In news that has ironically prompted outraged profanity worldwide, Vladimir Putin has signed a bill which prohibits the use of swear words in Russian film, theatre and live music performances. This legislation is just the latest in a long line of gradual moves against freedom of expression in the country. With the much-protested bills passed against the "promotion" of "non-traditional sexual relations", the increasing moves towards internet censorship, and the ruling in April this year against profanity in the media, the whole situation seems a bit fucked. Coming into effect on July 1, this most recent bill will ban four specific words from Russia's art and performance. All hailing from the lexicon of mat: khuy (cock), pizda (cunt), ebat (to fuck), and blyad (whore) will be prohibited from appearing in any new work, while books and printed materials containing such words will be sold in sealed packaging with warning labels. If artists refuse to abide this new ruling, not only will their works be refused distribution, they will be charged up to 50,000 rubles ($1,510). To further confuse matters, though the ban will include live performance and events, it will reportedly only affect products of "popular culture" and not "art". "The law is not aggressive," said a representative from the Culture Ministry to the Moscow Times. "Its only aim is to regulate this sphere, so that swearing will have its purpose." Though the difference between the two realms of production has not yet been specified by the Ministry, artists across the world can finally feel some sense of relief — who would have thought this man would be the one to pin down the elusive definition of art? Many in the Russian art world are unsurprisingly outraged by this recent move and take particular issue with its effect on literature. Mat has in fact had a rich history in Russian poetry and prose, as seen in the seminal Romantic work of Mikhail Lermontov and Alexander Pushkin. The banning of such words, pivotal to the language of the working class, will undoubtedly limit the range of character and emotion in much of Russia's cultural work. Unfortunately, I'm not that well-versed in Russian film or literature, but just imagine a world where American Psycho is illegal; a place where this iconic scene from Planes, Trains and Automobiles could never have reached its audience. In a worldwide exclusive, we've actually obtained a copy of the upcoming Russian Wolf of Wall Street re-release. It may not have the glamour or excitement of Scorsese's original, but its does 100 percent comply to the standards of the Culture Ministry. Enjoy. Via the New Yorker.
If glass slippers, pumpkin carriages and fairy godmothers were on your must-see theatre list for 2021, we have bad news: the Cinderella musical won't be bringing its magic to Australia this year. That was meant to be the case, but then lockdowns hit; however, in a supremely welcome development, the beloved Broadway show is now heading our way in 2022 instead. First premiering in New York in 2013, this version of the adored fairy tale features music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, a couple of the best-known names in musical theatre history. The pair actually wrote their songs for a 1957 television production, which starred a pre-Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music Julie Andrews. (If you've seen the 1997 TV movie with Brandy and Whitney Houston — which remade that original small-screen flick — then you've already seen a version based on Rodgers and Hammerstein's original efforts.) Now, the Broadway production is finally making the jump Down Under, debuting locally at Melbourne's Regent Theatre from May 20, and then heading to the Sydney Lyric Theatre at The Star from October 23. The tour is a collaboration between Opera Australia and Crossroads Live, after the two organisations teamed up on The King and I, another Rodgers and Hammerstein hit — but this time they're all about gleaming footwear and masked balls. Don't expect the exact same story you're used to, though — as you read as a kid, and saw in Disney's classic animated film and its live-action remake. Here, Cinderella is a contemporary figure, but living in a fairytale setting. While she's still transformed from a chambermaid into a princess, the tale has been given a firmly modern spin. Shubshri Kandiah (Aladdin, Fangirls) will play Ella, Ainsley Melham (Merrily We Roll Along, Aladdin) has been cast Prince Topher and Silvie Paladino (Mamma Mia!, Les Misérables) will sparkle as Marie, the Fairy Godmother. Also set to feature in the Australian production: Tina Bursill (Doctor Doctor, Wentworth) as Madame, Ella's stepmother, as well as Todd McKenney (The Boy From Oz, Shrek) as Sebastian, the Lord Chancellor. The cast will be working with a production penned by playwright Douglas Carter Beane (Xanadu, Sister Act) based on Hammerstein's work — which was, of course, adapted from the fairy tale about a young woman dreaming of a better life. The Broadway production was nominated for eight Tony Awards and won one, for Best Costume Design. In the US, Carly Rae Jepsen played Ella for a stint, while The Nanny's Fran Drescher also took on the role of Madame, Ella's stepmother, for a period. If you're wondering how the musical works its magic, check out a clip from the original Broadway show below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wypPkiBW1Z4 Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella will hit the stage at Melbourne's Regent Theatre from May 20, 2022, before heading to the Sydney Lyric Theatre at The Star from October 23, 2022. For further details, and for tickets — for Melbourne shows from November 29, and for Sydney's season from November 22 — head to the musical's website. Images: Carol Rosegg.
Why drink a regular beer when you can enjoy a beverage that glows in the dark? And why scour the shops for bottled varieties when you can make your own bright bioluminescent tipples? They're the questions former NASA biologist Josiah Zayner will get you pondering when you discover his latest illuminating product. After leaving the American space agency to start his own company, The Odin, he has created a fluorescent yeast kit that will add a glow to your home brewing endeavours — or perhaps inspire you to start. The key ingredient is called the Green Fluorescent Protein, or GFP, that actually originally comes from a jellyfish. With the Engineer Any Yeast to Fluoresce kit, you'll actually make your own yeast that contains the protein, which will then glow when exposed to a black light. Technically, thanks to some concerns by the US Food and Drug Administration, it's being sold for educational purposes — but Zayner does intend for it to be used for brewing beer. The Odin has a full statement about any safety concerns on the company's website. The good news is that the kit ships internationally, so you really can make your glow-in-the-dark beer dreams a reality. The not-so-good news — if you're low on cash and time, that is — is that it costs US$199 and requires ten hours of effort over the course of two days to get to the ready-to-brew stage. Luminous beer might light up your next drinking session, but it isn't something you can make lightly, it seems. For more information about the Engineer Any Yeast to Fluoresce kit, visit The Odin's website. Via Eater. Image via The Odin.
Russian cinema was relatively unknown in Australia until the Russian Resurrection Film Festival came along. This year the largest festival of Russian cinema outside of the mother country is celebrating a decade of cinematic offerings, returning to silver screens across the nation this July and August. Whilst originally appealing primarily to Russian expats, the festival has grown immensely in popularity, now fascinating a broad audience of cinephiles and Russophiles. The lineup for this year's anniversary event features a collection of Russian cinematic riches, intricately blending the contemporary and the classic. It will showcase 18 new films, including two world premieres, Marathon and The Geographer. Other contemporary highlights include the animated delight The Snow Queen — which tells the heartwarming tale of a quest to save family, art and the hearts of people everywhere — and Legend No. 17, the highest grossing Russian film in history, which explores the life of ice hockey legend Valery Harlamov and how he captivated a nation. If you prefer a classic take on Russian cinema, then check out the retrospective program on celebrated producer/director Valery Todorovsky. It features his cult hits My Stepbrother Frankenstein, Vice and Hipsters, among others. The Russian Resurrection Film Festival is in Melbourne from July 3-16, Sydney from July 24 to August 7 and Brisbane from July 26 to August 4 — and thanks to the festival, we have 10 double passes to give away per city (passes valid for a film session of your choice). To be in the running, subscribe to our newsletter (if you haven't already) and then email hello@concreteplayground.com.au with your name and address. https://youtube.com/watch?v=jpfcuU6taTE Image from Hipsters.
Jesus Christ Superstar is coming to Australia. The record-breaking Andrew Lloyd Webber rock opera tour de force has been travelling around the globe for more than 40 years and is landing Down Under this June. It is not arriving as fans of the musical would expect, either, with the production reimagined for post-millennial society, with Twitter, Occupy protests and bankers all making an appearance. Whilst it may be slightly modernised, it has lost none of its charm, receiving rave reviews throughout its recent UK run. Resurrecting John Farnham's 1992 Jesus on stage will be Ben Forster, a role he won after performing on Andrew Lloyd Webber's reality TV show Superstar. Also starring and adding some Australian flavour are Tim Minchin as Judas Iscariot and Deal or No Deal's Andrew O'Keefe as King Herod, and the cast also features a Spice Girl. That's right, 'Sporty Spice' Melanie C will be portraying Mary Magdalene. If you still need convincing, the Pope himself approved the musical. So if you want to see a musical with a papal seal of approval it will be in Brisbane on June 11, 12 and 18 and tickets are selling fast.
Russian cinema was relatively unknown in Australia until the Russian Resurrection Film Festival came along. This year the largest festival of Russian cinema outside of the mother country is celebrating a decade of cinematic offerings, returning to silver screens across the nation this July and August. Whilst originally appealing primarily to Russian expats, the festival has grown immensely in popularity, now fascinating a broad audience of cinephiles and Russophiles. The lineup for this year's anniversary event features a collection of Russian cinematic riches, intricately blending the contemporary and the classic. It will showcase 18 new films, including two world premieres, Marathon and The Geographer. Other contemporary highlights include the animated delight The Snow Queen, which tells the heartwarming tale of a quest to save family, art and the hearts of people everywhere; Legend No. 17, the highest grossing Russian film in history, which explores the life of ice hockey legend Valery Harlamov and how he captivated a nation; Metro, Russia's first big-budget disaster blockbuster, which keeps the audience in suspense as a flood rages through the Russian underground; and the romcom Love With an Accent, an optimistic and slightly absurd film in which love knows no borders as Russia and Georgia bury the hatchet. If you prefer a classic take on Russian cinema, then the two retrospective programs on offer at the festival are for you. The first takes a look at the work of the celebrated producer/director Valery Todorovsky and features his cult hits My Stepbrother Frankenstein, Vice and Hipsters, among others. The second takes a nostalgic tour through 'Comedies from our Childhood' and features Beware of the Automobile, Gentlemen of Fortune and the timeless Ivan Vasilievich – Back to the Future. Cinema lovers in Brisbane will be able to experience the festival from July 26 until August 4. Peruse the program
Hong Kong is almost close enough (an eight-hour plane trip) to justify a long weekend away. Doing it cheap isn't easy, and what would particularly be the point? As one of the world's most expensive cities, especially for hotels, it's all about bling. Eating out can be more affordable than the top end of Australian restaurants, with obviously superior Cantonese dining options, but drinking in the hipper bars will set you back $10 a beer. If you want cheap, go to Thailand. If you want style, go to Hong Kong. The main socialising districts are Hong Kong Island, traditionally where it's all happening, and Kowloon across the harbour, its less glamorous cousin, although that's changing. Italian and French dining is in vogue at the moment, with Caprice and Pierre the top-dollar and high-rise favourites. Further down the cheap food chain are the Canto picks. The Chairman and Fook Lam Moon offer traditional Chinese cooking with a modern flair, rejecting the MSG of the local diners. The owner of The Chairman, Danny Yip, owns three Chairman restaurants in Canberra and prides himself on an organic approach to crab and dumpling feasts. Spring Moon is an upmarket 1920s-style teahouse bang in the middle of a five-star hotel, with ornate surroundings. If you want more exclusive surroundings, Yard Bird does take bookings and is the hot new place to be seen by local celebrities. Drinking is synonymous with views of the harbour, with most bars perched on top of swish hotels. Among the most popular are Hutong, which is a faux traditional restaurant with an indoor mezzanine bar above the private dining rooms and red lanterns overlooking the skyscapers of Hong Kong Island. For outdoor boozing, head to Eyebar (level 30, 63 Nathan Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon) for a vertigo-inducing vista, Ozone, apparently the highest bar in the world, or Sugar in the East hotel. More down-to-earth reveling can be found at the Kee Club, a members-only den with private rooms decorated like libraries and it hosts open club nights on the weekend. It's near Lan Kwai Fong, the main drinking area for visiting drunkards, which is open to the early hours and home to all-night clubs. It's not particularly cheap, but Hong Kong does offer expensive memories.
Anger doesn't need words to echo. In The Survival of Kindness, it resounds so urgently without a comprehensible remark spoken that it creates its own simmering soundtrack. Stepping behind the lens for his first feature since 2013's Charlie's Country, Dutch Australian filmmaker Rolf de Heer gives his latest movie an actual score — largely an atmospheric, wind-beaten piece by first-timer Anna Liebzeit, but also with strings and birds — however, his audience can always hear rage at its loudest. It reverberates in an attention-grabbing opening where a colonial bloodbath is made of cake icing. It may as well whistle, too, when the feature's protagonist is left caged in the blazing rays against a claypan desert landscape that's instantly recognisable as Australian. And that fury about oppression and discrimination, plus the privilege that's behind it, keeps silently singing as a woman wanders — which isn't all that The Survival of Kindness is about, but is primarily what it depicts. Credited only as BlackWoman, and portrayed in a phenomenally expressive performance by the Democratic Republic of the Congo-born, Adelaide-based Mwajemi Hussein — a debutant who had never even been to a cinema before she made the film — The Survival of Kindness' central figure does indeed walk. The red dunes get scrubbier, desolate ruins appear, then remote shacks and empty towns. Next comes a lake, and finally an industrialised city. Through each, BlackWoman keeps putting one foot in front of the other, striding forth in search of safety and solace, with sorrow evident, and also to subsist. To make that relentless trek, she must break free first, after the masked folks initially seen cutting cake drive BlackWoman into sun-bleached isolation. Days pass, plus freezing nights, both with only the battling ants for company. Those little critters are determined, but rarely more so than de Heer's heroine. The Survival of Kindness' first scenes are calculated to engage and stun. As they segue from the model of a massacre atop a dessert to BlackWoman incarcerated in dark of night outside, then to her trailer being towed to the desert, they're crafted to clash and contrast as well. There's nothing dreamy for a moment about what de Heer's film is saying, but a dreamlike quality lingers in the way that he unfurls this unflinching narrative. His story so overtly deploys Australia's terrain, with the movie shot in South Australia and Tasmania, but never says that's where it takes place. It spends much of its first half with little but ochre soil and virtually cloudless skies surrounding BlackWoman, but townships and cityscapes are a part of its world. It feels as if it is peering backwards and peeking forward simultaneously, while also being firmly a product of the present. It brings fellow Aussie greats Walkabout and Mad Max to mind, and also has a dialogue with the pandemic and the #BlackLivesMatter movement. It dwells in the aftermath of a catastrophe, yet leaves its plague unnamed. That inscrutability is wholly by design; BlackWoman could've strolled through history, across an apocalyptic future or right now and her dystopian tale wouldn't differ. That's one of the raw and resonant messages beating down on The Survival of Kindness as harshly as the sun, noting how cruelly those of wealth, power and white skin have long treated people of colour. In a feature also sporting a sense of absurdist playfulness, finding footwear routinely turns out badly — when BlackWoman secures a pair from a corpse, they're swiftly snatched with a gun pointing her way — in a smart and loaded piece of foreshadowing. When the land that she moseys over becomes more populated, the film's lead is soon scavenging for clothing for a different type of protection: so that she can smear white ash around her eyes beneath one of her oppressors' full-facial coverings, as needed to keep walking without her race being spotted. Hussein is always noticed, though. A social worker off-screen, she blasts a matter-of-fact, always-resolute and innately empathetic stare at everything from those warring insects to boot-clad skeletons. She too is impish when she's stripping mannequins for their attire — rapping the head of one dressed as a policeman with its own truncheon — and almost jocular when she's bartering with a forlorn man mourning his wife over water and, yes, those pesky kicks. BlackWoman's eyes are always scrutinising the horrors before her, and Hussein's soulful peepers are frequently surveyed in turn. Such is the quiet force rippling in her performance, one that just keeps having to weather the world's worst tendencies, that it's impossible to imagine The Survival of Kindness feeling as human as it does while burdened with so much bleakness and ire without her presence. Not merely because the title says so, Hussein's is a face of kindness, giving the movie a warm and lively focal point amid its rampant suffering and atrocities. That said, BlackWoman does eventually have company in BrownGirl (Deepthi Sharma, another debutant) and BrownBoy (fellow first-timer Darsan Sharma), who come to her assistance and welcome her into their camaraderie. Between them, goodwill endures — but The Survival of Kindness knows, sees and stresses how truly rare that is in its own realm and in the reality it's so eagerly reflecting within its frames. It isn't by accident that de Heer begins with violence in miniature, immediately and blatantly posing his picture as a condensed portrait of life and history as we know it. Similarly, the lack of intelligible dialogue and the anywhere, anytime air purposefully ensures that BlackWoman's plight remains deeply universal. For Aussie viewers, there's nothing global about the scenery captured by cinematographer Maxx Corkindale, who also lensed the de Heer-produced documentary My Name Is Gulpilil about the director's The Tracker, Ten Canoes and Charlie's Country star. Add The Survival of Kindness to the pile of local features that do what only the best can — fare such as Mystery Road, Goldstone, Sweet Country and High Ground in the past decade, for instance — by making such oft-used dusty expanses seem like they've been unearthed solely to fuel the picture they're so essential to. Corkindale also looks upwards, watching the heavens cycle in time-lapse. He gazes at minutiae, adopts BlackWoman's gas mask-wearing perspective and, throughout it all, shoots with pure naturalism. He draws attention to the act of seeing, too, which couldn't be more pivotal: de Heer isn't making a doco here, but The Survival of Kindness is still bearing enraged witness.
Feeling Women's World Cup withdrawals? That's understandable. After a glorious month of stellar football across Australia and New Zealand — the globe's best women soccer players all playing in our time zones, too — the competition is over for 2023. Want to keep the Matildas love going after the squad's historic fourth placing? You can watch a rousing docuseries about the team, get excited about Brisbane's upcoming statue commemorating their efforts and throw Sam Kerr some love to win the Goal of the Tournament. The Matildas won four of their seven games across the series, but you already know which one was home to the squad captain's nominated strike: the semi-final loss to England. And, we know that you saw it, because that match became the most-watched Australian TV event since 2001 and likely ever (ratings body OzTAM's records don't go back that far). Kerr is Australia's only nominee for the Goal of the Tournament, competing against nine other ace strikes. The winner is decided by public vote, which is where you come in. Get clicking, keep spreading the green-and-gold joy — it's that easy. Voting is open until Tuesday, August 29, via the FIFA website. If you're a Matildas supporter, you'll rightly think that there's no other goal as stunning among the contenders — but Kerr does have some impressive company. England's Lauren James, Japan's Mina Tanaka, Spain's Aitana Bonmati and The Netherlands' Esmee Brugts are all vying for the prize as well. View this post on Instagram A post shared by CommBank Matildas (@matildas) FIFA clearly know what Kerr's strike means to Australia, describing it as "the goal that made a nation erupt" and "a dream realised, the physical, tangible embodiment of hope". No, adults sadly can't enrol at Kerr's just-announced football academy for Aussie kids — girls and boys — to follow in her footsteps, but we can do our part to give our hero this accolade. .@samkerr1's out-of-this-world strike 🚀🌏#Matildas #FIFAWWC #TilitsDone pic.twitter.com/CRvBO1PonE — CommBank Matildas (@TheMatildas) August 16, 2023 To vote for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup Goal of the Tournament until Tuesday, August 29, head to the FIFA website.
Here's the exceptional thing about being a movie lover: you're never short on stuff to watch. And, because where you see something can have a big imprint on your viewing experience, you're rarely lacking great places to get your cinema fix. Brisbane's latest: the city's riverside CBD brewery. On Monday nights, Felons Brewing Co is turning its Barrel Hall into a cinema and showing classic flicks — for free. From 7pm, you'll get comfy on a bean bag, lock your eyes on the big screen and enjoy a movie fave, all without paying a cent. You'll also drink brews, but that part will cost you. There'll be cinema snacks on offer as well and, again, that's when you'll need your wallet. On the agenda: Napoleon Dynamite (on November 29), Blades of Glory (December 6), Gravity (December 13), Elf (December 20) and The Dark Knight (January 10), so you have options in terms of genre. The festive screening — made all the more merry with brews — will definitely have you feeling jolly heading into Christmas.
Just months after bringing its world-famous pastries to Brisbane, the crew behind Lune Croissanterie is expanding its local remit. Come November, the space next door to its South Brisbane digs will be home to Butler Wine Bar, the first venue from the team that won't focus on baked goods. Brissie already scored Lune's first site outside of Melbourne, and now we're nabbing the crew's first wine bar, too. Here, local drops and seasonal dishes will get pride of place, with the neighbourhood bar aiming to be accessible both in price and in mood. In other words, Lune's Kate Reid, Nathan Toleman and Cameron Reid will be applying the same approach that's made their flagship chain such a hit, just in a new realm. The trio all have plenty of experience in hospitality beyond those New York Times-approved croissants, with Kate Reid and Toleman meeting while working at Melbourne's Three Bags Full, Cameron Reid running Sydney bar Ching-a-lings, and Toleman's Melbourne resume also including Top Paddock, Higher Ground, Hazel and Dessous. Exactly what'll be on Butler's menu hasn't yet been revealed, other than its focus on premium drops and sustainable producers; however, the newcomer will seat 30 in a long, cosy space. Design-wise, Hogg & Lamb will be doing the honours, as they did with Lune Brisbane — and also Bar Alto and The Sound Garden. [caption id="attachment_828139" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Lune Brisbane[/caption] Butler Wine Bar will open in Manning Street, South Brisbane, next to Lune, sometime in November — we'll update you with an exact date when it's announced.
In Australia, we remember the devastation of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami even more than most of the world. It was right there, just over the Timor Sea, in places we've been to, or come from. Nearly 10 years later comes The Impossible, a film based on the experiences of a Spanish family who were holidaying in Khao Lak, Thailand at the time of the tsunami. They survive the impact but are separated and have to fight for their survival while trying their utmost to believe the rest of their family is alive somewhere, too. The film has earned Oscar and Golden Globes nominations for star Naomi Watts, and Ewen McGregor and newcomer Tom Holland are also said to impress. If drama doesn't sway you, go for the special effects, which use a stunning mixture of digital technology and real water surges created in a tank. The Impossible has not been without its controversy, specifically, for being a film about the South Asian tsunami that has basically no Asian people in it. And for making the Spanish family it's based on even whiter. But a bit of controversy just piques our interest at this point. See it and see it early, so you too can take a side. Concrete Playground has five in-season double passes to give away to The Impossible. To be in the running, make sure you're subscribed to our newsletter and then email hello@concreteplayground.com.au with your name and address. https://youtube.com/watch?v=HU4mXJRHIcQ
It’s that time of year, when the Brisbane Festival unleashes its annual arts extravaganza under the cover of fireworks. The fifth and final program by departing artistic director Noel Staunton will span the streets and spring into the skies from September 6-27. While all of Brisbane prepares to literally look up at Riverfire, the explosive finale is just the icing on the cake. For three weeks, the city will come alive in a showcase of 73 productions and 440 performances. An undoubted highlight for fans of things a little less ordinary — and those who spent hours staring at their televisions in awe as children — is the world premiere of Monkey… Journey to the West, based on the cult series Monkey Magic. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the festival hosts the Australian premiere season of The Perfect American, Philip Glass’s new operatic imagining of Walt Disney’s final months. The famous Spiegeltent returns with another stellar schedule of talent, including Miami Horror, Midnight Juggernauts' Aerials Tenth anniversary tour, and Urthboy’s Make Me a Mixtape, plus comedy from Matt Okine and Ronny Chieng. Looking for something more interactive? Walk through the inflatable city maze of Exxopolis, or wander in the Light Garden — South Bank’s bamboo forest, lit up and reimagined. With the outdoor aerial acrobatics of Do Do Land and the sudsy comedy of SOAP also on the lineup, there’s something for everyone in an event that turns the river city into a fresh and festive arts wonderland. Tickets are on sale from June 30. For more information visit the Brisbane Festival website. Image by Atmosphere Photography.
Germany takes its public transport seriously. When Berlin boasts a pair of sneakers designed to match the subway system, and the nation's state-owned railway company is looking to create a 'train of the future', that's pretty clear. The country's next idea not only stresses the point, but does the environment a solid and is certain to prove a hit with commuters: free public transport. As reported by Die Welt, according to a letter penned by German ministers and seen by German media, the government is proposing to trial the concept in five particular cities — all places considered heavily polluted. Bonn, Essen, Reutlingen, Mannheim and Herrenberg are set to put the plan into action, with the move coming as Germany faces legal action from the EU over its breach of air pollution levels due to vehicle emissions. Just how it would work — in terms of additional buses, trains and trams needed, and the budget required to finance them — is still under consideration, as are exact implementation timing and plans. Still, it's a smart, sensible and certain-to-be-popular idea, as well as an excellent incentive to leave the car at home. And, it's one that we'd all clearly love to see closer to home, even with Sydney and Brisbane's rail issues of late. Via Die Welt. Image: Shankar S. via Flickr.
Those in the know about Surfers Paradise Beachfront Markets will be aware of the hidden gems to be found in the hundreds of local stalls. Now, the market is turning the big 3-0, and to celebrate, The Esplanade will transform into a vibrant street party. On Saturday, September 27, from 4–9pm, this free street party will pay tribute to three decades of art, culture and community by the sea. Expect more than 100 market stalls from local artisans and designers, while you're treated to roving performers and live tunes. For those who have been hitting the Surfers Paradise Beachfront Markets since the 90s, you'll feel transported back in time with the themed decorations and carefree atmosphere. This 30th birthday celebration is all about legacy and bringing together the old and the new. That's why it's the perfect occasion for the whole family, keeping the kids occupied with a disco and activities, while the adults peruse the market stalls. Keep an eye out for Brazilian dancers who will bring plenty of colour and movement to the foreshore. At the same time, long-time market lovers can browse bespoke jewellery, homewares and fashion from independent creatives. There will also be plenty of surprise giveaways, adding an extra layer of fun to the anniversary event. Entry is free. So make sure to save the date and party like it's 1995. For more information, head to the Surfers Paradise Beachfront Markets Facebook page.
Ask any brewer, winemaker or distiller just what makes a great beer, vino or spirit — or sangria or premix — and they'll likely give you a variation of the same answer. They might mention standout ingredients, an enticing taste or a big flavour, but they're all really talking about that sensation when a drink passes your lips and instantly becomes one of your favourite tipples. Another key quality behind every excellent beverage? Resilience. That's a trait few people might've thought about prior to 2020, though. But it takes hardiness and adaptability to turn a drinks-making dream into a reality — including initially deciding to jump into the industry yourself, doing the hard yards, getting your product in people's glasses, and weathering the ups and downs. Named the most-loved New South Wales-made tipples in the BWS Local Luvvas initiative, Audrey Wilkinson, Akasha Brewing Company, Lust Liquor and Nueva Sangria have all clearly crafted tastebud-tempting beverages. That's why the bottle shop retailer is now giving these four chosen companies an extra helping hand with getting their products stocked in more BWS stores. As we found out by chatting to the folks behind each brand, these drinks-making outfits have all proven resilient as well. You need to be in these testing times — and they've all told us about their experiences. INNOVATIVE DROPS FROM ONE OF AUSTRALIA'S OLDEST VINEYARDS The importance of durability, and of being able to evolve as times change, isn't lost on the team at Audrey Wilkinson. Indeed, when the vino brand's marketing manager Renee Raper notes that "it has been a tough year for everyone", she not only explains how it has hit home, but also how winemakers are doing everything they can to navigate this tough period. "The wine industry hasn't been immune to this, with the drought, bushfires and pandemic — but the wine industry is resilient," she says. Of course, you could say that's been a hallmark of Audrey Wilkinson — or the patch of land in the Hunter Valley that its vineyard calls home, to be specific — for some time. It has been more than 150 years since the Wilkinson family first acquired the spot, and almost 120 years since it started winning awards for its tipples. The winery has been owned by the Agnew family since 2004, who've continued on with a small and dedicated staff that's devoted to the task at hand. "We have an innovative, young and passionate team behind the brand, and this really resonates through the wines we produce," says Raper. The fact that those tipples are resonating with local drinkers, too, is a source of pride as well — and a much-needed boost in this difficult year. "We are really overwhelmed… winning the Local Luvvas means more people can buy Audrey Wilkinson wines throughout NSW, which is a real silver lining for small local brand like ours". HOP-FORWARD IPAS IN SYDNEY'S INNER WEST If Akasha Brewing Company's founder and CEO Dave Padden wasn't so adaptable, his Canada Bay brewery wouldn't exist. He fell in love with craft beer on trips to America, watched the scene explode in the early 2000s, then decided he wanted to do more than just drink his favourites. "It became readily apparent that the Australian market was lacking the hop-forward beers that were becoming so abundant in the US," he explains. "I threw in the corporate towel and embarked on my professional brewing career… this success led to the birth of Akasha Brewing Company in 2015 and the launch of many beers." Padden's motivation: hops. Noting that there are "literally hundreds of different hop varieties available around the world", he describes them as "a real focus for me and the beers that we brew and drink". But he's aware that, for any of Akasha's IPAs to stand the test of time, they need to do more than experiment with his favourite ingredient. "My passion is discovering that next awesome hop combination that creates a beautifully flavoured IPA, whilst maintaining balance and drinkability," he says. "Every single beer we brew must exhibit these qualities." In 2020, Akasha itself has needed to be adaptable. "It's been a strange old year, and we've had our ups and downs like everyone else," Padden notes. As well as hops, naturally, Akasha has been inspired by the love directed its way this year. "We've been really fortunate to have such an amazing following of local supporters who have continued to buy our beers, and visit our taproom for a feed or a refill," he says. "I think everyone could use a drink after these last few months." MEETING THE DEMAND FOR SUGAR-FREE AND LOW-CALORIE TIPPLES Attending university and enjoying a few drinks have long gone hand in hand. But not every tertiary student turns their fondness for a tipple into a business. "We were at university when we noticed an increasing demand for sugar-free and low-calorie alcoholic beverages," Lust Liquor co-creator Nick Rowell says. "So we decided to stop studying and create our own. Nine months later, Lust was born." If Rowell's decision back in 2018 sounds like a brave move, that's because it was. Making that big leap — noticing a particular trend, then abandoning his current plans to help fill that gap — also required quite a display of versatility. That shouldn't come as a surprise, though, given the beverages that Lust serves up. When you're giving drinkers an alternative that doesn't otherwise exist, you're letting them be flexible, after all. Perhaps that's why Lust has amassed an avid fanbase — and why those local supporters have helped the company continue on in this difficult year. Describing everything that 2020 has thrown the world's way, Rowell is frank. "COVID-19 has been a horrible experience for businesses and individuals all over the world," he says. "When we went into lockdown in March, things got really tough for us," he continues. "We had to lean on our loyal fans and customers to make sure that we were ticking over. The support from our community has been amazing — more and more Australians went out of their way to support local and Australian-made products." [caption id="attachment_790538" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Kitti Gould[/caption] MAKING AN AUSSIE-STYLE SANGRIA There are many ways to show resilience, agility and flexibility, of course — including discovering a niche just screaming to be filled, working out how to do exactly that in a creative and accessible way, and making something that people respond to in the process. That's Nueva Sangria's story. It specialises in bottled sangria that isn't just created in Australia using Aussie-grown pinot grigio grapes, but is designed to taste and feel uniquely Australian. "This is our interpretation of sangria made in Australia for Australia," says managing director Tegan Kynaston. The company initially sprang to life in response to a straightforward problem. "Sangria is the perfect celebratory drink, but we could never find a decent bottle of it anywhere in Australia," Kynaston explains. Resolving that issue wasn't easy, however. "Sangria has a pretty bad reputation here, because most of it is crap. We persisted, and it became a bit of a challenge: how to make a sangria for wine snobs?" Nueva Sangria's tipples aren't just the product of a sturdy and tenacious team, though — they're also drunk by locals who show the same traits, as Kynaston has observed this year. "Nueva Sangria is designed to be enjoyed with your mates. Obviously self-isolation is not conducive to that," she says. "But it's amazing how resilient and adaptable people are. We've been tagged in all sorts of ways that people have been sharing their sangria, from Zoom parties to employers sending it as gifts to cheer up their staff." That's something she hopes will continue now that life in much of Australia is returning to normal, too. To find these or other NSW drinks as part of the BWS Local Luvva initiative, head to your nearest BWS store.
When the time came for Hannah Gadsby to follow up her international smash-hit show Nanette, that seemed a rather difficult task. After all, the one-woman stand-up performance copped serious praise on its 18-month travels across Australia and the UK, even scooping the top honours at both the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe — and spawning its very own Netflix special. But, then Douglas was born, with the beloved Aussie comedian returning to the stand-up stage with a performance named after her own pet pooch. While Nanette pulled apart the concept of comedy itself, dishing up an insight into Gadsby's past, Douglas took comedy fans on a "tour from the dog park to the renaissance and back". It toured stages across Australia and New Zealand in late 2019 and early 2020, and then hit Netflix a year ago. Next on the agenda: following up both of those supremely popular shows, and doing so in-person. Between July and November this year, Gadsby will be doing just that thanks to her new stand-up set Body of Work. It'll tour Australia in 2021, before heading to the UK, European and North America in early 2022. Despite spending the past year sitting out the pandemic, as we all have, Gadsby's humour won't have lost its charms. She'll be kicking off her tour in Canberra, then heading to Albury, Newcastle, Hobart, Launceston, Darwin, Bendigo, Albany, Bunbury, Mandurah, Perth, Melbourne and Brisbane. And yes, she'll be playing Sydney, too, although those dates and details haven't yet been revealed. https://twitter.com/Hannahgadsby/status/1391545052564914176 HANNAH GADSBY 'BODY OF WORK' TOUR DATES: July 23–24 — Canberra Theatre Centre, Canberra July 26 — Albury Entertainment Centre, Albury July 29 — Newcastle Civic Theatre, Newcastle August 5–7 — Theatre Royal, Hobart August 15–16 — Princess Theatre, Launceston August 22 — Darwin Entertainment Centre, Darwin August 27 — Ulumbarra Theatre, Bendigo September 1 — Albany Entertainment Centre, Albany September 3 — Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre, Bunbury September 4 — Mandurah Performing Arts Centre, Mandurah September 10–11 — Regal Theatre, Perth October 26–31 — Comedy Theatre, Melbourne November 26–27 — QPAC, Brisbane Dates TBC — Sydney Hannah Gadsby's 'Body of Work' will tour Australia from July to November 2021. For further details — and to buy pre-sale tickets from Wednesday, May 12 and general tickets from 9am on Friday, May 14 — head to the comedian's website.
Late in 2018, Felons Brewing Co gave Brisbane a gift we didn't know we needed: the city's first CBD riverside brewery. Since then, there's never been a bad time to stop by the boozy Howard Smith Wharves spot, especially if you like brews and waterside views — but on Monday, April 25, it'll be throwing live tunes and two-up into the mix as well. Running from 11am, Felons' ANZAC Day event will let beer-loving patrons mark the day with games, music and beers. Attendees can also expect to see historical cars on display throughout the precinct, especially if you spend the day hanging out on the brewery lawn. The usual menu will keep your stomach satisfied, which means tucking into pizzas, burgers, steaks, meatballs, wings and prawn cocktails. And, you can also do more than raise a glass to Australia's servicemen and servicewomen by donating to the folks from the New Farm RSL, who'll be on hand all day.
2020 might've temporarily taken away our ability to head overseas, hit up big events and, for portions of the year, leave our houses; however, it hasn't robbed us of our collective fascination with Christmas lights. Luminous festive decorations really shouldn't cause such a fuss. They pop up everywhere every year, after all, and we're all well and truly aware of how electricity works. But those twinkling bulbs are just so hard to resist when it's the merriest portion of the calendar — especially after a 12-month period with a noticeable downturn in joy otherwise. Perhaps you're a casual Christmas lights fan, and you're completely fine just checking out whichever blazing displays you happen to pass in your travels? Maybe you have a few tried-and-tested favourite spots, and you return to them every year? Or, you could want to scope out the best and brightest seasonal-themed houses and yards? Whichever category you fall into, an Australian website called Christmas Lights Search is likely to pique your interest. It's as nifty and handy as its name suggests, and it covers festive displays all around the country. To locate all the spots that you should head to, it's as easy as popping in your postcode or suburb — or those of places nearby — and letting the site deliver the relevant options. Christmas Lights Search also rates the lights displays, if you want to either go big or stay home. And it's constantly being updated, so, like the best combos of glowing trees, sparkling bulbs and oversized Santas, you might want to check it out more than once. When you pick an individual address listed on the site, you'll be greeted with some key information, too. The level of detail varies per listing, but expect to peruse photos, the ideal hours to swing by, a date range, a description of what's on offer and even COVID-19-safe info. All that's left is to get searching, plot out where you'll be heading every night between now and Christmas Eve, and get ready to see oh-so-many reindeer, candy canes and snowmen. Check out the Christmas Lights Search online now.
Who doesn't want to fling some tropical fruit around on a public holiday? It's a strange concept, we know — and one that's exactly as silly and simple as it sounds — however this day seems to not only embrace tradition, but novelty. Of course, when it comes to throwing pineapples, there's only one iconic, 130-year-old venue for it. Head to one of Woolloongabba's finest, enjoy the other Australia Day merriment (including pub food, brews and the Hottest 100), and then try your luck in the 10th annual competition. The winner won't just receive bragging rights, but $750 for their efforts.
There's nothing like the feeling when everything falls into place. We’re talking about those pure moments when the ordinary becomes extraordinary, or when something great and unexpected happens, leaving you with a smile on your face. Luckily these moments normally don't stun you quite so much that you forget to whip out your smartphone, because if you've got photographic evidence, then social-media-savvy beer masters Pure Blonde are offering to deliver the unexpected to your bank account. There's $10,000 in cash up for grabs, and for the chance to win a share of it, just upload a photo from Facebook or Instagram via the competition app on their Facebook page. You'll also get the chance to see your fleeting moment live a longer life in a crowd-sourced video montage using the campaign's best images. Check out the competition here, start digging through your favourite photos, and get your entries in before May 10. Here are a few of the shots we will be entering. Concrete Playground photography by Nick Fogarty
Here at Concrete Playground we know what it can be like trying to organise dinner with a group of friends. Everyone has an opinion, some are poor, some are rich, some have allergies and some are just fussy. When you’re trying to please everyone, often your best option is to go for the easiest and most fail-safe option: a reliably tasty, affordably priced BYO restaurant. To make your next dinner outing with friends a breeze, Concrete Playground offers you five of our favourite cheap and cheerful BYOs. All of these restaurants are very popular so we recommend booking ahead. Trang Vietnamese Down the city end of Hardgrave Road, Trang will often be found jam-packed, with a line-up of people waiting to get in. Another indicator of Trang’s authentic and tasty food is the amount of Vietnamese people eating there – usually a pretty good indicator that the cuisine is legit. Family-owned and run, you will always see the same familiar faces greeting you at the door. Accustomed to their popularity, the lines don’t last too long and the friendly wait staff manage to shuffle you through without too long a wait – and you can prevent this by booking ahead. With a Vietnamese-Chinese menu you and your friends will have the option of fresh and healthy Vietnamese dishes, or some of the more sinful Chinese dishes like deep-fried duck with plum sauce. A Concrete Playground favourite are the rice paper wraps with grilled pork balls (roll your own). They have all of the sauces you will need right on your table so you can add all of the kecap manis and chilli sauce that you need. If you are fighting a winter cold we recommend the clear noodle soup with fried chicken. 2/59 Hardgrave Road, West End; 07 3255 1610 Lefka’s Taverna Up the other end of Hardgrave Road we have Lefka’s. Greeted by your smiling host you have the option to sit in or outdoors. With an extensive menu of Greek favourites like spanakopita, moussaka and souvlaki, there are plenty of options. If you want a bit of everything we highly recommend the share platters. Start off with a meze plate, which has a variety of octopus, olives, fetta and tzatiki and taramosalata to dip your fresh and warm pita into. For mains, the combination platter for two (which can probably be shared by about four…girls, that is) gives you a selection of meat and seafood all full of those delicious Greek garlic and lemon flavours. A final recommendation is the Paithakia (lamb cutlets with lemon potatoes and Greek salad). The lamb is off the chain. We promise, everyone will be happy. 170 Hardgrave Road, West End; 07 3844 1163; www.lefkas.com.au Super Bowl Located in Fortitude Valley, Super Bowl is about as cheerful as it gets. The restaurant is always packed, often with people celebrating birthdays (or fake birthdays). With delicious meals and owner Jimmy’s tendency to turn a blind eye to rowdy behaviour, Super Bowl is the perfect place to begin a boozy night out. Super Bowl’s signature, other than delicious salt and pepper quail and a mean pork belly, is their enthusiastic birthday celebrations. For each guest celebrating another year of life, they will turn the lights down and play a happy birthday song ‘to my dear friend’ while waiters bring out a sparkler adorned bowl of deep-fried ice cream and sing to the lucky guy or gal. The whole restaurant tends to join in and clap and sing along and it is generally a very happy communal experience. 185 Wickham Street, Fortitude Valley; 07 3257 2188 The Vietnamese One difficult thing about going out to dinner with a group of friends is trying to decide what to order, whether it’s ‘every man for themselves’ or a shared situation. The Vietnamese is the perfect place for a laidback group who are happy to have only one choice – which banquet to choose. Their banquet options are very reasonably priced and offer a wide selection off the menu, of fresh and hot dishes. The Vietnamese also has amusing waitstaff equipped with classic responses like ‘everything here is special’ with a wink, when asked what the special is. With a large upstairs room you can fit in a large group of friends and will have a bit of privacy to celebrate a special occasion with speeches… or to protect other diners from socially unacceptable behaviour. 194 Wickham Street, Fortitude Valley; 07 3252 4112 Sings Asian Kitchen Located in Rosalie on the west side (or Coorparoo on the east side), Sings is your suburban BYO option. Perhaps more suitable for a quiet night, the food at Sings is exceptional. They offer an Asian-fusion menu with Thai, Chinese and Vietnamese influenced dishes. Made with very fresh ingredients, the meals at Sings rarely disappoint. Whether you are after something warm and hearty like a red duck curry, something fishy like saw leave coconut fish or something fresh like the sugar cane prawn salad, Sings nails it all. 5 Nash Street, Rosalie Village; 07 3511 6511; www.singsasiankitchen.com.au View all Brisbane Restaurants.
Summer always sizzles in Brisbane, as do most other seasons, but the temperature won't be the only reason on future trips to Market Square Sunnybank. On the precinct's second floor, taking over the entire level, Seoul Garden will be firing up its grills from Wednesday, December 11, 2024 — or, to be more accurate, customers at the first Queensland venue from the Victorian-born Korean BBQ and hotpot buffet chain will be getting cooking. This is a big addition to the River City in a range of ways. The 300-person-capacity restaurant will sprawl across 800 square metres, which the brand advises will make it the Sunshine State's largest Korean BBQ and hotpot venue. It'll also serve up more than 50 hotpot choices, with 30-plus meat options. And, a visit here means enjoying the all-you-can-eat experience. Amid neon lights that take inspiration from the eatery's namesake, customers will sit at tables with grills, pairing their chosen ingredients with house-made sauces and side dishes. Or, opt for the hotpot buffet or dedicated raw bar — or make a date with all three. Either way, no one should be leaving feeling hungry. This stomach-filling meal will set patrons back $49.90 per person, unless you're taking advantage of the launch lunch buffet special for $19.90. Go with the latter and you'll tuck into the hot food buffet, plus gimbap, salads and sides. In Victoria, where the chain operates in Docklands, Highpoint, Northland and Glen Waverley Century City, Seoul Garden's setup has unsurprisingly proven popular — but its move to Brisbane is its first venture out of the state that it has always called home until now. "We're so excited to bring Seoul Garden to Queensland, and share the authentic flavours and social dining experience that have made our Victorian venues such a success. Sunnybank is a vibrant hub for food lovers, and we can't wait to become a part of this community" said co-founder David Loh. Find Seoul Garden at Market Square Sunnybank, 341 Mains Road, Sunnybank, from Wednesday, December 11, 2024. Head to the brand's website for further details. Images: Elvin Tan Design.
Even Polyphemus the Cyclops needs sunglasses. Just because Polyphemus doesn't exist shouldn't stop us from dreaming up eyewear for him. That's what Italian artist Giuseppe Colarusso appears to be suggesting in one of the images from his ongoing series of reality-defying Improbabilita. The uniting theme of all the 50+ whacky visual concepts in this project? Unlikelihood. Sourced entirely from Colarusso's skewed yet strangely logical imagination, his bizarre inventions aim to draw a double-take from the viewer. At first glance these might be real things — until your improbability reflex kicks in. How about a set of cutlery with limp rope handles that totally negate their functionality? A sink without a plughole? Dice denuded of their dots? A hieroglyphics computer keyboard? A mix of real-life construction and Photoshopping, there are over 50 such concepts live on Colarusso's very entertaining website. Each item is easily worthy of the International Chindogu Society — chindogu being, of course, the Japanese art of the 'un-useless invention', a tradition which over the years has brought us such hilarious ingenuities as the butter gluestick. Funnily enough, like chindogu, Colarusso's surreal images more often than not raise the question of "Why doesn't this exist?" If you stop and think of the physical logistics of such a thing — for example, spaghetti in an ice cream cone — during that whimsical moment of pause before you realise why the object's existence is totally unlikely, for the briefest fraction of a second there, it's likely. Via Colossal.
It's a shopper's dream: walk into a store, browse the racks, and then nab a highly discounted bargain. Trust those vintage fiends at Vinnies to put the idea into practice, and to keep raising money for charity in the process. The Vinnies Feel Good Finds: 50 Percent-Off Sale is exactly what it sounds like. Expect the usual array of clothing, accessories and other items to grace their racks, not that there's anything usual about trawling for secondhand treasure. Not knowing what you'll find is all part of the experience — but, this time, you're paying much less than what you'd normally pay. The sale runs from Thursday, June 1–Saturday, June 3 at Vinnies stores across Queensland, with the full list of sites — which includes Fortitude Valley, Newstead, Paddington, West End, Annerley, Coorparoo, Stones Corner, Wilston, Cannon Hill, Corinda and Kenmore shops — available on the organisation's website. As well as boosting your wardrobe, you'll be helping a good cause — so, this shopping spree is a win-win situation.
If you like venues with punning names, the Gold Coast is already home to an ace one thanks to Chinese restaurant Miami Rice. Also taking its moniker from the same source of inspiration: newcomer Tropic Vice, which you'll now find sporting big summer vibes on a Mermaid Beach rooftop. In this instance, the nod to a certain 80s TV crime drama — and 2006 Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx-starring movie remake — stems from the bar's Palm Springs-meets-Miami vibe. And with pastel hues almost as far as the eye can see, umbrellas aplenty, oh-so-much greenery and even neon flamingos around the place, it certainly looks the part. Patrons have multiple sunny spaces to choose between — starting with the grassy-heavy garden bar with its brollies, and also including a deck covered with creeping vines and high tables, as well as a neon-lit podium space. And yes, almost every surface here is either pink, teal, green, white, or covered in tropical prints and/or plants. While you're pretending you're on a holiday without actually going on holiday — although, for Brisbanites, a night or two on the Gold Coast definitely counts as a getaway — you can tuck into a menu that takes its cues from Caribbean and South America. Highlights span oysters topped with watermelon chilli vinaigrette, kingfish ceviche, fish and potato balls, jackfruit and black bean salsa tacos, as well as chilli and garlic prawns paired with fresh mango salsa. For dessert, you can pick between coconut rice with homemade dulce de leche and fried bananas. The cocktail list sticks to the venue's theme, starting with the Miami Spice (with whisky, vanilla liqueur, lemon juice and spice syrup), Flamingo Spritz (pink gin, prosecco, blood orange seltzer and soda water) and Vice Martini (vodka, passionfruit puree, pomegranate syrup and mint leaves). Three kinds of margaritas are on offer, too — guava and goji, coconut and mandarin, and lychee and chilli — plus boozy slushies and salted caramel espresso martinis. And if you're keen to stick around for the long haul on a Sunday, there's both $79 and $89 boozy bottomless brunches from midday each week. Find Tropic Vice at 2215 Gold Coast Highway, Mermaid Beach — open from 4–10pm Wednesdays–Thursdays and 12–10pm Fridays–Sundays. Images: Mondae Studio.
Before the Titanic collided with an iceberg, became one of modern history's most famous tragedies and inspired one of cinema's biggest box-office hits, a different cross-Atlantic liner sailed into chaos. So says Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar, with the German pair's new — and wholly fictional — Netflix series 1899 taking place onboard the steamship Kerberos 13 years before the sinking that everyone knows about. This vessel is travelling from England to America with 1400 crew and passengers, filling everywhere from stately rooms to jam-packed halls, when it receives word of a missing craft. Owned by the same company, the Prometheus took the same route four months prior, and was thought to have disappeared without a trace until that distress signal beckons. Friese and bo Odar love a mystery, and 1899 has a hefty one right from the outset. Friese and bo Odar also love making labyrinthine puzzle-box shows that keep dropping clues, twists, and philosophical ideas about the meaning and point of existence in aid of the bigger picture — aka an approach that made their 2017–20 German-language effort Dark such a massive and deserving success. Over its three-season run, that series probed fate and destiny in a woodland town, not only diving into its residents' deepest secrets but charting the looping consequences backwards and forwards in time. Friese and bo Odar love grand ambitions as well, clearly, and Dark didn't just have them but fulfilled them, proving one of Netflix's best originals yet. How do the TV-making duo — Friese writes and co-writes, bo Odar directs and they both produce — ensure that sparks ignite twice? By diving even deeper into their favourite themes, tactics and flourishes, all in a series that couldn't spring from anyone else. If anyone familiar with Dark started watching 1899 without knowing their shared origins, they'd guess immediately. Everyone unacquainted with the former should end the latter desperate to seek it out ASAP. The one sizeable departure: inconsistent pacing, with 1899's first four season-one episodes glacial in setting the scene, and its last four busy to pack in as many revelations as possible. Still, taking the voyage comes with a boatload of thrills, suspense and intrigue; if Dark met Titanic, Snowpiercer, Black Mirror and Lost, and showed a ship's worth of love for the Alien franchise, it still wouldn't be close enough. Extra-terrestrials aren't the answer to this sci-fi/horror/mystery series, but the first Alien film started in the exact same way as 1899. Cue an unexpected transmission interrupting a trip, the crew committing to investigate, a derelict ship awaiting and a surprise making its way over from the abandoned vessel. Back on the Kerberos, like the Nostromo before it, cue crawling through passageways in search of answers, away from threats and to escape the discontent festering in the craft. In more than just the name of its other key ship, 1899 nods to the Alien saga's Prometheus as well — and for fans of the iconic Ridley Scott-created big-screen series, spotting the references adds a whole other game to a show that already has viewers sleuthing from the outset. Chasing clues is a prime pastime on the Kerberos, too — 1899's two ships draw their monikers from myth, aptly — with everyone from doctors, captains and sudden interlopers to enigmatic children and relocating Europeans trying to solve the show's puzzles. Chief among them are Maura Franklin (Emily Beecham, The Pursuit of Love), a rare female medical practitioner at the time; Kerberos' leader Eyk Larsen (Dark alum Andreas Pietschmann); and Daniel Solace (Aneurin Barnard, The Goldfinch), who climbs aboard while everyone's focusing on the Prometheus. As well as being perplexed by their situation, Maura and Eyk are haunted by their respective pasts; her brother is missing and her father (Anton Lesser, Andor) provides a firm presence in her dreams, while the captain can't stop thinking about, and believing he's seeing, the family he lost in a heartbreaking fashion. Traumatic histories are a common thread among the other passengers, too, as 1899 explores by beginning its early episodes honing in on a different character. Also onboard: Spaniards Ángel (Miguel Bernardeau, Everything Else) and Ramiro (José Pimentão, Teorias da Conspiração), one flouting wealth and the other posing as a priest; Ling Yi (newcomer Isabella Wei), who dresses like a geisha but speaks Cantonese with her travelling companion Yuk Je (Gabby Wong, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story); and Virginia Wilson (Rosalie Craig, The Queen's Gambit), who has more than a passing interest in the ship's Asian commuters. Then there's French couple Clémence (Mathilde Ollivier, A Call to Spy) and Lucien (Jonas Bloquet, Marie Antoinette), newlyweds hardly in the throes of marital bliss; stowaway Jérôme (Yann Gael, Saloum) and stoker Olek (Maciej Musial, The Witcher), found among the vessel's bottom levels; and a Danish family that includes religious fanatic Iben (Maria Erwolter, Outlaw), her husband Anker (Alexandre Willaume, The Wheel of Time), their pregnant daughter Tove (Clara Rosager, Morbius), scarred son Krester (Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen, Borgen) and youngest child Ada (Vida Sjørslev, Carmen Curlers). And, thanks to the Prometheus, there's a mute boy (Fflyn Edwards, The Snow Spider) as well. With Friese and bo Odar pulling the strings, Dark and now 1899 instantly grab attention with their riddles, nightmarishly brooding mood and — as one series put right there in its name — their willingness to get and stay dark. Throw in the pair's penchant for existential musings, trippy setups and premise-shattering revelations, and both shows are catnip for mystery lovers. This one sports a heavy eat-the-rich vibe as well (although nowhere near as strong as 2022's also ship-set Cannes Palme d'Or-winner Triangle of Sadness), and contemplates how the unwanted turns that everyones' lives take shape our future choices and selves. With a moniker from the past, 1899 understands that no one can ever truly evade theirs, with our own personal histories causing not just ripples but waves and tsunamis. Friese and bo Odar have another crucial skill, however: casting. 1899 features an international collection of characters, each speaking their own tongue, all adding to the show's exploration of immigration and played by a stellar lineup of actors. The series has its on-screen talent act against a virtual studio, with special effects-created sets and locations made during the shoot — crafting 1899's effects in-camera, rather than afterwards — and the resonant performances that result bear the benefits. A Cannes Best Actress Award-winner for 2019's excellent Little Joe, Beecham is always potent to watch, but alongside fellow leads Pietschmann and Barnard she helps ensure that this mind-bender is as emotional as it is cerebral. All aboard, obviously. Check out the trailer for 1899 below: 1899 streams via Netflix.
Some would say it's a waste of a perfectly good piano, but what Canadian artist Maskull Lasserre does to wood is worth every unused inch. Lassere explores the unexpected potential of the everyday, unassuming wooden object, and with his exceptional carving skills, transforms them into incredible works of art. He reveals strange creatures and skeletons that seems to have been fossilised inside common inanimate objects such as pianos, doors, books or axes. The artist says his work is a demonstration of how once something ceases to be, it becomes something else: "When the remnants of life are imposed on an object, and that’s true especially with the carving work that I do, it infers a past history or a previous life that had been lived, so again where people see my work as macabre, I often see it as hopeful, as the remnants of a life. Despite the fact that the life has ended, at least that life had a beginning and middle as well, so often by imparting these bodily elements to inanimate objects it reclaims or reanimates them in a virtual way." Yes, his name is Maskull Lasserre. What a dude. via Viral Nova explore the unexpected potential of the everyday
UPDATE, August 12, 2022: Drive My Car is available to stream via Stan, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. More than four decades have passed since Haruki Murakami's debut novel reached shelves, and since the first film adaptation of his work followed, too; however, the two best page-to-screen versions of the author's prose have arrived in the past four years. It's easy to think about South Korean drama Burning while watching Drive My Car, because the two features — one Oscar-shortlisted, the other now the first Japanese movie to be nominated for Best Picture — spin the writer's words into astonishing, intricately observed portraits of human relationships. Both films are also exceptional. In the pair, Murakami's text is only a starting point, with his tales hitting the screen filtered through each picture's respective director. For Drive My Car, Japanese filmmaker Ryûsuke Hamaguchi does the honours, taking audiences riding through another of the Happy Hour, Asako I & II and with Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy helmer's layered, thoughtful and probing reflections on connection. Using Murakami's short story from 2014 collection Men Without Women as its basis, Drive My Car's setup is simple. Yes, the film's title is descriptive. Two years after a personal tragedy, actor/director Yūsuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima, Silent Tokyo) agrees to bring Chekhov's Uncle Vanya to the stage in Hiroshima, and the company behind it insists on giving him a chauffeur for his stay. He declines— he'd asked to stay an hour away from the theatre so he could listen to recorded tapes of the play on his drive — yet his new employers contend that it's mandatory for insurance and liability reasons. Enter 23-year-old Misaki Watari (Tôko Miura, Spaghetti Code Love), who becomes a regular part of Yūsuke's working stint in the city. Drive My Car doesn't hurry to its narrative destination, clocking in at a minute shy of three hours. It doesn't rush to get to its basic premise, either. Before the film's opening credits arrive 40 minutes in, it steps through Yūsuke's existence back when he was appearing in a version of Uncle Vanya himself, married to television scriptwriter Oto (Reika Kirishima, Japanese TV's Sherlock) and grappling with an earlier heartbreak. His wife is also sleeping with younger actor Takatsuki (Masaki Okada, Arc), which Yūsuke discovers, says nothing about but works towards discussing until fate intervenes. Then, when he sits in his red 1987 Saab 900 Turbo just as the movie's titles finally display, he's a man still wracked by grief. It's also swiftly clear that he's using his two-month Hiroshima residency as a distraction, even while knowing that this exact play — and Oto's voice on the tapes he keeps listening to — will always be deeply tied to his life-shattering loss. This prologue does more than set the scene; there's a reason that Hamaguchi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Takamasa Oe (The Naked Director), directs so much time its way. Where tales of tragedy and mourning often plunge into happy lives suddenly unsettled by something catastrophic or the process of picking up the pieces in the aftermath — typically making a concerted choice between one or the other — Drive My Car sees the two as the forever-linked halves of a complicated journey, as they are. The film isn't interested in the events that've forever altered the plot of Yūsuke's life, but in who he is, how he copes, and what ripples that inescapable hurt causes. It's just as fascinated with another fact: that so many of us have these stories. Just as losing someone and soldiering on afterwards are unshakeably connected, so are we all by sharing these cruel constants of life. The reality that anyone can have a history as complex and as coloured by pain is a lesson for Yūsuke to learn. Although he makes a living plumbing the depths of human emotion through art, and cathartically so, reading those same feelings into the people around him — recognising the same highs and lows in their experiences, as in his own — is a thornier path to chart. But in his daily treks to and from his theatre rehearsals, he starts making the trip towards that realisation as Misaki sits behind the wheel of his trusty Saab. Initially, neither speaks, with Oto's line readings via cassette breaking the silence. Yūsuke saves his words for the International cast he auditions and then directs, each relaying Uncle Vanya in their native tongues (or, in one instance, by an actor who is deaf and signs her dialogue). Slowly, though, the drives find their own language, as Misaki opens up about her past and vice versa. Forget Green Book and Driving Miss Daisy, American Oscar-applauded films similarly about drivers, passengers and unexpected camaraderie — Drive My Car is in a lane of its own, and not just because it isn't a simplistic and saccharine attempt to weave a heartwarming story out of racial reconciliation. Hamaguchi takes his central pair and his audience on a patient, engrossing and rewarding trip that cuts to the heart of dealing with life, love, loss, pain, shame and despair, and also sees how fickle twists of chance — a recurrent topic in the director's films — unavoidably dictate our routes. Another thing that the filmmaker does disarmingly well: ponder possibilities and acceptance, two notions that echo through both Yūsuke and Misaki's tales, and resonate with that always-winning combination of specificity and universality. Drive My Car is intimate and detailed about every element of its on-screen voyage and its character studies, and also a road map to soulful, relatable truths. Sitting — while driving and during rehearsals — is a recurrent sight in Drive My Car. It's fitting; this is a film to sit with. The movie's lengthy duration lets viewers take in its gorgeously shot visuals as they might revel in landscape spied from a car window, whether cinematographer Hidetoshi Shinomiya (Ju-on: Origins) is lensing the road as it winds by the Seto Inland Sea, spending time with the feature's core duo or chronicling Yūsuke's efforts at the theatre. Crisp, poetic and revealing even in a visit to a waste treatment facility, Drive My Car's naturalistic imagery provides a striking canvas for its affecting performances, too, with Nishijima and Miura as quietly expressive as any film — and any Murakami adaptation — could hope of its actors. In one of the picture's most stunning sequences, they chat by steps near the ocean, and the camera sees everything about their characters, and simply existing, and also tussling with life's pain, in each emotionally loaded closeup and sweeping, waterside wide shot. These are moments that drive a movie to greatness, and this moving and perceptive masterpiece is filled with them.
Semi-anonymous street artist JR has won the 2011 TED Award (we highly suggest listening to him speak here), and is appealing to you, the public, to help him turn the world inside out using street art as a medium for social and political change. Appreciating that the world is sometimes an ugly, always volatile place, JR believes in the power of the public — 'the curators', who walk past his iconic images on a daily basis — as a vehicle for worldwide upheaval. For JR, "that is where we realise the power of paper and glue." JR's mission is simple, and it's based on his existing body of work — "we didn't push the limit, we just showed that it was further than anyone thought." Now, JR is asking you to explore the boundaries of limit in order to imprint your better world upon the flawed one we already have. While the artist doesn't believe that art can change the world in a tangible sense, he holds firmly to the philosophy that art can be harnessed to change perceptions. The Inside-Out project urges you to "stand up for what you care about, by participating in a global art project... Because when we act together, the whole thing is more than the sum of its parts." Inside-Out asks participants to have their photo taken in this travelling booth (rumoured to hit New York next), or upload their picture to the projects website. JR's team will then mail you a giant poster that you'll paste up within your community. Both the romanticism and the practicality of the Inside-Out project is inspiring, with a certain poignancy bred from the physical joining together of people from across the world for a common cause.
The clip for Matt and Kim’s single, ‘It’s Alright’, begins with some half-naked horizontal dancing and ends with a pillow fight. What happens in the interim might teach you ‘a few things’, according to the New York-based dance punk duo. Quite a few people must’ve been gaining an education, given that the single’s LP, Lightning, debuted at Number One on the iTunes Alternative Chart. What’s more, Matt and Kim’s Twitter account has been receiving an abundance of responses to their #itsalrightxxx campaign. According to lead singer/keyboardist, Matt, who chatted to Channel V, it’s all about ‘trying to spread the word (of how to spice things up)’. Fortunately, for Antipodeans looking for some tips, distance won’t be a barrier for too much longer, with Matt and Kim coming out to play Groovin’ the Moo, as well as headline shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The scary thing is that their live performances are reputed to be even more explosive than their recordings. Look out.
It wasn't simply debuting during the pandemic's first year, in a life-changing period when everyone was doing it tough, that made Ted Lasso's first season a hit in 2020. It wasn't just the Apple TV+ sitcom's unshakeable warmth, giving its characters and viewers alike a big warm hug episode after episode, either. Both play a key part, however, because this Jason Sudeikis (Saturday Night Live)-starring soccer series is about everyone pitching in and playing a part. It's a team endeavour that champions team endeavours — hailing from a quartet of creators (Sudeikis, co-star Brendan Hunt, Detroiters' Joe Kelly and Scrubs' Bill Lawrence), boasting a killer cast in both major and supporting roles, and understanding how important it is to support one another on- and off-screen (plus in the fictional world that the show has created, and while making that realm so beloved with audiences). Ted Lasso has always believed in the individual players as well as the team they're in, though. It is named after its eponymous American football coach-turned-inexperienced soccer manager, after all. But in building an entire sitcom around a character that started as a sketch in two popular US television ads for NBC's Premier League coverage — around two characters, because Hunt's (Bless This Mess) laconic Coach Beard began in those commercials as well — Ted Lasso has always understood that everyone is only a fraction of who they can be when they're alone. That's an idea that keeps gathering momentum in the show's long-awaited third season, which premieres the first of its 12 episodes on Wednesday, March 15, then keeps rolling out more week by week. Season three starts with Ted left solo when he desperately doesn't want to be, in one of the rare situations that can cut through the Kansan-in-London's usually unflappable optimism. Season two helped unpack his perennially upbeat ways, and started to see fractures, so a less-than-chipper Ted is no longer a complete surprise. But Ted questioning why he's on the other side of the world, and alone away from his son Henry (Gus Turner, Life After Life) and now-former wife Michelle (Andrea Anders, That '90s Show)? That's how Ted Lasso's third season kicks off, and it scores a goal with that choice. The series has already established that its various figures — Ted, Beard and the AFC Richmond crew they joined when owner Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham, Hocus Pocus 2) brought them to the UK initially to tank her ex-husband's beloved club — can work as a team. Now it's going deep on why they want to. "I guess I do sometimes wonder what the heck I'm still doing here," says Ted. "I mean, I know why I came, but it's the sticking around I can't quite figure out," he continues. That's a new core thread, and a notion that echoes across other plots. After becoming West Ham United's manager under Rebecca's ex Rupert Mannion (Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Anthony Stewart Head), the Greyhounds' former assistant Nathan 'Nate' Shelley (Nick Mohammed, Intelligence) is thrilled and overwhelmed — and happy to keep his nasty streak going publicly, while also grappling with it privately. He knows why he joined a different team, as everyone who has seen the past two seasons does. But, as showdowns with his old club and mentor keep bubbling up, that isn't the same as knowing why he should commit to being Rupert's version of himself to stay with that team. Season three also has delightfully grumpy retired player Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein, Uncle) leaning into his coaching role at Richmond in Nate's absence, and face why he's doing it, including pushing him closer towards star striker Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster, The Devil's Hour). He has time, after his relationship with Keeley Jones (Juno Temple, The Offer) — now an ex to both Roy and Jamie — ended in season two, while she's exploring why she was so eager to start her own PR film. As for Jamie, his arc since episode one has been one of cockiness humbled by stark truths, then finding a sustainable status quo. When a new hotshot arrives, he also has to confront why he's part of the team and what he wants that to mean. As celebrated as Ted Lasso's entire cast is, with two acting Emmys for Sudeikis and Goldstein in two seasons, one for Waddingham, and nominations for Hunt, Temple, Mohammed, Jeremy Swift, Toheeb Jimoh, Sarah Niles and more, Dunster's performance deserves more notice. What will all this questioning lead to in season three? Ideally, to happier, kinder people who understand themselves better — Ted's ultimate goal always, ranking high above winning. But with Richmond back in the Premier League, Britain's football media predicting it'll be relegated again when the season is out, Rupert securing West Ham's success however he can and Rebecca desperate not to lose to the man she's already lost plenty to, winning matters more than it ever has in Ted Lasso. So, whether everyone will benefit from that journey, why they're taking it, what it'll cost and what it'll mean for the show's various teams sits at the heart of the season. Of course, as every TV viewer knows, a lot can happen in a season. Every sports fan, and anyone who has ever just watched a sports-themed TV show or movie, is well-aware, too. Higher stakes, deeper emotional dives: that's the first four episodes of Ted Lasso season three, across longer episodes that clock in between 40–50 minutes apiece. As the second season did, this go-around also broadens who it spends time with, giving Richmond players Colin Hughes (Billy Harris, The Outlaws) and Thierry Zoreaux (Moe Jeudy-Lamour, Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan) a bigger spotlight as Sam Obisanya (Jimoh, The French Dispatch) and Dani Rojas (Cristo Fernandez, Spider-Man: No Way Home) gained before them. There's that team focus again, so much so that Ted Lasso can't stop filling the field. Beard and Higgins (Swift, Housebound), the club's Director of Football Operations, still have Ted's back, and Dr Sharon Fieldstone (Niles, The Sandman) remains a call away. No Ted Lasso devotee wants to start thinking about its end game, but its creators have; a three-season arc has been discussed. Unlike Succession and Barry, a finish to the acclaimed hit hasn't been announced going into this new round of episodes — but as the series ponders why Ted and company have chosen their teams, what keeps them there, and what makes them better by being there, a feeling of change lingers in the air. Everything that's always made Ted Lasso a delight remains in season three, including its sincerity, warmth and care, determination to see both the joys and the struggles, and the pitch-perfect performances. Also, every season of the series has always started with new beginnings of a sort. If this one concludes the way it kicks off, though — whether or not there's a season four — then it looks set to embrace why teams achieve, fail, find success out of mess, are stronger together, but can only win when everyone does. Check out the trailer for Ted Lasso's third season below: Season three of Ted Lasso starts streaming via Apple TV+ from Wednesday, March 15. Read our full review of season two.
When a French store recently slashed the price of Nutella, customers went wild. Brawling and rioting was reported, and now the country's government is looking to change the laws regarding cheap supermarket promotions. Yes, it's safe to say that the chocolate hazelnut spread has more than a few fans. Here in Australia, we have a Nutella food truck, a Nutella festival and a Nutella dessert bar. And, from February 5 to 28, a dedicated Nutella menu at Salt Meats Cheese as well. Kicking off on International Nutella Day, because of course that's a thing, SMC 's Gasworks digs will be serving up 12 Nutella-filled items for your eating and drinking pleasure. Fancy a Nutella calzone, in both regular and Oreo varieties? New York-style Nutella ricotta cheesecake? Nutella deep fried in pastry? Nutella panna cotta? Gelato topped with Ferrero Rocher, Kinder Bueno and Nutella sauce drizzle? Of course you do. Or, sip and slurp up your favourite spread, with the Nutella espresso martini — with Skyy vodka, Nutella, coffee liqueur, muscovado sugar and cold drip espresso — certain to be popular. Marocchino Nutella, like they make in the substance's Italian home town, will also be available, as will Nutella lattes and frappes.
A Taiwanese filmmaker might've made your favourite movie, although you may not realise that. Adored the original The Wedding Banquet? A fan of Brokeback Mountain? Loved Life of Pi? Still in awe at Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon's action scenes? Thank Ang Lee (Gemini Man) — but he's just one of many talented directors from Taiwan. To dive into the depths of the rest of Taiwan's filmmaking prowess, Australia became home to the Taiwan Film Festival in Australia back in 2018. After starting in Sydney, it now tours to five other cities — including Brisbane, where it's playing across Saturday, August 30–Sunday, August 31, 2025 at Event Cinemas Brisbane City. This year's fest puts a particular focus on showcasing female perspectives. Daughter's Daughter kicks off the program, starring Sylvia Chang (Forget You Not) and screening fresh from its berth at Sydney Film Festival. Also a highlight: The Chronicles of Libidoists, about chasing desires. From there, get ready for a range of fellow titles that, outside of occasional berths at Australia's major fests, don't often make it to our shores. Organ Child has crime thrills covered, while Stranger Eyes is a Singaporean co-production — as well as the first Singaporean feature to ever premiere in Official Competition at the Venice International Film Festival. Or, catch the 4K restoration of Hou Hsiao-Hsien's (The Assassin) Tony Leung (Fox Hunt)-led 1998 great Flowers of Shanghai.
For one night only, Alternative Symphony is coming to Brisbane to play Daft Punk's greatest hits — with an orchestral spin. It's bringing together a full orchestra, assisted by DJs, drums, live vocalists and MCs. As with all electro events, expect immersive visuals and an elaborate light show. Due to their unique sound, as well as their visual style — combining ornate helmets and gloves to create robot personas — Daft Punk have become one of the most influential modern electronica acts. In addition to their exceptional TRON: Legacy score, the French duo has released four studio albums. The most recent, Random Access Memories, not only featured guest appearances from Pharrell Williams, Niles Rodgers and Giorgio Moroder, but also won Album of the Year at the Grammys. After performing the Daft Punk Orchestral Rendition show in the UK this year, Alternative Symphony will bring An Orchestral Rendition of Daft Punk: Greatest Hits to The Valley Drive In on Saturday, January 11, 2020. Tickets are on sale now — and this'll be a unique dance/classical cross-over night out.
Brisbane's midweek public holiday is upon us. You'd prefer sitting in a cinema to walking around the Ekka; however, maybe your wallet doesn't want to play ball. Call Dendy Cinemas' latest special a case of great timing, then, with the chain offering up discount tickets that'll solve your problem. All day on Wednesday, August 13, you'll only pay $8 for your movie of choice at Portside. Or movies. With everything from Weapons, F1 and How to Train Your Dragon to Freakier Friday, Superman, The Fantastic Four: First Steps and The Friend screening, there's plenty to watch if you're keen to spend as much time in a darkened room as possible. The special isn't available for special events, previews, Dendy Arts sessions or film festivals, but you're certain to find something to watch regardless. A PSA: book online and there will be a fee; however, your basic ticket will still just be $8.
Does your pet pooch have its own calendar? We're not talking about monthly cute canine pics — although every pet owner should definitely make their own. Rather, we mean a system to keep track of your doggo's social engagements. Given the number of pupper-friendly events happening around Brisbane, it's really not that far-fetched. Paws and Pints joined the growing list of markets, festivals, paddleboard sessions last November, and it's back to do so again on February 11. The Osbourne Hotel's doggy drinking session isn't just a chance to take your furry best friend for a few brews — with stalls, a puppy photo booth, a doggo door prize, drinks specials over Yappy Hour and donations going to the Animal Welfare League, it's quite the occasion. If the concept sounds familiar, that's because downing a few bevs with your barking mate in tow is becoming quite the Brissie trend. In fact, if you're taking old Fido to the Valley for this booze sesh, you can also walk him around a couple of corners to The Brightside's equivalent.
What's a Brisbanite to do when they want to go slipping and sliding in a big way? Head to Wet 'n' Wild on the coast? Fashion their own in the backyard? Reminisce about the demolished-but-not-forgotten Amazons? With previous attempts to bring this type of giant, watery, inflatable attraction to town falling short, they've been the options so far. That was before Slideapalooza was born. First slated for November 2017 but now taking place on January 13 to 14 and again on January 19 to 21, this slip 'n' slide to end all slip 'n' slides will roll out its plastic at Sirromet Winery. If you're thinking what we're thinking, yes that does mean alcohol is involved — plus food, because you'll need to keep your energy up if you're getting wet and watery, and non-boozy beverages as well. Now, the numbers game. There'll be over a kilometre of inflatable slides just for single sliders, including two super sky-high options to really get you soaring. And, there'll also be a six-lane behemoth for group sliding, which spans the length of a footy field. Tickets cost $59 for adults, with morning (9am to 11.30am), lunch (11.30am to 2pm) and afternoon (2pm to 4.30pm) sessions available on each day.
Time flies when you're slurping up Japanese noodle soups and having fun, as Paddington's Hai Hai clearly knows. It has been two years since they've opened their doors, and they're throwing a party to celebrate. Unlike any old birthday shindig, however, this one comes with free ramen. When the merriments kicks off on March 12, you'll want to arrive as close to 5pm as you can — the free brothy bowls will only be available to the first 200 customers. And, it's a dine-in only affair, so prepare for a line to get into the eatery's cute, cosy Latrobe Terrace digs. Sticking around past 6pm is recommended as well, as that's when some of Brissie's most dedicated ramen fiends will take part in Hai Hai's slurping competition. We're not quite sure how you win such a comp — fastest individual slurp? Loudest? Quickest person to slurp up the whole bowl? All of the above? — but it sounds tasty and entertaining either way.
Though you might be back in the office, there are still ways to treat yourself as if every day is a summer holiday. One such encounter is going down at Cucina Regina, who's bringing back their decadent midweek lunch special to ensure the good times keep flowing right through to the end of the season. Running until Thursday, February 26, you're invited to indulge in the much-loved restaurant's bottomless pizza and Aperol spritz experience. Served up for $54 per person, this feast pairs classic slices like margherita, diavola, ortolana and boscaiola with a free pour of Veneto's most famous orange cocktail on arrival. Presented within Cucina Region's European-style dining room, it won't take long to feel like you're holidaying alongside the Amalfi or Adriatic. Available every Monday–Thursday from 12–2.30pm, there's little chance of rushing back to the desk. In fact, the whole experience is designed to be playfully social, where it's all about la dolce vita, not simply a quick feed. Taking cues from old-school trattorias amid Queens Wharf, expect Cucina Regina's comforting midweek special to nail all the notes of an idyllic Med-like long lunch.
Over the past few years, as the music world has lost many an icon, we've all developed a routine. When terrible news arrives, Spotify and YouTube get quite the workout as well all immerse ourselves in tunes and videos. Sound familiar? For Brisbanites looking to extend their cathartic listening and viewing to a public place, that's where Kristian Fletcher's tribute nights come in. With the passing of Dolores O'Riordan, he's heading to the New Globe Theatre and cranking out The Cranberries' tracks on their big screen. Yes, you do have to let it linger as the Irish band's songs well and truly get in your head from 6.30pm on January 25. Entry is free, the bar will be open, and the lineup includes back-to-back music videos followed by a recording of The Cranberries in concert.
The term 'ladies night' mightn't always make you want to rush to a bar, but Dolls 'n' Drams should. Held on International Women's Day on March 8, it's The Gresham's way of celebrating a tasty type of amber spirits and the ladies who love it. We'll say cheers to that. Cocktails on arrival, tastings, samples and just all-round tasty beverages: they're all on offer. So are charcuterie, spending time with fellow whisky aficionados and just generally giving a dram. Attendees will get all of the above for $45, with the fun kicking off at 7pm. As for the exact tipples you'll be drinking, Suntory's Yamazaki Japanese whisky will be in the spotlight, plus a few others from Scotland, Ireland and the US. It's basically a global tour just for your whisky-loving tastebuds, and it sounds like a successful evening to us.
Brisbane's culinary scene is no stranger to big openings, but it's likely that only Settimo, the new restaurant that's set to settle into The Westin Brisbane, has been likened to Italian film icon Sophia Loren. The person making the comparison: Melbourne's superstar chef Guy Grossi, who is behind the soon-to-open eatery, and calls it "really light, fun and breezy" — but also vibrant and sophisticated. Grossi's first venture into Brisbane — and his second beyond his hometown, alongside Perth's Garum — Settimo is slated to open its doors in either spring or summer 2022. Given that it takes inspiration from the Amalfi Coast, that's fitting timing. Indeed, pairing coastal Italian dishes with Brissie's sunny, summery weather is a big motivation behind the restaurant. Another aim: whisking tastebuds away to Positano, courtesy of a menu that heroes the best of the Amalfi Coast. Exactly which dishes will be on offer hasn't yet been revealed, but they'll focus on seasonal produce from international and local producers, as paired with a considerable wine list. Settimo will join Grossi's stable of restaurants alongside Melbourne's Grossi Florentino, Ombra and Arlechin, and also the aforementioned Garum in Western Australia — which is located inside The Westin Perth. "I am truly delighted to be bringing a new Grossi restaurant what is already such an exciting market for hospitality in Brisbane, working with The Westin Brisbane to bring to life a playful, Amalfi-inspired restaurant, in the heart of the city," commented the chef, author and TV personality in a statement announcing Settimo. "We're thrilled to continue building on the wonderful partnership between The Westin and Guy Grossi. Garum at The Westin Perth has showcased incredible success and we're looking forward to bringing this collaboration to Brisbane's burgeoning world-class dining scene." said Brad Mercer, The Westin Brisbane's General Manager. The eatery is now recruiting — and if you're keen for a look at what's in store, check out the video featuring Grossi below: Settimo will open sometime in spring/summer 2022 in The Westin Brisbane, 111 Mary Street, Brisbane — we'll update you with an exact opening date when one is announced.
Every December, the Geminids meteor shower lights up our skies. Considered to be the most spectacular meteor shower of the year, it's caused by a stream of debris, left by an asteroid dubbed the 3200 Phaethon, burning up in Earth's atmosphere. The shower is expected to be visible from around 10.30pm in Sydney, 11pm in Melbourne, 10pm in Perth and 9pm in Brisbane on Saturday, December 14 through to the early morning on Sunday, December 15. The best time to catch an eyeful will be after midnight, when the moon has set and its light will not interfere, and before sunrise. While some years you could catch as many as 120 meteors every 60 minutes, this year, unfortunately, there's almost a full moon (a waning gibbous), which will make it harder to see as many. [caption id="attachment_699423" align="alignnone" width="1920"] NASA, Marshall Space Flight Center, Jeff Dai.[/caption] But the Sydney Observatory says it's "still worth a try". So, get as far away from bright lights as possible — this could be a good excuse to head out of the city to a clear-skied camping spot — and pray for no clouds. To see the meteors, you'll need to give your eyes around 15–30 minutes to adapt to the dark (so try to avoid checking your phone) and look to the northeast. The shower's name comes from the constellation from which they appear to come, Gemini. So that's what you'll be looking for in the sky. To locate Gemini, we recommend downloading the Sky Map app — it's the easiest way to navigate the night sky (and is a lot of fun to use even on a non-meteor shower night). If you're more into specifics, Time and Date also has a table that shows the direction and altitude of the Geminids. The Geminids meteor shower will take place during the night on Saturday, December 14. Top image: A composite of 163 photos taken over 90 minutes during the Geminids by Jeff Smallwood for Flickr.
Something delightful has been happening in cinemas in some parts of the country. After numerous periods spent empty during the pandemic, with projectors silent, theatres bare and the smell of popcorn fading, picture palaces in many Australian regions are back in business — including both big chains and smaller independent sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. During COVID-19 lockdowns, no one was short on things to watch, of course. In fact, you probably feel like you've streamed every movie ever made, including new releases, Studio Ghibli's animated fare and Nicolas Cage-starring flicks. But, even if you've spent all your time of late glued to your small screen, we're betting you just can't wait to sit in a darkened room and soak up the splendour of the bigger version. Thankfully, plenty of new films are hitting cinemas so that you can do just that — and we've rounded up, watched and reviewed everything on offer this week. THE BLACK PHONE The Black Phone didn't need to star Ethan Hawke. In a way, it doesn't really. Fresh from Moon Knight and The Northman, Hawke is definitely in this unsettling 1978-set horror film. He's also exceptional in it. But his top billing springs from his name recognition and acting-veteran status rather than his screen time. Instead, superb up-and-comer Mason Thames gets the bulk of the camera's attention in his first feature role. After him, equally outstanding young talent Madeleine McGraw (Ant-Man and The Wasp) comes next. They spend most of their time worrying about, hearing rumours of, hiding from, battling and/or trying to track down a mask-wearing, van-driving, child-snatching villain — the role that Hawke plays in a firmly supporting part, almost always beneath an eerie disguise. Visibly at least, anyone could've donned the same apparel and proven an on-screen source of menace. There's a difference between popping something creepy over your face and actually being creepy, though. Scary masks can do a lot of heavy lifting, but they're also just a made-to-frighten facade. Accordingly, when it comes to being truly petrifying, Hawke undoubtedly makes The Black Phone. He doesn't literally; his Sinister director Scott Derrickson helms, and also co-wrote the script with that fellow horror flick's C Robert Cargill, adapting a short story by Stephen King's son Joe Hill — and the five-decades-back look and feel, complete with amber and grey hues, plus a nerve-rattling score, are all suitably disquieting stylistic touches. But as the movie's nefarious attacker, Hawke is unnervingly excellent, and also almost preternaturally unnerving in every moment. Whenever he opens his mouth, his voice couldn't echo from anyone else; however, it's the nervy, ominous and bone-weary physicality that he brings to the character that couldn't be more pitch-perfect. Everyone is tired in The Black Phone, albeit in varying ways. At first, that comes as a surprise — it's a looser, more laidback time, and the film happily rides the vibe in its opening Little League game. Still, that relaxed air comes with its own sense of anxiety. What's better, an era when kids escape their homes during daylight, roaming the streets as they like but also instilled with a festering sense of stranger danger, or a period where such unsupervised freedom seems utterly unthinkable? This movie lurks in the former, obviously, and there is indeed a dangerous stranger prowling around north Denver's suburban streets. To 13-year-old Finney Blake (Thames), his younger sister Gwen (McGraw) and their schoolmates, that monstrous figure is known as The Grabber, and he's abducted several of their peers so far. Finney and Gwen are also exhausted at home, where their alcoholic father Terrence (Jeremy Davies, The House That Jack Built) is hardly hands-on — unless his hands are flying in anger their way. At school, Finney has a trio of bullies to deal with, too; luckily, if his pal Robin (first-timer Miguel Cazarez Mora) isn't around to save him, the plucky and sweary Gwen usually is. She's zapped as well, courtesy of dreams of events that haven't quite happened yet. The pair's mother had the same ability, which is why their dad is so sozzled, and also so hard on the two of them. Fatigue is well and truly in the air, thick yet invisible, although The Grabber's (Hawke) is the flimsiest. After taking Finney, he's drained by his need to kidnap and kill. That doesn't stop him from terrorising the neighbourhood, of course — but if his latest target has his way, aided by advice whispered down the disconnected basement telephone by past victims, the masked assailant might soon be far worse than simply weary. Read our full review. OFFICIAL COMPETITION Every actor has one, albeit in various shades, lengths and textures, but sometimes one single hairstyle says everything about a film. Wildly careening in whichever direction it seems to feel like at any point, yet also strikingly sculptural, the towering reddish stack of curly locks atop Penélope Cruz's head in Official Competition is one such statement-making coiffure. It's a stunning sight, with full credit to the movie's hairstylists. These tremendous tresses are both unruly and immaculate; they draw the eye in immediately, demanding the utmost attention. And, yes, Cruz's crowning glory shares those traits with this delightful Spanish Argentine farce about filmmaking — a picture directed and co-written by Mariano Cohn and Gastуn Duprat (The Distinguished Citizen), and also starring Antonio Banderas (Uncharted) and Oscar Martínez (Wild Tales), that it's simply impossible to look away from. Phenomenal hair is just the beginning for Cruz here. Playing filmmaker Lola Cuevas — a Palme d'Or-winning arthouse darling helming an ego-stroking prestige picture for rich octogenarian businessman Humberto Suárez (José Luis Gómez, Truman) — she's downright exceptional as well. Humberto decides to throw some cash into making a movie in the hope of leaving a legacy that lasts, and enlisting Lola to work her magic with a Nobel Prize-winning novel called Rivalry is quite the coup. So is securing the talents of flashy global star Félix Rivero (Banderas) and serious theatre actor Iván Torres (Martínez), a chalk-and-cheese pair who'll work together for the first time, stepping into the shoes of feuding brothers. But before the feature can cement its backer's name in history, its three key creatives have to survive an exacting rehearsal process. Lola believes in rigorous preparation, and in testing and stretching her leading men, with each technique she springs on them more outlandish and stressful than the last. As Lola, Cruz is a 'find yourself someone who can do both'-kind of marvel. She's clearly starring in a comedy, and her timing, rhythms and line delivery are as fine-tuned as any acting great who has ever tried to amuse an audience — and serve up a hefty reminder that viewers rarely get to see her in such a role — but she perfects the drama of the situation, too. The latter stems from Lola's male leads, who are caught up in a clash of egos, and from the director herself as she keeps eagerly but purposefully pulling their strings. Light, fluid, sharp, smart: they all fit this savvily portrayed character, and never for a second does Cruz feel like she's seesawing too easily, needlessly or temperamentally from comic to serious and back. Earlier in 2022, she was nominated for an Oscar for her sublime performance in Parallel Mothers — an award she deserved to win, but didn't — and although Official Competition couldn't be a more different film, she's just as much of a force to be reckoned with within its frames. Cohn and Duprat might have a little of Lola in them, as well as conjuring her up with fellow scribe Andrés Duprat (My Masterpiece). The Argentine filmmaking duo's rehearsal methods aren't part of the movie, obviously, and it's likely that they didn't wrap their cast in cling wrap as their protagonist hilariously does — but, whatever mechanisms they deployed, they obtain outstanding performances from their key players. This is Cruz's film, but Banderas revels in the chance to cleverly and cannily satirise his profession and industry as much as she does, with the two teaming up yet again after featuring side by side in plenty of Pedro Almodóvar's movies (see: Pain and Glory most recently). The playful teasing is ramped up a level, and there's a greater emphasis on his killer stare, which can flip from brooding to charming to pouting in an instant; however, the result remains remarkable. Martínez plays it relatively straight in-between his co-stars, but is no less compelling; Iván has his own ego battles. Read our full review. WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING Timing is everything in Where the Crawdads Sing, the murder-mystery melodrama set in America's Deep South that raced up bestseller lists in 2018, and now reaches cinemas a mere four years later. Its entire narrative hinges upon a simple question: did North Carolina outcast and recluse Kya Clark (Daisy Edgar-Jones, Fresh), cruelly nicknamed "the marsh girl" by locals, have time to speed home from an out-of-town stay to push star quarterback Chase Andrews (Harris Dickinson, The King's Man) from a fire tower, then resume her trip without anyone noticing? On the page, that query helped propel Delia Owens' literary sensation to success, to Reese Witherspoon's book club — she's a producer here — and to a swift film adaptation. But no timing would likely have ever been right for the movie's release, given that Owens and her husband are wanted for questioning in a real-life murder case in Zambia. Unlike the film, those off-screen details aren't new, but they were always bound to attract attention again as soon as this feature arrived. One of the reasons they're inescapable: the purposeful parallels between Owens' debut novel and her existence. Like Kya, Owens is a naturalist. The also southern-born author spent years preferring the company of plants and animals, crusading for conservation causes in Africa. Where the Crawdads Sing is timed to coincide with Owens' own life as well; it's set in the 50s and 60s and, as a child (played by Jojo Regina, The Chosen) and a teenager, Kya is around the same age that Owens would've been then. Another reason that the ways that art might link with reality can't be shaken, lingering like a sultry, squelchy day: what ends up on-screen is as poised, pristine and polished as a swampy southern gothic tale can be, and anyone in one. There's still a scandal, but forget dirt, sweat and anything but lush, vivid wilderness, plus a rustic hut that wouldn't look out of place on Airbnb. That Instagram-friendly aesthetic comes courtesy of filmmaker Olivia Newman (First Match), who helms a visually enticing movie — again, incongruously so given the story it unfurls and the location it dwells in — that's as typical as a murder-mystery meets coming-of-age tale meets southern romance can be. The film starts with Chase's body, the investigation that springs and the certainty around the insular small town of Barkley Cove that the supposedly feral and uncivilised marsh girl is responsible. Evidence is thin, but bigotry runs deep against someone who grew up with an abusive father (Garret Dillahunt, Ambulance), was left behind by her other family members and spent the bulk of her years fending for herself in poverty. That said, as in Owens' source material, that's just the framework. On the screen, though, Where the Crawdads Sing's dive into Kya's life feels like it's also been adapted from Nicholas Sparks' pages. Most of Barkley Cove has always shunned Kya, other than generous store owners Jumpin' (Sterling Macer Jr, House of Lies) and Mabel (Michael Hyatt, The Little Things), who she sells mussels to — the feature's only Black characters, who are woefully only used to stress how callous the rest of the town proves, rather than to even dream of digging into matters of race in America's south as the civil rights movement started to gather steam. Also kindly, taking on her defence, is her Atticus Finch-esque local lawyer Tom Milton (David Strathairn, Nightmare Alley). But romance still blossoms not once but twice for Kya, first with the doting, poetry-reading Tate Walker (Taylor John Smith, Blacklight), and then with arrogant rich kid Chase. That's where Newman's film prefers to reside, charting the ups and downs of Kya's affairs of the heart. That's why the movie appears so immaculate that it shimmers with a marsh-chic gleam as well. Read our full review. If you're wondering what else is currently screening in Australian cinemas — or has been lately — check out our rundown of new films released in Australia on April 7, April 14, April 21 and April 28; and May 5, May 12, May 19 and May 26; June 2, June 9, June 16, June 23 and June 30; and July 7 and July 14. You can also read our full reviews of a heap of recent movies, such as Fantastic Beasts and the Secrets of Dumbledore, Ambulance, Memoria, The Lost City, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Happening, The Good Boss, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, The Northman, Ithaka, After Yang, Downton Abbey: A New Era, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, Petite Maman, The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Firestarter, Operation Mincemeat, To Chiara, This Much I Know to Be True, The Innocents, Top Gun: Maverick, The Bob's Burgers Movie, Ablaze, Hatching, Mothering Sunday, Jurassic World Dominion, A Hero, Benediction, Lightyear, Men, Elvis, Lost Illusions, Nude Tuesday, Ali & Ava, Thor: Love and Thunder, Compartment No. 6, Sundown, The Gray Man and The Phantom of the Open.
Victorians are preparing to say goodbye to plastic bags as the Victorian Government last night announced it will clear everyone's cupboards of single-use plastic carriers via a statewide ban. Premier Daniel Andrews announced the ban last night on The Project, saying that "we know this is really important for the environment, particularly for our waterways, for landfill [and] for waste management". This comes in direct response to a #BanTheBag Change.org petition run by the nightly Ten current affairs program. Premier @DanielAndrewsMP announces Victoria's plan to #BanTheBag! What say you, @GladysB? #auspol #TheProjectTV pic.twitter.com/J9u26wa5xr — The Project (@theprojecttv) October 17, 2017 The move brings the state into line with South Australia, the ACT, the Northern Territory, Tasmania and Queensland, who announced it will next year ditch lightweight single-use plastic bags in September. It follows the news that Woolworths and Coles will also be doing the same nationwide. NSW is now the only state that hasn't committed to banning single-use bags. Victoria's ban might seem like a long time coming — but, well, better late than never. It's unclear whether the ban will cover just lightweight plastic bags or both degradable and biodegradable options. Further details are expected to be announced by Environment Minister Lily D'Ambrosio today.
A shadowy old house. A strange little boy. An unexplained object that won't go away. There's nothing particularly revolutionary about The Babadook; it's simply a matter of execution. Taking time-honoured plot points that in lesser hands would seem cliched, Queensland director Jennifer Kent has managed to craft a film that feels both entirely original and utterly terrifying. Featuring both a gripping lead performance by Essie Davis and one of the most creepifying monsters to ever stalk your dreams, The Babadook sets a bar by which future local horror films will be measured. Davis plays Amelia, the overwhelmed, widowed mother of a seven-year-old problem child named Samuel (newcomer Noah Wiseman). A maladjusted and volatile lad with a penchant for producing homemade weapons, Sammy is quite the handful for his mum, who's still haunted by the trauma of losing her husband in a car-wreck while driving to the hospital on the night of her Samuel's birth. One evening, while putting Samuel to bed, Amelia finds a mysterious new book on the boy's bookshelf. Written in Dr Seuss-style rhymes, the story it tells is of a strange, spindly-fingered creature named Mr Babadook. Although innocent at first, the stanzas grow steadily more menacing. Of course, by the time Amelia clues on to the fact that this might not be suitable bedtime reading, the damage has already been done. In an age when 'scary' is so often mistaken for 'bloody', Kent gives us a reminder of the power of anticipation. With next to zero onscreen violence, The Babadook is the kind of slow-burn horror movie that gets under your skin and raises the hairs on your neck; the kind of horror movie that has you bracing yourself for the next scare yet still catches you off guard when the monster finally rears its ugly head. A stop-frame creation that lurks in the shadows, the eponymous Babadook moves with a slithering unreality that seems to freeze the blood vessels in your brain. You know he can't exist. And yet he does. The terror comes also from our empathy with Amelia and Sam. Present in just about every scene, Davis is phenomenally good as Amelia, a worn-down figure who becomes increasingly erratic, and then monstrous herself, as the Babadook's presence grows stronger. More than once, the film implies that the creature may just be a product of Amelia's frazzled mind, pushed to the brink by the death of her husband and the constant demands of her son. In truth, that might be the most frightening suggestion of all. Kent doesn't quite stick the landing, unfortunately. Ambiguity is one thing, but the ending here is just plain unclear. Even so, an unsatisfying coda doesn't undo what came before. To anyone who can handle their heart in their throat, consider The Babadook highly recommended. To anyone who can handle their heart in their throat, consider The Babadook highly recommended. https://youtube.com/watch?v=IuQELNFtr-g
A cucumber is more or less responsible for Andrew Mowbray's obsession with the gourd. Wandering around his garden one fateful morning, he made a rather unusual discovery. Between his fence and a tree, a cucumber was growing, but as a result of being squashed on both sides, it looked more like a hard, green pancake - 'pressed flat with rounded edges and completely trapped'. Finding the form 'formally interesting' and 'architecturally amazing', he started thinking about how he might be able to re-create it in a manner that would not be threatened by decomposition. Research led him to the Lagenaria gourd, which won't come as a surprise to those acquainted with the robust plant. When people initially came up with the idea of cultivating plants, the Lagenaria gourd was one of the first with which they experimented. Once dried, it becomes as tough as wood, making for a trusty container, bottle, ladle or birdhouse. The West Africans were the first to transform it into an instrument, and the concept soon spread through Asia, the Americas, the Caribbean and the Pacific Islands. The gourd is one of the few plants that we grow for aesthetic and practical purposes, rather than to feed ourselves. Now, Mowbray is taking its functionality to new heights, by transforming the gourd into a building block. He grows each one in an acrylic container, which is cubic, with semi-circular depressions enabling the development of 'nubs or buttons'. A modular unit' can be created by locking several of them together. At the same time, he is exploring the sculptural potential of the gourd's form, through emulation with plaster, cement and other materials. [VIA Inhabitat]
If your end-of-summer plans usually involve hitting up St Jerome's Laneway Festival for a day of tunes, rejoice: the beloved annual event is here with a new round of dates for 2024. Actually, it wants you to mark your calendar not once but twice. Exactly when and where it'll take place next year has been revealed, and so has when the lineup will drop. If you're all about who'll be playing, you will still need to wait until Tuesday, September 5 to get the details. So, for now, just know that Laneway has locked in returns in Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth and Auckland, all in February. There's a bit of stability to next year's list of venues, after 2023 took Laneway to a heap of new spots. The festival started by Danny Rogers and Jerome Borazio in the mid-00s will kick off at Brisbane Showgrounds on Saturday, February 3, then head to Sydney Showground on Sunday, February 4 — so, exactly where it took place this year. Still in Australia, Laneway also has a Friday, February 9 date with Bonython Park in Adelaide on the agenda, then a Saturday, February 10 run at The Park, Flemington in Melbourne and a Sunday, February 11 wrap-up show in Wellington Square in Perth. Again, these are all the same locations that 2023's fests hit up. Over in New Zealand, the event will take over Western Springs in Auckland on Tuesday, February 6. That date means that it's moving to Waitangi Day. And 2024's venue comes after 2023's Auckland Laneway stop was cancelled due to due to the Auckland floods. As for the lineup, start guessing. In 2023, HAIM, Joji and Phoebe Bridgers headlined, in what marked a comeback for Laneway for the first time since the pandemic began. Before that, in 2020, the roster of talent was headed up by the likes of The 1975, Charli XCX and Earl Sweatshirt, as well as a host of local favourites like Ruel, DMA's and Ocean Alley. LANEWAY FESTIVAL 2024 DATES: Saturday, February 3 — Brisbane Showgrounds, Brisbane / Turrbal Targun Sunday, February 4 — Sydney Showground, Sydney / Burramattagal and Wangal Land Tuesday, February 6 — Western Springs, Auckland / Tāmaki Makaurau Friday, February 9 — Bonython Park, Adelaide / Kaurna Yerta Saturday, February 10 — The Park, Flemington, Melbourne / Wurundjeri Biik Sunday, February 11 — Wellington Square, Perth / Whadjuk Boodjar St Jerome's Laneway Festival will tour Australia and New Zealand in February 2024. Head to the festival's website for further details, and to register for ticket pre sales (which kick off at 11am local time on Tuesday, September 12) — and check back here for next year's lineup when it drops on Tuesday, September 5. Images: Daniel Boud / Maclay Heriot / Cedric Tang.
