Overview
For local music-lovers, 2022 is set to go out with a bang. You'd best clear that calendar and warm up your ticket-purchasing finger because Victoria's new statewide music celebration Always Live just dropped its bumper program spanning from late October to early December. It's dishing up a star-studded lineup of gigs and concerts, featuring everyone from Dua Lipa and Sophie Ellis-Bextor, to Yothu Yindi and Sampa the Great.
The newly announced spring program features a huge 150 local and international artists playing over 90 shows sprinkled across 12 different regions. And yes, that means there's something for every kind of music fan.
Sampa the Great, Lucian Coman
UK disco-pop sensation Dua Lipa will be touching down to play the only small theatre show of her upcoming global tour, hitting the Palais Theatre for an intimate 2500-capacity, Victorian-only gig.
Hip hop visionary Sampa the Great will return to her one-time hometown of Melbourne to showcase her new album As Above So Below live, while multiple ARIA Award-winner Jessica Mauboy joins a lineup of emerging stars playing a concert in Bright's Pioneer Park.
And Aussie rock royalty Crowded House are headed to Wodonga for a one-off show on the banks of the Murray, joined on the bill by fellow local faves Angus & Julia Stone and Boy & Bear.
Toro y Moi
The international names will be here in force, too, including US chillwave pioneer Toro y Moi and Brooklyn-based folk rockers Big Thief. Plus, UK star Sophie Ellis-Bextor — recent addition to the Summer Camp lineup — is set to play a tiny show at the NGV Garden International Restaurant, to an audience of just 100.
Australia's own Yothu Yindi will headline a roll call of established and rising First Nations musical activists for Blaktivism at Hamer Hall; while The Curtin Hotel's Bad Apples House Party will showcase stacks more Indigenous talent, including Briggs, Mo'Ju and Chasing Ghosts.
Bendigo is set to fire up for new three-day music fest Almost Summer, featuring the likes of Bananagun and Black Cab, and St Kilda celebration Lovely Day serves up a beachside showcase starring The Teskey Brothers, Emma Volard and New York's Emily King.
Yothu Yindi
The return of the OK Motels series sees names like Cash Savage and The Last Drinks, and Nice Biscuit descend on the regional town of Charlton; The Far Side (FKA The Pharcyde) joins the freshest acts in hip hop, soul and R&B for FLOW Festival; and Rockin' the 'Burbs invites Aussie rock legends like Magic Dirt, Wendy Matthews and The Black Sorrows to grace the stage at some of the city's most iconic suburban haunts.
Of course, this blockbuster lineup is on top of Always Live's many previously announced November shows, including Billy Joel's sold-out concert at the MCG, and Nick Cave and Warren Ellis' two-date Hanging Rock appearance.
The Teskey Brothers, by Nick Mckinlay
To check out Always Live's full program and to grab tickets, jump onto the website.