale to the general public on Friday 13 June at 10am local time from https://thecoronas.net/.

THE CORONAS – UPCOMING AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES:

FRI 21 NOV | PRINCE BANDROOM, MELBOURNE VIC | 18+

Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au | 1300 762 545 | All Oztix Outlets

SAT 22 NOV | ROUNDHOUSE, SYDNEY NSW | 18+

Tickets available from www.moshtix.com.au | 1300 GET TIX | All Moshtix Outlets

SUN 23 NOV | MAGNET HOUSE, PERTH WA | 18+

Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au | 1300 762 545 | All Oztix Outlets