The Summer Concert Guide to Sydney

We hope you weren’t expecting to get much work done this summer. The Sydney concert calendar is bursting with so much talent that getting to the ‘must-sees’ alone could be your full-time job. This summer will see an impressive array of international acts packing their bags for Sydney’s festival frenzy, some exciting local collaborations featuring at the Sydney Festival, and a barrage of side shows throughout the new year.

The Sydney Opera House will provide your indie-folk fix, serving up a tantalizing platter of international wonders including Fleet Foxes and Beirut in early January, and Bon Iver later in March. During the Sydney Festival, they’ll also play host to Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Nick Zinner and his new friends at the Australian Youth Orchestra, bound to bewitch us with 41 Strings, his eclectic composition featuring acoustic and electric, violins and synths.

The Keystone Festival Bar in the Hyde Park Barracks - everybody’s favourite cheeky midweek night out - has more fun in store for us at the 2012 Sydney Festival. The bar will be nicely christened by Dan Deacon joined by his five-piece ensemble and Animal Collective keyboarder, John Maus. The following week will see a double dose of So Frenchy So Chic, featuring the soulful Nigerian-French artists Asa and Fefe, followed by Nouvella Vague and Moriarty reinterpreting the '80s. The Sydney Festival will also see Beth Orton mixing folk and electronics in the ethereal acoustics of the City Recital Hall after her five year absence from Oz.

The Enmore delivers a comprehensive collection of acts in 2012, dotted with festival sideshows including Laneway headliner Feist, Girl Talk and The Drums. A definite highlight on their calendar is alternative hip hop group Odd Future, a killer collective all the way from LA.

A summer line up this good is not going to be easy on the wallet. Let’s just hope that after a couple of months of epic gigs followed by dusty days at work, you’ve still got your day job.

December

December 1 - Armin Van Buuren @ Metro Theatre
December 2 - Donny Benet @ FBi Social
December 8 - Future Of The Left @ Annandale Hotel
December 10 - Gang Gang Dance @ Sydney Opera House, Studio
December 16 - Oscar & Martin @ Oxford Art Factory
December 30 - Architecture in Helsinki @ Cargo Bar
December 31 - Little Red and Jinja Safari @ Rock Lily, Pyrmont

January

January 2-4 - Fleet Foxes @ Sydney Opera House, Concert Hall
January 2 - Dum Dum Girls @ Oxford Art Factory
January 3 - Grouplove @ The Factory Theatre
January 4 - Aloe Blacc @ Enmore Theatre
January 5 - Beirut @ Sydney Opera House, Concert Hall
January 5 - Metronomy @ Manning Bar
January 6 - The Kooks @ Hordern Pavilion
January 7 - Holly Throsby @ Sydney Festival First Night, Hyde Park
January 8 - Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro and Electric Empire @ Keystone Festival Bar
January 8-10 - The Jolly Boys @ The Famous Spiegeltent, Honda Festival Garden
January 9 - Deerhoof and DJ Yamantaka Eye (The Boredoms) @ Keystone Festival Bar
January 11 - Dan Deacon Ensemble and John Maus @ Keystone Festival Bar
January 12 - Sons and Daughters, Songs & The Laurels @ Keystone Festival Bar
January 13 - Shabazz Palaces, Taylor McFerrin & Shangaan Electro @ Keystone Festival Bar
January 13 - Arctic Monkeys @ Enmore Theatre
January 14 - Picnic: Andrew Weatherall & Neville Watson @ Keystone Festival Bar
January 14 - Summer Sounds in the Domain: Mike Patton’s Mondo Cane @ The Domain
January 14-15 - CANT @ The Famous Spiegeltent, Honda Festival Garden
January 17 - Julianna Barwick @ The Famous Spiegeltent, Honda Festival Garden
January 17-18 - Beth Orton @ City Recital Hall Angel Place
January 17-21 - iOTA: Young, Hard and Solo @ Sydney Opera House, Play House
January 18 - So Frenchy So Chic: Asa & Fefe @ Keystone Festival Bar
January 18-19 - PJ Harvey @ State Theatre
January 20 - Tune-Yards and Jonti @ Keystone Festival Bar
January 21 - The Whitest Boy Alive & New Navy @ Keystone Festival Bar
January 21 - Dan Sultan & Busby Marou with Kasey Chambers @ Old King’s School Site
January 22 - 41 Strings by Nick Zinner @ Sydney Opera House, Concert Hall
January 23 - Battles @ Metro Theatre
January 23 - Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds @ Enmore Theatre
January 24 - Odd Future @ Enmore Theatre
January 24 - Kitty, Daisy & Lewis @ Metro Theatre
January 24 - Kasabian @ Hordern Pavilion
January 25 - Washington presents Insomnia @ Sydney Opera House
January 25 - Foster the People @ Enmore Theatre
January 25 - Mad Racket: Peven Everett @ Keystone Festival Bar
January 27 - Royksopp @ Enmore Theatre
January 27 - The Stepkids & Electric Wire Hustle @ Keystone Festival Bar
January 28 - Cavalera Conspiracy @ Metro Theatre
January 28 - Girl Talk @ Enmore Theatre
January 28 - Future Classic: DJ Koze & Prins Thomas @ Keystone Festival Bar
January 28-29 - Eleanor Friedberger @ The Famous Spiegeltent, Honda Festival Garden

February

February 2 - The Horrors @ Metro Theatre
February 6 - Wu Lyf @ Metro Theatre
February 7 - Feist @ Enmore Theatre
February 7 - Portugal The Man/Givers @ Metro Theatre
February 8 - The Drums + Cults @ Enmore Theatre
February 8 - Anna Calvi @ Metro Theatre
February 8 - Glasser @ The Standard
February 9 - Laura Marling @ Sydney Opera House, Concert Hall
February 9 - M83 @ Metro Theatre
February 9 - Austra @ The Basement
February 24 - Death Cab for Cutie @ Enmore Theatre

March

March 11-13 - Bon Iver @ Sydney Opera House, Concert Hall
March 16-17 - Kate Miller-Heidke @ Sydney Opera House, Studio