Open Season Is Returning for 2023 to Fill The Princess Theatre and The Tivoli with Must-Attend Gigs

Two venues. Seven months. More than 30 shows. That's the maths behind Open Season 2023. This series of gigs and performances debuted in 2020 at The Tivoli, just as Brisbane started to find its normality after the pandemic's first lockdown. Since then, it's kept coming back — adding Woolloongabba's Princess Theatre to its footprint in 2021, and now announcing a return lineup for both sites for 2023.

Think of it as a big multi-gig festival — one that runs from late May through till December, too. That means that Brisbanites have multiple places to head to, multiple dates to do so, and multiple bands and shows to see, all from the first lineup announcement. (More acts will be added later in April.)

Leading the bill so far: UK punk legends The Damned, New Zealand's Kimbra, US producer Thundercat, Weyes Blood and Aussie favourites King Stingray. Molchat Doma are also bringing their post-punk synth-pop sounds to the River City from Belarus, while The Pharcyde will team up with Masta Ace and Marco Polo, and Ngaiire will do the same with Queensland Symphony Orchestra.

And, Bernie Dieter's Club Kabarett is finally making its way to Brisbane — sword swallowing, hair hanging, Cirque Du Soleil aerialists and all. German kabarett superstar Bernie Dieter leads the charge, and she's been described as "an electrifying cross between Lady Gaga, Marlene Dietrich and Frank-N-Furter in sequins", if you're wondering what you're in for.

Craig Sugden

Open Season's roster goes on, complete with Tourist, Winston Surfshirt, Lastlings, Middle Kids, Gordi and more. Also on the bill: the return of First Nations festival Blak Day Out, which was postponed from January to July.

And, similarly adding a fest within the fest is Set Roulette, a new event that will decide who plays when exactly as its name suggests — by spinning a roulette wheel on the day.

The Glam Awards also makes its debut, giving Brisbane both a new set of queer performing arts awards and a club night, with a heap of the country's best drag and queer performers set to feature.

"Brisbane tends to hibernate over winter and we wanted to create a contemporary, curated music-led program that gives audiences something awesome and new over what is traditionally a quiet time of year," said The Tivoli and The Princess Theatre co-owner Dave Sleswick, announcing Open Season's 2023 lineup.

"Even as Open Season grows and takes its place alongside Australia's big winter festivals and cultural events in the southern states, it will always retain that grungy, grassroots and artist-led philosophy upon which it was founded"

"Brisbane is very much at the heart of Open Season, both for audiences and artists, and we demonstrate our commitment to this philosophy by programming great local talent and bringing huge international artists to the city so Brisbane has everything it needs right on its doorstep."

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OPEN SEASON 2023 — THE PRINCESS THEATRE:

Saturday, May 27 — Northeast Party House
Wednesday, May 31 — Kimbra
Friday, June 2 — Winston Surfshirt
Saturday, June 3 — Weyes Blood
Wednesday, June 7 — The Damned
Saturday, June 10 — Coterie
Thursday, June 15 — Molchat Doma
Friday, June 16 — Middle Kids
Saturday, July 1 — Lastlings
Wednesday, July 19–Saturday, July 22 — Bernie Dieter's Club Kabarett
Friday, July 28 — Tourist
Friday, August 4 — Ngaiire and Queensland Symphony Orchestra
Saturday, August 5 — Set Roulette
Friday, August 11 — Full Flower Moon Band
Saturday, August 19 — First Beige and special guests
Thursday, August 24 — Gordi

OPEN SEASON 2023 — THE TIVOLI:

Wednesday, June 7 — Thundercat
Friday, June 9 — King Stingray
Sunday, July 16 — Blak Day Out
Saturday, August 19 — The Glam Awards

Open Season will run from late May–December 2023, with pre-sale tickets available from 10am on Tuesday, April 4 and general sales from 11am on Wednesday, April 5. For further details, head to the event's website.

Top image: Mitch Lowe.