Located within the historical Garden State Hotel on Flinders Lane, Tippy-Tay is Melbourne's love letter to the coastlines of Italy. Walk across the yellow and green brick-framed threshold of this stylish trattoria and be transported immediately to the Mediterranean. The menu embraces everything that we love about Italian food: simple, well-sourced ingredients and dishes designed to share. Start your meal with freshly shucked oysters, octopus 'salami' or pumpkin and goat's cheese arancini. Move onto antipasti with wagyu carpaccio, yellowfin tuna or parmesan custard with radicchio, orange, and hazelnuts. Pasta dishes include a classic spanner crab fusilli or Manjimup truffle and porcini mafaldine — or try something a little different with two-sheet lasagne verde with slipper lobster, prawn, mussels and scallops in a white sauce. Tippy-Tay is slinging pizzas like the lobster diavola with slipper lobster, 'nduja, cherry tomato, chilli and garlic alongside classics like margherita and cacio e pepe. Mains include options like grilled swordfish with golden olive caponata and fennel, roasted eggplant with chickpeas, tomato and chilli, and 250-gram Jack's Creek bavette steak with rocket and parmesan. Can't decide what to eat? Go for the 'Feed Me Menu' — there's even an option to add three paired wines and a limoncello to finish. If you're thirsty, there's plenty to choose from on the drinks menu. There is a thoughtfully curated wine list that heroes Italian grapes with a couple of vinos from South Australia, Victoria and New Zealand. The cocktail menu features the classics like negroni and margarita, as well as some house creations such as the frozen limoncello — made with Tippy-Tay's own limoncello — and frozen Malfy G&T, Tippy-Tay's OG cocktail made with Malfy blood orange gin, pineapple, citrus and tonic.
Meatlovers, keep it together. Richmond’s carnivore-frequented restaurant, Meatmother, will open their second offering in the CBD: Meatmaiden. Creators Neil Hamblen and Nick Johnston have teamed up with Melbourne chef Justin Wise for their latest meat-focused dining project; Wise has already made a name for himself with his handiwork at The Point Albert Park and Press Club. Opening on August 27, Meatmaiden will unveil its new digs in the basement of the Georges Building at 195 Little Collins St, all decked out den-style by Urchin Associates. Prepare to sink your teeth into 12-hour F1 Tajima wagyu brisket smothered in a native Tasmanian pepper berry rub, or a 10-hour pasture-fed beef short-rib from Gippsland, both pulled from a custom-made Silver Creek smoker. Meatmaiden also boats some great sharing morsels if a mountain of meat is a little daunting; we’re keen to check out the southern fried chicken ribs with jalapeno mayo. While this is a particularly carnivorous affair, vegetarians have not been forgotten — give the smoked eggplant a try, or if you're pescetarian there's a sumptuous-looking lobster mac and cheese. As for the drinks, there'll be a six-tap system constantly rotating a mix of local and American craft beer. If you’re after something a little punchier, the sharp cocktail menu is generous on the bourbon and best enjoyed paired with Meatmaiden’s bar snacks. The wine list is concise and champions local winemakers, as well as stocking some exceptional international bottles. The house of meaty shenanigans can accommodate 120 in its den of iniquity, with sprawling communal tables made larger groups. Prepare to feast on some juicy, fall-apart-in your-mouth meaty goodness, Meatmaiden is on her way. Meatmaiden opens Wednesday, August 27 for lunch and dinner, Tuesday to Saturday. Find her at 195 Little Collins St, Melbourne CBD and www.meatmaiden.com.au.
Around Christmas time, stories of goodwill and kind deeds seem to pop up more frequently, giving you that fuzzy feeling that humanity does indeed exist in our society. One of these stories came to Concrete Playground’s attention, and we thought we should spread the Christmas cheer. A bunch of Sydneysiders have got together and created the organisation The Philanthropic Foodie, a demiurgic thinktank that come up with ideas that marry Sydney’s love of fine food and worthwhile charities. These two elements suit each other better than Tim Tams and early gray on a rainy, summer day. Now you can indulge in your weakness for pricey jars of green olives or $9 bottles of San Pellegrino without getting that guilty twinge from thinking of the price of the equivalent product at Woolworths. Their first project is a gourmet hamper, with contributions from Simon Johnson, Campos coffee, Christine Manfield (Universal), Bourke Street Bakery and Gelato Messina, to name a few, as well as a Danks Street Depot cookbook and a Future Classics CD so you can get your groove on while you chop and stir. There are three different sized hampers at varying prices, with all profits going to charity Youth Off The Streets. Relax into a foodie coma knowing you’ve done a good deed - a pretty good deal if you ask me. Gourmet Hampers Sydney
Maybe you're always on the hunt for new experiences. Perhaps you can't go past a meal with a view. You could be keen to indulge your adrenaline-junkie side any way that you can. Or, you just might want to see Brisbane from a different perspective. All of the above is on the menu at Vertigo, as is dinner. Sure, a great bite to eat should satisfy your tastebuds and your stomach; however, this one will also get your blood pumping and pulse racing. Initially announced in August and now serving sky-high diners Thursday–Sunday weekly, Vertigo is a brand-new addition to the River City's iconic Brisbane Powerhouse. The twist: it isn't just located on top of the riverside New Farm venue, but hangs off of the site's industrial facade. Forget just living on the edge — this is dining on the edge, and literally. Obviously, the views are spectacular. Given that patrons climb out to their seats while donning a safety harness, then eat four stories (and 17 metres) up, so are the thrills. An Australian-first vertical dining experience, Vertigo's levelled-up dinners welcome in tables of two to peer out over Brisbane. It comes with a big caveat, however, with the restaurant at the mercy of the weather. That'll certainly play a factor over Brissie's stormy summers, but the night's sitting will still go ahead if it's only lightly raining. Once you're seated, Brisbane Powerhouse's Bar Alto downstairs provides Vertigo's food across its eight tables — and each reservation's two-hour sitting — with the two-course menu featuring local ingredients to go with what's certain to become a local attraction. Unsurprisingly, a visit here doesn't come cheap, costing $250 per person. Another caveat: you can't head up if you've been drinking, with everyone breathalysed first and required to return a 0.00-percent blood alcohol reading. That said, while you need to be sober to climb over the edge, a matched glass of wine will be served with dinner. You'll also get a post-descent champagne, beer or soft drink. If you're not fond of heights, this won't be for you. But if you're fine with towering not just atop but over the side of an old power station-turned-arts precinct that dates back to the 1920s — whether you're a Brisbane local or a tourist — you'll be in for quite the unique experience. To make the evening even more dramatic, diners can also choose to come back to earth post-meal via dropline down the facade. Or, if that's too much adventure for you — especially after eating — you can just head back to the ground through the venue. If star chef Luke Mangan achieves his dream of setting up a restaurant on the Story Bridge, too, Brisbane might need to rename itself the Sky-High City. "Vertigo is unlike anything else in the world, it is an unexpected combination of adventure tourism and fine-dining on a heritage site," said Brisbane Powerhouse CEO/Artistic Director Kate Gould when the restaurant was first announced. "Stepping off the roof of Brisbane Powerhouse to take a seat suspended at your table, four stories above the ground, will be the ultimate thrill. Experience silver service dining — albeit one with unbreakable crockery and cutlery attached to the table!" "We are creating a uniquely Brisbane dining experience, at height. You will be on the edge of your seat in the open air before descending via an unforgettable exit," added Riverlife creator and co-founder John Sharpe, with the outdoor tour operator partnering with Powerhouse on the venture. "Vertigo will inspire fear but with the knowledge that safety is the priority of our experienced team of adventure tourism guides." Find Vertigo at Brisbane Powerhouse, 119 Lamington Street, New Farm, Brisbane, operating from 5pm Thursday–Sunday — head to the venue's website for further details and bookings. Images: Markus Ravik.
Money can't buy you love, as four mop-topped Brits first sang 59 years ago, but it can buy you tickets to see the music legend who wrote one of the catchiest pop tracks ever released — and co-performed it — play it live in Australia. When Paul McCartney heads Down Under this spring, he'll have a wealth of material to choose from. One of his favourite openers: 'Can't Buy Me Love'. Hitting our shores for the first time since 2017 on his Got Back tour, McCartney will work through a massive catalogue of hits from his time in The Beatles, Wings and also across his solo career on a six-city stint around the country. Arenas and stadiums will welcome Sir Paul, starting at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Wednesday, October 18, then heading to Melbourne's Marvel Stadium, Newcastle's McDonald Jones Stadium and Allianz Stadium in Sydney before the month is out. Then, to kick off November, McCartney will take over Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium and finally Heritage Bank Stadium on the Gold Coast. This tour will mark the Beatles icon's first-ever Newcastle and Gold Coast shows, and also commemorate almost six decades since the band that helped McCartney make history famously toured Australia in 1964 amid a wave of Beatlemania. In Adelaide all of those years back, it's estimated that 350,000 people lined the streets to get a glimpse of the group, packing the stretch between the airport and Town Hall. McCartney's Got Back setlist has featured everything from 'Hey Jude', 'Let It Be' and 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da' to 'Love Me Do', 'Blackbird' and 'Got to Get You Into My Life' from The Beatles across its stops so far. Yes, 'Get Back' gets a whirl. Wings tunes 'Live and Let Die', 'Band on the Run', 'Letting Go' and 'Junior's Farm' usually pop up, too, as does McCartney's own 'Maybe I'm Amazed'. The Got Back tour kicked off in the US in February 2022, wrapping up last year's run with a massive Glastonbury set. McCartney now brings his usual band — keyboardist Paul 'Wix' Wickens, bassist and guitarist Brian Ray, fellow guitarist Rusty Anderson and drummer Abe Laboriel Jr — our way after picking up a Helpmann Award for Best International Contemporary Concert for his last visit. PAUL McCARTNEY 'GOT BACK' TOUR 2023 DATES: Wednesday, October 18 — Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide Saturday, October 21 — Marvel Stadium, Melbourne Tuesday, October 24 — McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle Friday, October 27–Saturday, October 28 — Allianz Stadium, Sydney Wednesday, November 1 — Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane Saturday, November 4 — Heritage Bank Stadium, Gold Coast Paul McCartney tours Australia in October and November 2023, with Telstra Plus members pre-sale tickets from Thursday, August 3, Frontier members pre-sale ticketing available from Wednesday, August 9 and general tickets from Friday, August 11 — all at staggered times. Head to the tour website for further details. Images: MPL Communications.
Peninsula Hot Springs has officially won the title of Best Luxury Hot Springs at the 2025 World Luxury Spa Awards, solidifying its status as one of the world's leading wellness destinations. The Mornington Peninsula spa beat out contenders from across the globe, earning the honour through more than 250,000 votes cast by spa guests, travellers and wellness industry experts. The award recognises destinations that consistently deliver standout service, innovation and truly transformative guest experiences, and according to the international scoreboard, Peninsula Hot Springs is now the very best of them. In a widely competitive field, the Victorian hot springs stood out for its forward-thinking approach to geothermal bathing, its long-term sustainability work and its dedication to creating experiences that nurture both people and the environment. "For twenty years, our vision has been to create a space where people can reconnect with nature, with each other, and with themselves," said Peninsula Hot Springs Co-Founder and Chair Charles Davidson. "To be recognised as the world's best is a profound honour, not only for our team but for the entire Australian wellness community." The award comes as Peninsula Hot Springs celebrates 20 years of immersing its guests in its brand of wellness and nature, having welcomed more than eight million visitors since opening in 2005. Its natural geothermal waters draw from 637 metres below the surface, feeding a network of pools and experiences across 42 acres of coastal bushland. The site's offering has steadily grown to more than 70 globally inspired bathing and wellness experiences, from hot and cold therapy and immersive saunas to spa treatments, glamping accommodation and eco-lodges. Each element designed to deepen connection to the natural landscape and encourage a slower, more intentional rhythm for guests. Peninsula Hot Springs is located at 140 Springs Lane, Fingal, Victoria. For more information about the site or to make a booking, visit the website.
This could be love: a classic 80s film that's been adored for decades, a new date with the big screen, and a live band and singers bringing its soundtrack to life as you watch. Dirty Dancing in Concert isn't new to Australia, but it keeps returning to tour the country because the movie at its centre is one that audiences can't get enough of. If you're a fan, you'll know which phrase fits: ideally, you'll have the time of your film-watching life. In September and October 2025, Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey will dance up a storm in the 1987 romantic drama. While the tour is clearly hoping that you've never felt like this before, that'll only apply if you didn't go to 2022's or 2023's shows. Whether you're a Dirty Dancing in Concert first-timer or returning after seeing it before, you'll not only see the movie — you'll also hit up the party afterwards. Accordingly, as you celebrate one of Swayze's biggest and most-charming film roles, you'll be immersed in the world of the picture from the moment that you take your seat. Although no one will be carrying watermelons or checking into Kellerman's Mountain House in the Catskills, the digitally remastered feature will grace the big screen, its iconic songs will get a workout live, then the musicians will stick around afterwards to headline a party that'll naturally have you singing and dancing. If you're feeling adventurous and inspired by the movie, you might even want to try to recreate the famous lift. Here, nobody will put you or Francis 'Baby' Houseman in a corner — and you'd be just a fool to believe otherwise. Your hungry eyes will soak in Baby's first taste of dirty dancing, her eager rehearsals and her growing infatuation with Johnny Castle, as well as her parents' bitter unhappiness about the entire situation. This blast-from-the-past affair has dates locked in for Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane and Melbourne — on Saturday, September 6 at the Darling Harbour Theatre, ICC Sydney; Saturday, September 20 at Adelaide Entertainment Centre Arena; Sunday, September 21 at Riverside Theatre, Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre; Saturday, October 4 at Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre; and Thursday, October 9 at Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne. Around the world, Dirty Dancing in Concert has staged more than 200 sessions so far. Dirty Dancing in Concert 2025 Australian Tour Saturday, September 6 — Darling Harbour Theatre, ICC Sydney Saturday, September 20 — Adelaide Entertainment Centre Arena, Adelaide Sunday, September 21 — Riverside Theatre, Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, Perth Saturday, October 4 — Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Brisbane Thursday, October 9 — Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne Dirty Dancing in Concert will tour Australia in September and October 2025 — head to Ticketek for tickets and further details. Dirty Dancing in Concert images: Zdenko Hanout.
The winter chill is starting to set in across Melbourne, which means it's time to bust out your warmest winter woolies once again. Happily enough, to coincide with the start of winter, a heap of private igloos are popping up across the city so you can get your winter escape without even having to leave the big smoke. As part of the Winter Igloo Garden, these pop-up winter wonderlands are set to descend this week on The Auburn Hotel's beer garden, Footscray's Station Hotel, Studley Park Boathouse and the banks of the Yarra at The Wharf Hotel. Each see-through structure can fit up to six people and comes decked out with twinkly fairy lights and winter-inspired furnishings. You can hire any igloo out for a two-hour time slot, which includes a different food and drink offering depending on the venue. The Studley Park Boathouse igloo is serving a winter high tea full of sweet and savoury bites with a glass of bubbly for $49 per person, with the option to add on 90 minutes of bottomless drinks for an extra $25. At The Auburn you'll be chilling out in your wintry bubble enjoying a shared three-course feast featuring the likes of mini lobster rolls, charred broccolini with toasted almonds, and a king salmon with saffron-braised fennel for $59. That'll also get you your choice of drink — think mulled wine, local beer, cherry spritz or a hot toddy. At the riverside Winter Igloo Garden at The Wharf Hotel, you'll part with $49 for your choice of wintery beverage, paired with a shared grazing board loaded with bites like southern fried chicken ribs, salt and pepper squid, and triple cheese pumpkin arancini. If you're looking for more soul-warming fare, The Station's igloos come with a meat-heavy set menu with options like short ribs, wagyu tartare and yakitori, teamed with your pick of drink for $69. Espresso martinis, house wines and boozy hot chocolate set the tone here. And while you're hanging out in any of the above igloos, further drinks can also be ordered via an app, so you don't have to leave your wintry lair. Private igloos are available to hire at Studley Park Boathouse from May 18, The Auburn Hotel from May 19, The Station Hotel from May 20 and The Wharf Hotel from May 21.
This week Art/Work has a chat with Jai Pyne, frontman of local Sydney band, The Paper Scissors. I won't bother with the talk up because I am sure you already know them, and if you don't - you should! - they have already reached Mecca in guest programming Rage, so there. Come with us as Jai takes us for a wander through his day and round his 'hood. Most days you'll find me in my kitchen. I cook as much as I can, it gets me away from the computer. There are so many virtual things in life that it's nice to get real things and combine them and eat them, for real. When I am not there I am behind my computer doing work on stuff for the band. In my day job I teach people how to make coffee, I'm a Barista trainer. I work for The Golden Cobra, which sounds like a martial arts school, but is actually a coffee roaster. I spent a long time working as a barista, but starting work at 7am very much conflicts with playing music. I'm also working at a restaurant in Surry Hills a few days a week, it's called El Capo. It's all Latin American style street food. At the moment I am working on some new songs with The Paper Scissors. In Loving Memory was made over the course of 18 months, so after purging that we have started working on new music. If money wasn't an issue I'd make more music, I'd have a better kitchen and I'd buy more clothes. Being a musician in Sydney is fun. I was tempted to say it was hard, which it is, but it's also pretty amazing. I've met lots of great people in the last 6 or so years through music, some of them I now count as my best friends, I've seen some of them succeed wildly, I've seen some of them have babies, buy houses, I play basketball with some of them, I have man dates with them, I have played music with them. Plus just being fortunate enough to be a musician is a very amazing thing, I've been able to travel, play to people that are having the time of their life because of your music, I've heard my music being blasted out of speakers, on the radio… all good things. I wish that there were more people with heaps of money that would open venues in Sydney, but hey, money is an issue. My neighbourhood is great. I live of the South end of King Street in Newtown. I've been here for 4 years. I think Newtown has its crap bits, lots of shit Thai restaurants, shit cafes, but I still love this end of town. There are heaps of cool little shops and random oddities, I love the Fiji Market - spices, coconuts, any random ingredient you need, and Pete's Musicians Market is always good for a browse. It's hard to find a good coffee but Addison Road and thus Alchemy is nearby which is some of the best coffee in Sydney. I like the fact that Newtown is at the edge of the inner city, so you can go to Marrickville, or Dulwich Hill or other spots that are a bit more removed from the upwardly-mobile-elite in the inner city and you get to see real people that have lived there for ever and will sell you olives or Portuguese custard tarts, or charcoal chicken or obscure Spanish beers. My favourite spot in Sydney is by the water. I grew up in Sydney and have lived everywhere from here to Bondi to Balmain, my parents and I moved almost yearly when I was a kid. I really like the cliffs at Coogee, the south end, I just like feeling like you are at the end of the earth although you are in a massive city. https://youtube.com/watch?v=H5EqYCBq0E4
Melburnians, it's time to step away from your streaming queue (and from that groove you've made in your couch) and watch movies on the big screen instead. When the city's next stage of eased restrictions kicks in, outdoor cinemas can restart their projectors. And at the beloved Coburg Drive-In specifically, flicks will start gracing its under-the-stars setup from Thursday, October 29. It's hopefully a case of third time lucky for the venue this year, with Village Cinemas Coburg Drive-In obviously operating at the beginning of 2020 as normal — as we all were — and then reopening in early June after the first lockdown period. It has been closed during metro Melbourne's latest shutdown, which started in July. Yes, that means that it has plenty of movies to screen. Melburnians looking to catch a flick in their car under the evening sky — and to watch one on the silver screen in general — can expect to feast their eyes on both recent and retro titles, spanning movies new to Aussie cinemas over the past few months and classic fare. In the first category sits the Janelle Monae-starring Antebellum, Russell Crowe going OTT in Unhinged, the family-friendly fun of Trolls World Tour and horror sequel The Craft: Legacy. In the latter camp, there's the original version of The Craft, the 80s teen antics of The Breakfast Club and Will Ferrell-led laughs via Step Brothers, plus everything from The Princess Bride and Starship Troopers to The Matrix and The Big Lebowski. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nf--afqelY Given that the Coburg Drive-In is relaunching just in time for Halloween, scary movies are a feature — in the above-listed titles, and among a lineup that also includes Evil Dead II, The Invisible Man, Hocus Pocus, Scream and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Also, seeing as though the whole drive-in concept involves folks watching flicks in cars, social distancing is clearly already part of the experience. And if you're keen to catch a movie in the great outdoors, but prefer a car-free type of venue, the Classic, Lido and Cameo outdoor cinemas are also reopening. For more information about Village Cinemas Coburg Drive-In, or to book tickets, visit its website. Top image: Brook James
Last night, Yarra City Council passed a motion to ban alcohol consumption from all public parks and spaces this New Year's Eve. Unsurprisingly, this move comes in response to the gargantuan, national news-making, free-for-all rave that took place in North Fitzroy's Edinburgh Gardens last year. A largely unorganised event that completely trashed the parklands, the party sent 20 people into the care of emergency services and gave 10,000–15,000 local residents an amazing night to remember. It also somewhat memorably gave the Herald Sun another reason to get mad at "hipsters". Though the motion was not passed unanimously, this New Year's Eve will see public alcohol consumption banned from 9pm until 9am the following morning in the areas of Richmond, Abbotsford, Collingwood and Fitzroy (AKA everywhere you were planning to go). Mayor Jackie Fristacky stated the ban will discourage "anti-social behaviour" and be a great step in ensuring the safety of all residents in the area. Though councillor Stephen Jolly who voted against the measure claims the motion is extremist. "It's outrageous and it's actually going to just drive the problem underground," he said. "What they're doing now is going from one extreme to another and they're treating the young people that go down to Edinburgh Gardens as if they're al-Qaeda." Al-Qaeda! Hey, we like drinking in the park as much as the next inner-city hipster but that's a big call. Regardless, a lot of this talk isn't new. NYE alcohol is already banned in all public spaces in the inner Melbourne region, Port Phillip, and all of the Mornington Peninsula and Surf Coast. It's safe to say people are well-trained at swigging from covert flasks these days. The main sticking point of the ban is the huge cost involved in implementing it. Though the cleanup for last year's disgraceful mess — don't get us wrong, it really was awful — cost a whopping $30,000, the Council has said this year's efforts including security, cleaning and ground staff are estimated to cost $180,000. The Age are even reporting this figure could go as high as $250,000. Both fearful residents and frustrated partygoers are now left to question if the new benefits now outweigh the monumental cost. If we're going to fork out that much money to create a safe and respectable environment on NYE, you'd think we'd at least deserve a cheeky glass of bubbles as the clock strikes midnight. Via ABC and The Age. Top image licensed under GNU Free Documentation License 1.2 via Wikimedia Commons.
For yogis who reckon they've conquered every possible distraction, here's a new challenge: doga. That's yoga with dogs. Or, as you could call it, trying to stay still and breathe deeply while stacks of curious, adorable puppies are trying to work out what you're up to. Moonee Pond's Studio 3 is teaming up with Campbellfield's not-for-profit Second Chance Animal Rescue to put you in a yoga class surrounded by fluff balls. Taking place on Saturday, December 8, the event aims to raise funds for a brand new community animal hospital. Every pup you meet will be from Second Chance's shelter and, therefore, up for adoption. Watch out: you might well find yourself falling in love before shavasana. Please note: for safety reasons and to keep the focus on the needy pups, Studio 3 asks that you leave your own furry friends at home.
One of the stranger reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic was the panic buying of toilet paper. If you didn't stock up early, you were probably left scouring the shelves for the last roll of TP — and never want to be that person again. Luckily, you don't have to be. How We Roll is delivering bulk boxes of toilet paper to homes across Australia, so you can finally lay your TP nightmares to rest. And the company is worth supporting for less selfish reasons, too. How We Roll offers 100 percent biodegradable and recycled TP — so it's good for the planet, not just good for you (and your pipes). If you haven't yet jumped on the recycled TP train yet, it's time to get on it. Regular toilet paper production sees a whopping 27,000 trees cut down daily. Plus, the How We Roll partners with One Tree Planted, a non-profit which has planted over 15-million trees to date. For every box of How We Roll TP sold, one tree is planted in an Australian bushfire-affected area. During the devastating bushfires that ravaged the country earlier this year, 12.6 million hectares were burned — so regrowing the country's flora is important. At How We Roll, you have two TP options: first there are the three-ply, double-length classic rolls, made from 100 percent recycled paper pulp; then, there's the luxe bamboo rolls, which are sustainably sourced, naturally hypoallergenic, antibacterial and stronger than paper. You can bulk order 24 or 48 rolls ($28–58) and get them delivered to you in as little as one-to-two business days. Along with all that TP, you can also add compostable bin liners, paper towels and tissues to your order. If you subscribe — to fortnightly, monthly, six-week or three-month deliveries — you'll save 10 percent, too. To find out more about How We Roll and purchase some sustainable bog roll, head over over here.
The promises and proposals are flying in hard and fast as Victoria gears up for its next state election, and our railway situation is once again on everyone's radar. Five months after the current Victorian Government revealed it was gearing up to start work on a high-speed train line between Geelong and Melbourne, the Opposition has served up alternative plans for its own $15–19 billion regional rail network upgrade. Coalition's rail overhaul would see the Melbourne–Geelong commute slashed to just 32 minutes by 2022, using trains running at speeds of up to 200 kilometres per hour. The current journey clocks in at roughly an hour, with the state's best tracks only allowing for speeds of 160 kilometres per hour. In the proposal unveiled today by Opposition Leader Matthew Guy, the new 'European-style' rail network would also eventually drop travel times between Melbourne and Ballarat to 45 minutes, and squeeze the Melbourne to Bendigo trip down to 70 minutes. It would see currently closed passenger services to places like Mildura, Horsham, Donald and Hamilton reopened, and incorporate two new fleets of next-gen, high-speed trains. [caption id="attachment_691613" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Opposition's proposed regional railway network.[/caption] According to the Opposition, the revamped network would lure a whole heap of people to move from the city to the country, and would take ten years to complete. Mr Guy also confirmed that his proposal would complement existing plans for an Airport Rail Link and the Metro Tunnel, hinting that he expects the Federal Government to chip in funds as well. Labour government's plans weren't a heap different, with proposed train speeds of 250–300 kilometres per hour and a link to the airport; however, it did not mention larger plans to link in and shorten times to Ballarat, Bendigo and other regional cities. Either way, it looks like Melbourne will be getting itself a fancy new high-speed train to Geelong.
Adoring Pixar films is generally easy for a whole heap of reasons, and here's one them: the Disney-owned animation studio knows what it likes and what it does well, and it finds multiple ways to keep giving both a whirl in new and different fashions. Even when you can see the formula behind toys, fish, monsters and feelings having feelings — to name a few of Pixar's similar ideas — the end result usually carves its own niche, and also makes its own heartfelt and delightful impact. 2023 release Elemental looks set to be one of those flicks. Even from just its title, it's easy to see the path that the studio is taking. The question this time: what if the elements, aka fire, water, land and air, had feelings? The film dubs its characters fire-, water-, land- and air-residents, but getting big Inside Out and Soul vibes comes with the territory while watching the movie's just-dropped first trailer. That initial sneak peek is also as adorable as you'd expect if you've ever just seen one frame of a Pixar feature. The teaser heads to Element City, where its various Captain Planet-like characters reside together — and where the fiery Ember (voiced by Leah Lewis, Nancy Drew) and go-with-the-flow Wade (Mamoudou Athie, Archive 81) cross paths. As is generally the case with debut trailers, Elemental's first look is all about style and mood rather than diving too far into the story, but it does show Ember and Wade meeting, and also surveys the passengers on an Element City water train. Flaming legs, grassy creatures, critters that look like clouds, earthy parents with children in pot plants: they're all sighted. Then Ember's headphones fall off — and Wade picks them up. Directed by The Good Dinosaur's Peter Sohn, and with the rest of the voice cast yet to be announced, it's literally a story of water and fire trying to get along. Maybe Pixar is staffed by George RR Martin fans? There's a Studio Ghibli feel to it all, too, thanks to the big focus on nature (and that water train, which isn't quite a cat bus, but might get you thinking of one). Following 2022's Turning Red and Lightyear, Pixar's most recent releases, the film hits cinemas on June 15. Check out the first trailer for Elemental below: Elemental releases in cinemas on June 15, 2023.
Australia has been welcoming a steady stream of stunning new hotel properties from local brands, from dog-friendly boutique stays to history-filled inner-city escapes. But that's not the case for our latest grand arrival, which officially opened today, Thursday, March 23, towering above Melbourne CBD's Lonsdale Street. After much hype, the Ritz-Carlton Melbourne has finally been unveiled in all its luxurious 80-storey glory. It marks the second Aussie property for the international Marriott-owned brand after an existing site in Perth, with the next slated to open on the Gold Coast by 2026. The new 257-room hotel is a high-end affair, with renowned Aussie architects Cottee Parker behind the build and BAR Studio to thank for the elegant interiors. Here, they've flipped the script on the usual hotel formula, placing the impressive Sky Lobby Reception way up on Level 80, where lofty ceilings and huge windows offer panoramic views to greet its guests. Rooms are kitted out with hand-made glass panels, dark timber and gold finishes, while artworks pay tribute to both the city location and the area's indigenous heritage. Splash out to stay in the enormous Ritz-Carlton Suite and you'll enjoy your own in-room sauna, walk-in wardrobe and private pantry. Last year, the hotel named Michael Greenlaw (London's Bibendum, Vue de Monde) as Executive Chef and Mark Best (Peninsula Bistro, Marque) in the role of Culinary Advisor, hinting at some buzz-worthy food and drink offerings to come. That looks set to be the case, with three onsite venues now unveiled — Atria is the innovative fine-diner celebrating hyper-seasonality, Cameo is the glam cocktail bar promising top-shelf sipping and the Lobby Lounge is the more casual counterpart that'll also play host to high-tea sessions. All of these sit at the top of the hotel, showcasing eye-popping views across the city. Of course, with all that luxury there had to be a standout wellness offering involved — and the Ritz-Carlton Spa promises not to disappoint. Here, you'll find six treatment rooms and a hefty menu of therapies, as well as a soaring infinity pool, yoga studio and fitness hub. The hotel is also home to no less than 2500 square metres of event space, including the expansive Ritz-Carlton Grand Ballroom, which boasts space to sit 550 guests. Find the Ritz-Carlton Melbourne at 650 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world.
Chocolate gelato works deliciously when you can't choose between chocolate and ice cream. When Easter hits, however, that won't do the trick. Hankering for a chocolate egg, because it's the time of year for it, but also want something creamy and frosty? That's where Gelato Messina's gelato-filled chocolate eggs usually come in. In 2023, the dessert chain whipped up packs with three eggs inside. This year, it's giving everyone the treat that we all coveted when we were kids: a hefty-sized egg. This one is even better than the foil-wrapped supermarket versions, of course, because it comes filled with Messina's gelato. The chain's 2024 Easter offering weighs a kilogram and is designed to serve six (but if you're keen to keep it to yourself, we understand). The shell is made of milk chocolate, which is then painted in bright Messina brand colours. Inside, as made at Messina HQ in Marrickville, is a wealth of flavours and textures. Milo gelato is one of the chain's tastiest varieties, and you'll find it inside this Easter egg. You'll also find Milo mousse as well. Among the other layers, the treat includes Oreo crumble and Oreo cookie chunks, plus malted vanilla chantilly. Finally, there's both hazelnut praline and a hazelnut caramel centre, too. Messina's 2024 Easter eggs can only be ordered online on Monday, March 11 for collection over Easter — of course — between Thursday, March 28–Sunday, March 31. Messina now opens its orders at various times for various places, so you'll want to hop online at 12pm AEDT for Queensland, South Australian, Western Australian and Australian Capital Territory stores; 12.15pm AEDT for Victorian shops; and at either 12.30pm, 12.45pm or 1pm AEDT depending on where you are in New South Wales. Gelato Messina's 2024 gelato Easter eggs are available to order from Monday, March 11 for pick up between Thursday, March 28–Sunday, March 31 — head to the Messina website for further details.
Dry July hasn't turned out how many Australians would've liked, thanks to lockdowns in Greater Sydney, Victoria and South Australia. But whether you were trying to take a break from booze for a spell, you've been cutting down on your drinking in general or you don't touch the hard stuff anyway, gin brand Gordon's has released a new tipple you'll want to sip even when ditching alcohol isn't the centre of attention for an entire month. The popular gin label has unveiled its own booze-free version, Gordon's 0.0% — and yes, that moniker makes its alcohol content clear. It still heroes the usual juniper flavour, and is still distilled using the same botanicals, but pairs it with zero booze. Two options are now available in bottle shops: Gordon's 0.0% in 700-millilitre bottles, so you can mix your own alcohol-free G&Ts and other cocktails; and 330-millilitre ready-to-drink gin-and-tonic mixes that come in four-packs. Whichever you choose, one thing is certain: however much you drink, you won't have a hangover the next day. Whether you're new to cutting out the sauce or you've always preferred your beverages sans booze, the alcohol-free drinks industry has been expanding in a big way over the past few years. Melbourne has its own booze-free gin joint, Sydney has a bottle-o dedicated to the concept, and actually decent mocktails are available on plenty of bar menus around the country now. The range of wines and beers with low or no alcohol has also been growing, too, so having a drink but skipping the headache — and not just sipping orange juice, sparkling water or soda — has never been easier. Gordon's 0.0% is now available in Australian bottle shops — in 700-millilitre bottles (RRP$34.99) and 330-millilitre ready-to-drink gin-and-tonic mixes (RRP$14.99 for a four-pack).
If seeing a flick at an Alamo Drafthouse cinema across the US, or at Nitehawk Cinema in Brooklyn, has always been on your film-watching to-do list, you'll soon be able to enjoy a similar experience without the overseas trip. Australia is set to welcome the homegrown FoMo Cinemas, which takes its cues from those two cult-favourite American names in the movie theatre business, has a December opening locked in and will set up shop at East Brunswick Village in Melbourne. When the Angelika Film Centre launched in Brisbane earlier in 2023, it brought a New York-born American arthouse cinema chain to Australia. Now, when FoMo Cinemas starts welcoming in patrons, it'll take its cues from US picture palaces, too. The concept: seeing films, of course, but making in-theatre eats as much as a drawcard. So, you'll watch blockbusters and retro titles, and you'll have a meal from a specialty menu brought to you. Barry Peak and Natalie Miller AO are behind FoMo Cinemas, with both boasting Carlton's Cinema Nova on their resumes. With this new independent venture, combining film and food is firmly the focus — and not just via popcorn and choc tops. Think of it as dinner and a movie all in one place, as the flick plays, in a cinema that's devoted to the concept. A chef will design the menu, with dishes made onsite and able to be ordered on-demand to be brought directly to your seat. Also a highlight: a 20-minute pre-show presentation. Alamo Drafthouse is particularly known for the latter, as specifically curated to suit its movies — and featuring clips sourced far and wide. Exactly what bites and sips will be available hasn't been revealed, and neither has the exact opening date or the on-screen lineup, but the latter will show latest releases, classics and curated picks. Cost-wise, movie tickets will be standard prices, the venue's website advises. When it starts its projectors whirring in East Brunswick Village, which is also newly opened itself, FoMo Cinemas is aiming to be a cinema experience rather than just another place to see a film. Melburnians, you'll have a new movie-worshipping spot to head to. Tourists from elsewhere, you'll have another entry on your next Melbourne itinerary. The Victorian capital will gain not one but two new cinemas in December, with Palace's latest Melbourne cinema in Moonee Ponds also launching the same month. View this post on Instagram A post shared by FoMo Cinemas (@fomocinemas) Find FoMo Cinemas at East Brunswick Village, 133 Nicholson Street, East Brunswick from December 2023 — we'll update you with an exact opening date when one is announced.
Mary Eats Cake is serving up decadent high teas on two sides of Melbourne: Brunswick and Montrose. With an enticing selection of sandwiches, raspberry mousse cakes, apple teacakes and scones — and, of course, tea — it's one of Melbourne's best high tea options. You can choose from the Mary Package, the Bottomless Brunch Package, or the Fancy Package with unlimited French sparkling (and unlimited scones). There is also a senior's high tea which includes a drink on arrival; a children's high tea with sausage rolls, sliders, doughnuts and lemonade; a gin high tea available for functions with specialty gin cocktails and birthday, bridal and baby packages. If you'd prefer your high tea from the comfort of your home or a local park, there are takeaway packages available, too. With antipasti varieties, as well as assorted cakes, savoury boxes, and build-your-own options, the high tea of your dreams is just a click away.
Sydney might be world-renowned for its harbour, bridge and Opera House, and Melbourne's food and live music scenes might've won it plenty of fame and acclaim, but neither Australian city is one of the world's greatest places of 2023. Each year, TIME magazine singles out 50 locations around the globe that it considers extraordinary — and that travellers should make it a priority to visit — with just two Aussie destinations making the latest cut. Kangaroo Island keeps earning praise in 2023; already, The New York Times has named it one of the best places to head to this year in its version of the same type of list, and the South Australian spot's Stokes Bay topped Tourism Australia's best ten beaches for 2023, too. So, its place among TIME's picks is hardly surprising. But the publication also chose one Australian state capital: Brisbane. Move over Sydney and Melbourne — the rivalry that the New South Wales and Victorian capitals have is pointless, with the Sunshine State just sweeping in and nabbing the glory. In three words, TIME shouted out Brissie's "sports and sun", but it had more to say. And, while the hosting the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games obviously got a mention, that's also just the beginning. "The capital of Queensland is already gearing up with ambitious infrastructural advancements, which visitors can enjoy before the crowds pour in," TIME notes. It then shouts out United Airlines' new direct flights between San Francisco and Brisbane; the soon-to-open Queen's Wharf with its bars, restaurants, four luxury hotels and sky-high observation deck; and co-hosting the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. "Beyond the central business district, the James Street Precinct is a welcome testament to how urban development can champion local businesses and artisans rather than supplanting them. The semi-industrial area leverages Brisbane's perennial sunshine to showcase an outdoor promenade anchored by artsy boutiques and cafes, all under the canopy of Moreton Bay fig trees," TIME also advises. "The surrounding neighbourhood, Fortitude Valley, has recently evolved into a culinary epicentre with new places like sAme sAme showcasing inventive international fare within a laid-back, uniquely Australian atmosphere; a growing assortment of global flavours befitting a now-worldwide audience." sAme sAme has been around for a few years now, but otherwise TIME's praise tells Brisbanites what they already know: that the River City is ace. Fresh from noting that the city's Myer Centre shopping centre would lose Myer, Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said "while this is a fantastic accolade for our city, it's also about time!". "It's no accident that Brisbane is the fastest growing capital city in the country with people from southern states recognising that our city's incredible climate, lifestyle and liveability is second to none. We're investing in fantastic projects like Victoria Park, Brisbane Metro and our green bridges to help make Brisbane even better," the Lord Mayor continued. "Precincts like South Bank and Howard Smith Wharves are world-class destinations while our suburbs are great places to live, work and relax." Chosen by soliciting "nominations of places from our international network of correspondents and contributors, with an eye toward those offering new and exciting experiences," TIME explains, Brisbane sits on the world's greatest places of 2023 list alongside the likes of Barcelona, Kyota and Nagoya (home of the new Studio Ghibli Park) in Japan, St Moritz in Switzerland and Dijon in France. Also getting some love: Mexico City, South Korea's Jeju Island, Vienna, the pyramids of Giza, and the prime northern lights spot of Churchill, Manitoba in Canada. For TIME's full World's Greatest Places of 2023 list, head to the publication's website.
Was it invented in Belgium or France? Can you eat it and still call yourself left-wing? Which potatoes should you use? The steak frites might have inspired many debates over the years. But one thing is clear: we can't get enough of it. The folks at Dolly in Le Meridien Melbourne are well aware of this fact. And that's why they've launched Wednesday steak frites nights. That's right, you can now end hump day with a hearty plate of meat and potatoes, cooked French-style. Executive Chef Hervé Borghini has taken a refined approach to the classic dish. His steak is a 250-gram, MB2-grade porterhouse sourced from Victorian grass-fed cattle, topped with a disc of traditional Cafe de Paris butter. On the side comes a generous pile of golden, double-cooked frites. Usually $44, Borghini's steak frites is $32 on Wednesday nights. Plus, you can order matching wines at just $10 a glass. Bon appetit!
Clear your calendars, art lovers. Melbourne's largest queer arts and culture bash, the Midsumma Festival has showcased the talents of local creatives from within the city's LGBTIQ community every year since 1988 — and its 2016 program is due to kick off this Sunday, January 17. Running for three straight weeks, the festival will be spread across more than 80 different venues, and will cover everything from visual art and performance to community events and parties. As has become tradition, the festival's centrepiece event will be the annual Pride March along Fitzroy Street in St Kilda. This year, the march will put an emphasis on the fight for marriage equality. Other flagship events include the Midsumma Carnival and T Dance, which will once again kick off the festival with a five-hour lineup of free live music and entertainment in Alexandra Gardens. But there are many more events to get your art-loving self to during Midsumma 2016. Here are our top picks.
Splendour in the Grass is back this July, but not as we know it. The blockbuster Byron Bay music festival is packing its bags and road tripping down to Sydney to launch a new nine-day festival at the city's Overseas Passenger Terminal. Splendour in the City will run from Saturday, July 10–Sunday, July 18 in the lead up to Splendour's virtual festival Splendour XR, which will kick off the following week. Across the lineup, music fans will find an array of beloved Australian artists — plus two stacked nights of stand-up comedy and a whole heap of extras that are aiming to recreate as much of the OG Splendour in the Grass experience as possible. While you won't get caught knee-deep in mud or have to climb North Byron Parklands' heartbreak hill to reach the main stage, you'll still find art installations, a range of dining options and food trucks, specialty bars from the likes of The Winery and The Strummer Bar, markets, a Little Splendour kids program and a VR pop-up at Splendour in the City. Taking over the 900-person Customs Hall and 400-person Cargo Hall, the lineup ranges from Splendour in the Grass mainstays such as Violent Soho, Illy, Vera Blue, Dune Rats and Tash Sultana to fresher faces like Spacey Jane, Masked Wolf, Ziggy Ramo and Triple One. Some local Sydney and Wollongong artists will also be popping up including Big Twisty, A.Girl and The Lazy Eyes — with the latter launching their second EP at the festival. Then, across at the Comedy Club, you'll find the likes of Nazeem Hussein, Nikki Britton, Tom Ballard, Nath Valvo and Triple J's Michael Hing and Lewis Hobba. 2021 will be the second year in a row that Splendour in the Grass won't welcome patrons come July. The full-sized Byron Bay edition of the music festival is currently scheduled for November with headliners Tyler the Creator, The Strokes and Gorillaz; however, that's reliant upon COVID-19 restrictions allowing the event to take place. [caption id="attachment_788985" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ocean Alley[/caption] SPLENDOUR IN THE CITY Customs Hall Saturday, July 10 — Spacey Jane Sunday, July 11 — Tash Sultana Wednesday, July 14 — Ocean Alley and Clews Thursday, July 15 — Illy, Masked Wolf and A.Girl Friday, July 16 — Running Touch Saturday, July 17 — Vera Blue and Cxloe Sunday, July 18 — Violent Soho Cargo Hall Saturday, July 10 — Nikki Britton, Tom Ballard, Michael Hing and more Sunday, July 11 — Nazeem Hussein, Nath Valvo, Lewis Hobba and more Monday, July 12 — Big Twisty and the Funknasty Wednesday, July 14 — The Southern River Band and Vast Hill Thursday, July 15 — Ziggy Ramo and Alice Skye Friday, July 16 — Triple One Saturday, July 17 (Early) — The Lazy Eyes Saturday, July 17 (Late) — Ebony Boadu Presents Sunday, July 18 — Dune Rats and Totty Splendour in the City will run from Saturday, July 10–Sunday, July 18 at Sydney's Overseas Passenger Terminal. Tickets go on sale at 9am on Friday, June 18.
Drop whatever it is that you're doing: the ticket ballot for the 27th Meredith Music Festival is officially open. Running from December 8–10, the latest edition of the much-loved dickhead-free music festival will take place at its usual digs, Meredith's Supernatural Amphitheatre, which last year got itself a brand new sound system and this year will no doubt take us to magical places once more. Aunty, meanwhile, has been working hard on the lineup, of which she has divulged just one part of this morning: self-described "gothic folk" New Zealand singer-songwriter Aldous Harding, who will play on the Friday night. Standouts from last year included Peaches, Kelela, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, BADBADNOTGOOD and Angel Olsen. The Meredith Ballot will be open from now until 10.27pm on Monday, August 7. Head on over to the festival website to sign up.
When we say that Vivid is dishing up a taste of London in 2025, we mean it literally: chefs from two of the English capital city's top restaurants are on this year's Vivid Food lineup. From Lyle's, James Lowe is heading Down Under. From Josephine, so is Claude Bosi. One is spending three nights joining Mat Lindsay at Ester, the other has a two-evening date with Brent Savage at Eleven Barrack — and both are serving up must-try menus. Lowe and Bosi are part of the festival's 2025 Vivid Chef Series, which brings famed culinary names to the Harbour City for bucket list-style dining experiences. If you're keen on the Lowe and Lindsay combination, they're reteaming after the latter went to London for the former's game series, this time joining forces in Sydney to showcase Australian produce — fish and shellfish included — over eight courses. From Bosi and Savage, expect a mix of French gastronomy and Aussie creativity across six courses, complete with Bosi's camembert soufflé with winter black truffle, plus duck liver choux au craquelin from Savage. "I'm really excited to bring the food from my hometown in France to a new country. This is the first time Bistro Josephine has been outside the UK, and it means a lot to share something so personal with a new audience," said Bosi about his component of the Vivid Food lineup. "The dishes we serve are inspired by the flavours I grew up with, and I'm looking forward to seeing them reach beyond where it all started. I hope people here connect with the heart and simplicity of what we do." Neither Vivid Chef Series experience comes cheap. Taking place across Tuesday, May 27–Thursday, May 29, the Ester x James Lowe menu starts at $250 per person, with wine pairings $150 on top. You'll pay $185 for lunch and $285 for dinner — plus either $90 or $180 for vino — for the Eleven Barrack x Claude Bosi collaboration on Tuesday, June 10–Wednesday, June 11. Vivid Food has also locked in the return of Vivid Fire Kitchen, which will be easier on bank balances given that it's free to attend (but, of course, you will pay for what you eat). Running across 23 nights from Friday, May 23–Saturday, June 14 — so for the full festival dates — this celebration of fire-based cooking will again take over The Goods Line in Ultimo. Expect pop-ups from a range of eateries and food trucks, including Ogni, Brazilian Flame, Plate It Forward, Flyover Fritterie, Hoy Pinoy, Burn City Smokers, Pocket Rocketz, Mapo Gelato, Mr Spanish Churro and Miss Sina Korean Donuts, alongside live fire cooking demonstrations. Jess Pryles and Nyesha Arrington are among the chefs on Vivid Fire Kitchen's program, as are The Apollo Group's Oscar Solomon, Firedoor's Lennox Hastie, Viand's Annita Potter, Aalia's Paul Farag, Sunday Kitchen's Karima Hazim and more. Barbecued seafood will score its own stand, a dedicated wine bar will hero New South Wales vino — and host Mike Bennie-led masterclasses — and First Nations nights will see Indigenous chefs take centre stage. Elsewhere, Vivid's edible spread for 2025 also spans Neon Dreams, with Shannon Martinez paying tribute to American diners of the 1950s with a plant-based menu and a roller rink; Hollywood Dreaming, a 23-night roster of events in the Hollywood Quarter in Surry Hills; and Nigella Lawson curating dinners in the Muru Giligu pedestrian tunnel. Vivid Sydney 2025 runs from Friday, May 23–Saturday, June 14 across Sydney. Head to the festival website for further information.
Cyclists in the city could soon find themselves with their heads in the clouds, with Premier Daniel Andrews yesterday announcing that the State Government will build an elevated bicycle highway in Melbourne's inner west. If you're a regular commuter cyclist from Footscray, Yarraville or Werribee, this should be music to your just-beeped-at ears. The proposal — which was floated by the government in June last year — is set to come to life as part of the West Gate Tunnel Project, which will see a four-kilometre tunnel and freeway above Footscray Road be built as an alternative to the always-congested West Gate Bridge. The two-and-a-half-kilometre cycling 'veloway' — starting at Footscray's Shepherd's Bridge and finishing on Dudley Street in Docklands — will sit above Footscray Road, elevated from street-level and underneath the future flyover. As well as allowing cyclists to skip traffic lights and get to the city much faster, the separation of cyclists and motor vehicles will significantly increase the safety of those on their bikes. While Footscray Road does have a bike lane, the new elevated infrastructure will allow cyclists to bypass dodgy intersections (like at Sims Street and Shepherd Bridge) and more fluidly connect with other major bike paths, such as the Capital City Trail. The Footscray Road bike path won't be disused though — in fact, it will be widened. And with the new flyover road and the 24/7 truck ban that is set to be instated on surrounding Francis Street, Somerville Road, Buckley Street and Moore Street, we're guessing it will be a bit less precarious too. The West Gate Tunnel Project now has to be assessed through an Environment Effects Statement (EES), with construction set to start in early 2018. It's very focused on car transport, so we're happy to see that cycling infrastructure is getting a look-in too. The more we can do to encourage people to give up their cars for a healthier, more environmentally-friendly form of transportation, the better. Via The Age. Image: Yarra River Business Association. By Tom Clift and Lauren Vadnjal.
Pandemic times can be a bit of a struggle, with all those necessary lifestyle changes we've had to embrace. But, if you're as mindful as ever of our planet, there are still plenty of ways you can stick to your former eco-friendly habits, even while reality and routine have been chucked out the window. One of them is subscription-style grocery delivery service My Milkman, which is independent, sustainability focused and uses zero plastic packaging. This crew is currently doing plastic-free home drop-offs right across the inner north, delivering locally produced staples to your doorstep without the usual side of eco-guilt. Milk from Barambah Organics arrives in old-school reusable glass bottles, Marrook Farm's yoghurt comes by the jar and your Padre coffee is contained in a nifty refillable tin. Other suppliers currently include the likes of Josh's Rainbow Eggs, Dench Bakers, St David's Dairy and Jam Lady Jam, with more goodies added to the roster by the month. Once you've polished off your products, simply wash the reusable containers and leave them out in your designated drop-off zone for My Milkman's drivers to collect when they swing past with your next delivery. Drop-offs currently run Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays (you can arrange for one, two or three weekly deliveries), with groceries conveniently deposited at your door before 7.30am to avoid any dreaded breakfast delays. Depending on your appetite, you can choose from the Basics Box ($35 a week) or the Deluxe Box ($60 a week), with a suite of add-ons available, priced by item. Delivery clocks in at a $4.99 flat-rate fee. My Milkman currently services a range of inner north suburbs, running three days a week. For more info and to subscribe, head to the website.
No one normally loves spending a weekend on the couch when there's a huge music festival happening, unless you can cure that FOMO by joining in from home. Coachella has been making attending the event without leaving home happen for years via its YouTube livestream, thankfully. And with the Indio, California fest upon us for 2024, it has unveiled its set times for its first weekend so that you know when to tune in. On the bill: Lana Del Rey, Tyler, The Creator, Doja Cat and the reunited No Doubt as headliners. Coachella's first 2024 run spans across Friday, April 12–Sunday, April 14 in the US, which is Saturday, April 13–Monday, April 15 Down Under. On Saturday in Australia and New Zealand, you'll be making a date with Del Ray. On Sunday, tune in for Tyler, The Creator and No Doubt. And on Monday, you'll be able to see Doja Cat. [caption id="attachment_936351" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Casey via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] Also among the highlights on Saturday in Australia and NZ: Justice, Peso Pluma, Lil Uzi Vert, Sabrina Carpenter, Deftones, Suki Waterhouse, Peggy Gou and Tinashe. The list goes on, of course. On Sunday Down Under, get excited about Blur, Ice Spice, Jon Batiste, Sublime, Dom Dolla, Vampire Weekend, Grimes, Orbital, Oneohtrix Point Never and RAYE, too — and more, obviously. And, come Monday for Aussies and New Zealanders, J Balvin, Lil Yachty, Kruangbin, Reneé Rapp, Flight Facilities and DJ Seinfeld are on the bill, plus a heap of others. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Coachella (@coachella) Spotted a dreaded set clash? This year, for the first time ever, you'll be able to livestream multiple stages at once. How many? Four in total. Each year, Coachella and YouTube join forces to beam the massive music fest around the world, which is no longer such a novelty in these pandemic-era times — but being able to fill your screen with a quartet of Coachella sets at the same time definitely is. YouTube's multiview concert experience will enjoy its debut in the music space, and globally, at Coachella. This year, the service will be capturing six different stages, as it did in 2023 for the first time ever — with Sonora on the list for the first weekend and Yuma on the second. [caption id="attachment_950216" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Clay Junell via Flickr.[/caption] That said, while you can feast your eyes on four stages simultaneously, you'll only be able to hear one, so you will still need to pick a favourite in any given timeslot. Coachella 2024 returns again from Friday, April 19–Sunday, April 21, which is Saturday, April 20–Monday, April 22 Down Under, if the first weekend's timings don't suit your schedule. Bookmark Coachella's YouTube channel ASAP — or hit it up below: Coachella 2024 runs from Friday, April 12–Sunday, April 14 and Friday, April 19–Sunday, April 21 — which is Saturday, April 13–Monday, April 15 and Saturday, April 20–Monday, April 22 Down Under — at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, and livestreams via YouTube across the same dates. Top image: petercruise via Flickr.
If your seaside memories are painted with velvet pine trees, striped umbrellas and sand yellowed with rose-tinted glasses, look no further than Avoca for your next foray out of the city. Despite becoming a hot spot for tourists chasing great coffee, food, surf and adventure, it's managed to keep a firm hold on that laidback, they-all-must-be-locals ambience by not becoming overdeveloped. Situated just 95km north of the Sydney CBD, Avoca makes a perfect day trip or weekend away, even when a winter wind blows across the beach. Just pull your cable knit around you, stare meaningfully into the sea and then snuggle into the area's characterful cafes, eateries and shops. SEE AND DO Your first priority in Avoca is obviously to visit the beach — a 1km stretch of golden sand protected by headlands and dotted with beach chairs, umbrellas and surfboards. It's a great swimming beach, popular with families, and has patrol flags at each end and a safe shallow kiddie pool by the Avoca Beach Surf Life Saving Club (SLSC). Scramble around the rocks at the south head to find a platform of stunning rock pools and anglers taking advantage of the abundant sea below. Avoca is known for its surf and has great waves for beginners and advanced surfers. The Central Coast Surf School offers group and private lessons as well as two-day courses for all ages. Old hands can rent a board at Three Points Surf on Avoca Drive. If paddle boarding or paddle boating is more your speed, head to Avoca Lake beach behind the Avoca shopping village (or follow the lake's inlet from the centre of the beach), where you can hire a board from Aquafun for just $4, as well as kayaks, canoes and boats. Visiting scuba divers of all levels can explore the ex-HMAS Adelaide just 1.8 kilometres off Avoca Beach. The naval warship was sunk in 2011 creating an artificial reef, now teaming with life. Terrigal Dive run six dives a day to the site on weekends, as well as a number of other dives. Those who want to get off the beaten track should take a short drive down the coast to Bouddi National Park. The 8 kilometre coastal walk is broken into bite-sized sections with bays and spectacular whale-watching lookouts. The beach of Maitland Bay is the gem of the journey and can be accessed via the first leg of the costal track from Putty Beach (3km) or a (steep!) paved track from the car park (1.5km). For a change of pace, wander around the Avoca village on Avoca Drive and indulge in a spot of shopping at Avoca Beach Antiques. The 31-year-old store has the Central Coast's largest collection of antique jewellery, sure to see you part with some cold hard ones. Also not to be missed is the adorable Avoca Beach Picture Theatre, located behind the SLSC on Avoca Drive. The fourth-generation family business, which opened on the Hunter family's front garden in 1948, was named in the BBC's Top 20 Cinemas Of The World in 2014 and has also won awards for its highly curated programming. If the weather is coaxing you to stay outdoors, at least pop in to see the antique decor inside. EAT AND DRINK In the last two years, Avoca has bucked the beach-town trend of revolving seasonal eateries and has developed a stable foodie scene of its own. For the best coffee in town, visit Becker & Co. owned by Dale Hunter, formerly of Bird & Bear Boathouse in Elizabeth Bay. Have your day brightened by the typographic inspirations on the walls while you chow down on a bacon and egg breakfast slider with chilli jam. Oomph Cafe & Food Store, the little sister to popular Oomph Cafe & Foodstore in East Gosford, has an extensive menu featuring specialty products from their store. Their gourmet burgers, the best in town, will force you back into the water to wash the juice from your elbows. If raw, organic or vegan is your jam, see the super-friendly staff at Wise Food Cafe. They have a full breakfast and lunch menu, but their array of sweet health treats is second to none in town. Like Minds, lakeside and slightly back from main drag, is another popular hang with a creative-space vibe. Sit outside with strangers on a garden table or admire the work of local artists on the walls inside, also available for purchase. The best dinner in town goes to Bombini, a modern Italian fine dining restaurant with a seasonal four-course menu of sustainable and local produce- some from it's own 2-acre kitchen garden. Those just after a place to drink can settle into a veranda booth with their choice of French, Italian and Australian wines and cocktails. They also have lunch and brunch on weekends and a pantry store selling their fresh bread baked daily. For a quiet night, dine in or takeaway from All Malay Malaysian Restaurant. Don't be surprised by its popularity night after night; the beef rendang and salt and pepper soft shell crab are exceptional. It's BYO, so pick up a drop from the BWS across the road on your way. If you can't move from the beach, not even for food, never mind. The Surf Life Saving Club kiosk serves Allpress Espresso, takeaway meals and the ever important ice-block. For beachside fish and chips head to Avoca Beach Seafoods. It's BYO and open till 8pm. When it's time for an afternoon beverage, check out Mojito Joe's above the Avoca Sands Cafe. It's known for its punchy rum-based cocktails and Pacific island-inspired share dishes. The Avoca Beach Hotel is the pub of choice, with live music every Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. It's also the best spot in town to watch the footy. Any footy. Words and images by Annabel Campbell.
Valentine's Day is just around the corner and we at Concrete Playground can think of no better way to celebrate the painful plethora of schmaltz to come than with a hilarious collection of love declarations gone awry, thanks to the miracle of autocorrect. Damn You Autocorrect, the collector of texting fails, have compiled ten of their favourite Valentine's Day autocorrect blunders, proving that despite the efficiency it provides the modern lover, texting away your affection is not necessarily the best way to keep your relationship afloat. Via Mashable Image byCalypsoCrystal.
We were huge fans of W Melbourne's Paired at Culprit midweek deals, which saw city folks down bottomless food and drink combos for an absolute bargain in early 2024. The after-work events sadly ended in March, but they are finally back — just in a slightly different form. Lollo is now hosting the weekly specials, which are running from 5–7pm every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday until summer. Tuesday nights see Lollo's team sling $2 oysters throughout the two-hour period, easily paired with a glass of bubbles or a cheeky cocktail. These days, fresh oysters go for about $6 a pop in restaurants, so seafood fans best not sleep on this Tuesday night aperitivo. Wednesdays are then all about margarita cocktails and margherita pizzas — we're not going to lie, this one is our favourite. For just $35, you'll get your own margherita pizza as well as a big carafe of chilled margarita. And if you rock up to Lollo on a Thursday after work, you can score 13 spicy chicken wings and two beers for a mere $35. But that ain't all. If you wander around to the Melbourne hotel's basement bar Curious, you'll stumble upon its own happy hour special. From 5–6pm, every Tuesday–Thursday, you can down $15 cocktails, gin and tonics, and wines by the glass. We recommend starting with a drink at Curious, and following it up with whatever midweek deal is running at Lollo the day you visit. [caption id="attachment_799205" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Curious[/caption]
Need some encouragement to do something other than destroy brain cells this weekend? Take a look at this handy infographic, which suggests that Facebook's Ultimate IQ Test might have been lying to us all along. Unbelievable, I know! Apparently only 2.5% of the people really do fall into the "very superior intelligence" bracket, possessing an IQ of 130 or more, while only 0.5% of the population are sitting comfortably within the "genius" category with IQs of 140 or over. There's still plenty of room for the argument that it's accomplishments rather than IQ that make one smart. Take for instance theoretical physicist and decoder of the universe Steven Hawking who, as it turns out, has an IQ of only 160. Ha! That puts him 20 whole smart points behind James Woods, who dropped out of college to appear in Family Guy and voice Mike Toreno in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (though granted he also won three Emmy Awards and gained two Academy Award nominations). One of the even more genius geniuses is television writer Rick Rosner, who changed his name to stay in high school into his 20s. Rosner has an IQ of 192. Some dudes you may or may not have heard of have IQs well over the 200 mark, though I will leave the job of revealing details up to the chart because it's actually scary to talk about. Tthough not as scary as this list of 10 Supersmart Musicians put together by Time Entertainment, which reveals that Dexter Holland from The Offspring used to be a molecular biologist who went by the name of Brian Keith Holland. via Buzzpatrol
Cumulus Up's City Cellar Door series returns for 2019, once again featuring a revolving door of Australian wine producers all keen to show off their top-notch drops. The event is the perfect opportunity to taste delicious wine, chat directly to the makers and grab your fave bottles at cellar door prices — all without leaving the CBD. And, while Victorian producers will sit in the spotlight, the series will also showcase Tasmanian wineries. The year's series — which will run on the first Saturday of every month until October — will kick off at midday on May 4, this month paying homage to the Mornington Peninsula. Wine enthusiasts will be treated to stellar tipples from the likes of Moorooduc Estate, Allies, Quealy and Balcombe Gin. And what's wine without snacks? To make sure the event has all the trimmings, there'll be plenty to eat, including oysters, duck waffles and cured meats. Entry is by gold coin donation, with all proceeds going to OzHarvest. This is a not-to-be-missed event for anyone who loves wine. If you'd like to sit down for a more substantial meal, the upstairs wine bar will also be hosting four-course lunches with matched wines on July 20 and October 19. Alternatively, you can get out of the city and join a behind-the-scenes tour of vineyards as part of a wine-filled day trip on August 24 and November 16. You can find out more info and book tickets via the website. City Cellar Door wine tastings run from midday–4pm.
Multiple lockdowns and public health restrictions have taken a heavy toll on the city, forcing some businesses to hang up their 'closed' sign for good. But, the streets in Melbourne's CBD could soon look a little livelier again, under a new initiative set to transform vacant shopfronts into new creative spaces and curated pop-up stores. As part of the City of Melbourne and the Victorian Government's joint Melbourne City Recovery Fund, a $2.6 million shopfront activation program is designed to re-energise some of the city's quieter pockets by breathing new life into empty spaces. It'll activate more than 75 shopfronts located in areas with high vacancy rates, which includes Docklands, Carlton's Lygon Street and the eastern end of the CBD grid. [caption id="attachment_821801" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Artwork by Matteo Volpi[/caption] Building owners and leasing agents are invited to put forward any currently unused spaces as part of the program. A panel of suppliers will then help connect them with creatives and entrepreneurs, and arrange flexible, short-term licence agreements that'll allow the spaces to be temporarily reimagined. Expect everything from vibrant artworks and mini galleries; to retail pop-ups showcasing local artisan homewares. "This shopfront activation program will give free space to artists, budding entrepreneurs and artisan makers to test their business ideas and help attract Melburnians back into the city," explained Lord Mayor Sally Capp. Other initiatives already rolled out as part of the $100 million Melbourne City Recovery Fund include the outdoor dining permit scheme, the Docklands Dollars program and the Urban Blooms project — which saw giant floral works installed in laneways, streets and public spaces across the city during summer. Building owners and leasing agents can register their interest in the shopfront activation program by submitting a query online. Further details are available here. Top Shopfront Image: Supplied by City of Melbourne, artwork by Tara Whalley.
Millions of Aussies flock to Sydney's sparkling shores each year — and, now that the borders are open, it's time to book your great escape to the city. But often, it seems, not many make it past the main attractions. That's why we're here to help. If you're considering a trip to the Harbour City, there's plenty to add to your itinerary beyond the usual highlight reel of CBD sights. Once you've made the pilgrimage to our cultural institutions and culinary heavyweights, make tracks to the neighbourhood watering holes, independent shops and small galleries locals love. We've joined forces with Destination NSW to show you how. Live like a local and uncover the hidden gems that make Sydney's inner city suburbs worth a visit. Please stay up to date with the latest NSW Government health advice regarding COVID-19. [caption id="attachment_652518" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Grounds of Alexandria, Destination NSW[/caption] WHERE TO BRUNCH You've probably been to: Visitors are known to flock to the beloved Grounds of Alexandria (as well as its city outpost, The Grounds of the City) and the well-known Bills establishments in Surry Hills, Darlinghurst and Bondi — and we don't blame them. Besides being the perfect spot for your next Instagram photo, The Grounds of Alexandria offers a cafe, restaurant, bar, bakery, patisserie, coffee roastery, florist and markets to explore. And at Bills, it almost goes without saying that those corn fritters, creamy scrambled eggs and ricotta hotcakes are huge drawcards. But when you're ready to try something new (and avoid the queues), join the locals for the morning meal. [caption id="attachment_708584" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Reuben Hills[/caption] Next, you should go to: Nestled in the leafy streets of Surry Hills (and just a ten-minute walk northeast from Central Station), Reuben Hills delivers South American-inspired eats and house-roasted specialty coffee. Its soft-baked eggs with ranchero and kale are made to warm bellies and the chorizo brekkie roll is possibly the best spin on a classic B&E sanga you'll find in the city. Or, head slightly further out to Redfern Station, walk five minutes down Eveleigh Street, and you'll find Henry Lee's, a charming courtyard cafe with an ever-changing menu of local produce. Don't miss Henry's Dream toast with avocado, pesto, heirloom tomato, pomegranate molasses and a poached egg, and make sure to nab a batch brew made with locally roasted beans from The Little Marionette. [caption id="attachment_785522" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Lindy Lee 'No Up, No Down, I Am the Ten Thousand Things', 'Lindy Lee: Moon in a Dew Drop', MCA. Image credit: Anna Kucera[/caption] WHERE TO SEE ART You've probably been to: The Art Gallery of NSW brings together centuries of international and local talent to create one of the world's most beautiful art museums, while the Museum of Contemporary Art celebrates the work of modern artists from Australia and abroad. With rotating exhibitions, there's always something new to discover on a return trip, but if you're looking for something off the beaten track, read on. [caption id="attachment_770817" align="alignnone" width="2000"] White Rabbit 'And Now', Kimberley Low[/caption] Next, you should go to: On the hunt for something one-of-a-kind? Meet Firstdraft, Woolloomooloo's premier space for emerging and experimental art. Expect to be challenged and inspired here by ambitious art making. Next up is Chippendale's Galerie Pompom, a venue as playful as its name suggests. Stop by and explore mixed-media works from young and emerging Sydney- and Melbourne-based artists. Then from there, you can go on a gallery crawl of sorts to surrounding art spaces, including Nanda\Hobbs, Harrington Street Gallery, Goodspace Gallery at The Lord Gladstone pub and, of course, White Rabbit Gallery. [caption id="attachment_721571" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Nikki To[/caption] WHERE TO DINE You've probably been to: When on the hunt for an indulgent feast in the inner city, the Sydney Opera House sails prove a popular destination. Bennelong offers a dining experience as unique as the building it sits within, with views across the harbour and a fine-dining menu from celebrated chef Peter Gilmore. Then there's Surry Hills' queue-inviting Thai eatery, Chin Chin. Its trademark neon glow, loud music and industrial design make it a go-to for visiting food lovers. But if you've tried these big names, this is your chance to explore Sydney's neighbourhood gems — and we've got a lot. [caption id="attachment_784794" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Sunshine Inn, Cassandra Hannagan[/caption] Next, you should go to: First and foremost, head to cosy Italian eatery Kindred in Darlington for a homely feed. It's as inviting as Nonna's kitchen, featuring house-made pasta, bread and cultured butter and it serves almost exclusively organic, bio-dynamic or natural wines. For a memorable feast in vibrant surroundings, make tracks to Surry Hills' rule-breaking Indian restaurant Don't Tell Aunty. Opt for chef Jessi Singh's set menu for $65 per person, and you'll get to try almost all the curries on the menu with the thali (curry platter). And, to really indulge in local flavours, head to The Sunshine Inn, Redfern's new restaurant and cocktail bar from the Golden Gully crew. Alongside a drinks list packed with nearby producers — including Yulli's Brews, Batch Brewing Co and Mr Black — it serves a selection of all-vegetarian, seasonal snacks. [caption id="attachment_637643" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Frankie's, Katje Ford[/caption] WHERE TO DRINK You've probably been to: The laneways of Sydney's CBD are a goldmine for a post-dinner tipple. Revellers will be well acquainted with late-night, rocker joint Frankie's Pizza. It's part dive bar, part New York-style pizza parlour, part blast from the past in 80s metal form. Then, of course, there's The Baxter Inn, the underground bar known for its 800-plus whisky offering, endless bowls of free pretzels and speakeasy vibe. But as great as Frankie's and The Baxter Inn are, they're just the tip of the small bar iceberg. [caption id="attachment_725315" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Arcadia Liquors, Kitti Gould[/caption] Next, you should go to: Down the road, you'll find one of the CBD's best courtyard bars, Since I Left You — which just so happens to hold one of the first small bar licenses ever issued in the city. Sip a hard lemonade, dig into a cheeseburger toastie and catch one of the many live gigs the bar hosts. Plus, every Saturday it offers beats, bottomless cocktails and themed brunches. A little further out in Redfern, you'll find neighbourhood stalwart Arcadia Liquors. Sample a selection of Sydney-brewed beers or sip a martini made with local gin. Continue on to Newtown, in the direction of Corridor. The name of this joint says it all — it's a slim, cosy bar with a rooftop area that offers an ace happy hour where you can sip $7 pints of local brews and $14 cocktails. [caption id="attachment_725960" align="alignnone" width="1920"] State Theatre[/caption] WHERE TO CATCH A SHOW You've probably been to: Seeing a show at Sydney Opera House is a bucket-list item. With shows ranging from cabaret and comedy to symphony and ballet — and everything in between — it's easy to find something to pique your interests. Beyond the iconic sails, you'll find Haymarket's historic Capitol Theatre, which often hosts world-class musicals, ballet and opera, as well as the heritage-listed State Theatre, which brings film, theatre and music performances to the masses. But, that's just the start of what Sydney has to offer. [caption id="attachment_637702" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Venue 505, Katje Ford[/caption] Next, you should go to: Live music comes alive at inner west gem Venue 505. Brimming with talented musicians, this spot plays host to excellent live jazz, roots, reggae, funk, instrumental and vocal entertainment Monday to Saturday — and often for free or less than $50. Down the road, the historic Vanguard has a full program showcasing local and international talents from a mixed bag of genres, including rock, soul, blues and tribute bands. When it comes to theatre, Griffin Theatre Company offers a celebration of local playwrights and actors. Stop by to see the next Cate Blanchett or David Wenham take the stage (both of whom started their careers with this iconic company). [caption id="attachment_739630" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Strand Arcade, Destination NSW[/caption] WHERE TO SHOP You've probably been to: You've probably roamed the ornate halls of the historic Queen Victoria Building, boasting 170 boutiques plus several drinking and dining options — including a spot dedicated entirely to champagne. And you've probably wandered through The Strand Arcade, with its high-end fashions. The heritage Victorian building is the place to go for something fancy and bespoke (like a hat steamed and fitted to your head) or for a swish meal at Pendolino, the decadent Italian restaurant on level four. But outside of these dazzling arcades, you'll get to experience the boutiques and purveyors the locals frequent. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Lunatiques, Kitti Gould[/caption] Next, you should go to: Venture out of the CBD and head to one of the many shopping streets around the inner city suburbs. Antique lovers will adore Mascot's vintage warehouse, Lunatiques. Brimming with pre-loved furniture, art, clothes and more, this is a destination for collectors and interiors aficionados alike. Trendsetters, head to picturesque Paddington and make a beeline for Di Nuovo, which offers racks of hand-picked, secondhand pieces from local and overseas high-end labels. And if you're looking for a good read for your trip, pay a visit to Glebe's Gleebooks to track down new and secondhand books. The bookshop has been a local favourite for over 40 years. You can also stop by neighbouring Sappho's, another secondhand bookshop with many hard-to-find or out-of-print titles, plus a cafe-bar in the courtyard out the back. Make your great escape to Sydney now and traverse it like a local. Discover more around the city here. Top image: Since I Left You
March is the month of movement here in Melbourne, all thanks to a brand-new major dance event twirling its way through the city. Running from Wednesday, March 1–Friday, March 31, the debut edition of dance biennial FRAME is serving up a stacked program of performances, talks, exhibitions, screenings and more. Expect a diverse lineup of events spotlighting talent both renowned and emerging, taking over venues including Arts House, The Substation and the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art. Celebrated Aussie choreographer Lucy Guerin presents a 21-artist performance installation recapturing elements from 21 of her company's previous productions, while A Certain Mumble sees First Nations dancer Amelia O'Leary and Chinese Malaysian artist Janelle Tan dissect the nuances of cultural identity. [caption id="attachment_892123" align="alignnone" width="1920"] 'NEWRETRO', by Gregory Lorenzutti[/caption] Elsewhere, there's a huge participatory public dance work titled Us and All of This, Jackie Sheppard's visceral exploration of grief, and Yumi Umiumare's mystical performance piece IN-VOCATION, which features a Japanese clairvoyant and uses 3D video in a compelling homage to the divine feminine. Plus, Raina Peterson fuses traditional Indian dance with the contemporary for psychedelic work Mohini. Further highlights include film-based exhibition REALREEL, a work-in-progress showcase by The Australian Ballet and — for those inspired to get moving themselves — a stack of free morning dance classes led by the likes of Chunky Move and Lucy Guerin Inc. [caption id="attachment_892121" align="alignnone" width="1920"] 'Slip', by Sarah Walker[/caption] Top image: Mohini by Anne Moffat.
New York is a very strange, very wonderful place. A city full of the quirky, the neurotic, and the downright weird, there is a place for everything and everyone in New York. That's why when I came across Rachael Morrison I was hardly surprised by her unorthodox performance art — in fact, I was completely spellbound. Morrison, a Senior Library Assistant at The Museum of Modern Art Library in New York, has launched a performance art project called 'Smelling the Books.' And yes, this is exactly what it sounds like. In early 2010, Morrison began her olfactory escapade, systematically smelling every book in the MoMA Library collection and documenting each new sensory experience in a ledger. Of the performance Morrison says her purpose is to "foster a discussion of the future of print media, the ways we read, methods of classification, and the way in which smell is entwined with memory." I love the smell of books. A book is like a lover — with each one you have a unique experience and with each you build a unique relationship, one that can't be re-fabricated by a computer or a kindle, no matter how hard you try. And that's why I'm asking you now, gentle reader, to join Morrison's crusade; pick up your favourite old classic or buy something new, curl up wherever you are with a cup of coffee, and nuzzle your nose between the pages. There has never been a better time than now to smell a book.
Four years ago, legendary Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Fleetwood Mac toured Australia with Christine McVie, who'd just rejoined the band after a 16-year absence. This year, when the British-American group tours the country, the lineup will look a little different. Mick Fleetwood, Stevie Nicks, John McVie and Christine McVie will be joined on stage in August by Crowded House frontman Neil Finn and Mike Campbell, from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, with Lindsey Buckingham controversially axed from the band early last year. Despite the switch-up — it's not the band's first personnel change, and probably won't be its last — the band will be performing all its biggest hits, from 'Dreams' to 'The Chain' and 'Go Your Own Way'. The six will head to Australia's west coast first, hitting up Perth on August 9, before flying east to perform shows across the east coast — with one show in Brissie, and two in Sydney and Melbourne. Fleetwood Mac is one of the world's best-selling bands, selling in excess of 100 million albums worldwide, with the album Rumours one of the best-selling of all time. Their Aussie tour follows the band's 50-show tour of the US. FLEETWOOD MAC 2019 TOUR DATES Perth — RAC Arena, August 9 Brisbane — Brisbane Entertainment Centre, August 20 Sydney — Qudos Bank Arena, August 27 and 29 Melbourne — Rod Laver Arena, September 2 and 4 Fleetwood Mac pre-sale tickets are available from midday (local time) on Thursday, January 24, 2019, with general on-sale is at midday (local time) in Sydney and Perth, and 1pm in Melbourne and Brisbane, on Friday, January 25, through Live Nation.
Ask writer/director Sally Aitken about more than a year spent celebrating her documentary about Los Angeles' hummingbirds — a movie that premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, also screened at SXSW in Austin and Hot Docs in Toronto, then made its way Sydney and Adelaide's film fests as well, and was nominated for an AACTA Award across that journey — and she answers with a sense of humour. "I was about to make a little joke about 'it's like a little hummingbird migrating everywhere'," she tells Concrete Playground. That's a parallel drawn with the utmost of affection, however, as anyone that has seen Every Little Thing and witnessed the immense care that it has for the gorgeous tiny birds in front of its cameras will instantly recognise. "It's amazing," the Australian documentarian also notes about the film's global tour, flitting to Greece, Poland, New Zealand, the UK, the Netherlands, Estonia and Sweden, too, before it opened in Australian cinemas to kick off March 2025. When Aitken turned her lens towards beloved Australian film critic David Stratton in 2017 doco David Stratton: A Cinematic Life, the end result played at Cannes. 2023's Hot Potato: The Story of The Wiggles, the movie immediately prior to Every Little Thing on her resume, screened at the first-ever SXSW Sydney. The last time that the filmmaker peered at nature on the big screen, in 2021's Valerie Taylor: Playing with Sharks, she also scored a Sundance premiere. Together, those four titles paint a picture not just of an Aussie director's success and recognition around the world, or of her versatility, but of her desire to dig into an array of different stories of our humanity. "I like to make films that look at this incredible world through a new lens or through the other end of the telescope," she advises about a recent resume that's spanned appreciating cinema, reappraising ocean predators, the origins of iconic childhood entertainers and now a hotline for hummingbirds. Every Little Thing is indeed about hummingbirds in LA, but it's also about a person who has dedicated decades to tending to the birds' injuries. It was Terry Masear's book Fastest Things on Wings: Rescuing Hummingbirds in Hollywood — a review of it, to begin with — about her Los Angeles Hummingbird Rescue that sparked Aitken's second film of the 2020s about women and their connection with animals. That text was a memoir of its author's endeavours since 2004, but Every Little Thing's personal aspects, stepping through Masear's experiences beyond rehabilitating the smallest mature birds there are as well, is exclusive to the documentary. In interweaving the two, Aitken has crafted a pivotal chronicle of resilience among winged critters and humans alike. Wildlife rescue is a field of highs, hopes, healing and heartbreaks, as the film captures in detail. Existence is for all creatures anyway, great and small, as the documentary also examines. A phone call for Masear, a retired UCLA professor, usually means that a hummingbird in the City of Angels is in trouble. The reality of human life in the Californian city isn't always kind to the American-native species, but Masear unceasingly is. Every Little Thing flutters through her efforts as birds after birds are brought to her door — and as she attends to them in their various stages of need, aiming to get each one back flying over LA in the wild. Cactus, Jimmy, Wasabi, Alexa, Mikhail: they're just some of the hummingbirds that flap in and out, and that Masear treats with the sincerest of compassion. [caption id="attachment_995806" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jacquie Manning[/caption] Every Little Thing surveys the ins and outs of the rehab process, including syringe-feeding fruit flies to babies as dawn breaks, taking birds through workouts to test their flying capacity, and transitioning them from incubators to aviaries and ideally back into the sunny skies. It explores the characters, feathered and human — and among the former, it is also well-aware that some under Masear's supervision won't make it. This deeply empathetic film sees the hummingbirds in all of their glory, using cameras capable of capturing their super-fast speed, and also peers at Hollywood as they do thanks to bird's-eye view imagery. Crucially, it's as much about what it means to devote your time to another creature, to commit to riding the rollercoaster of their wins and setbacks, and to truly care. After watching Every Little Thing, no one should look at feathered friends above, or at any animal life, in the same way again — and while viewing it, everyone should enjoy witnessing its critters in detail that they've likely never seen before. This is a touching movie, for audiences, those in it and the folks behind it. We also chatted with Aitken about the kindness at the picture's core, the inspiration to bring Masear's work to the screen, the film's personal turns, the extensive editing process thanks to hundreds of hours of footage, its often-breathtaking visual approach, and weathering the act that bird rehab involves both soaring joy and aching sorrow. On Every Little Thing's Year-Plus-Long Journey From Premiering at Sundance to Releasing in Australian Cinemas, Via Playing at Other Film Festivals Around the World — and the Reaction to It "It's so incredible as a filmmaker when you can see, very visibly in these kinds of scenarios like film festivals and in front of cinema audiences, how people are affected by the film. And I don't mean you perversely sitting there waiting for people to clap, or to cry or whatever, but the fact that the film is an emotional film for people. I think that's the affirming part of it, because we set out to make something that would be an invitation and something that would be a work that wasn't necessarily literal — that invited people to these ideas of compassion and kindness in a very beautiful way, with the sunny cinematography and the delicate hummingbirds — and that was supposed to also be about us as much as the birds. To have a film that premieres at Sundance is a thrill. To then be consecutively invited to all of these incredibly prestigious marquee film festivals, and then now to be in a cinema run, that's extraordinary — especially, especially right now, in the marketplace right now, where most of the offer is murdered bodies and people in office doing pretty crazy things. So, yeah, it's lovely." On What It Means as an Australian Filmmaker to Have Your Work Repeatedly Embraced by Festivals Across the Globe, as Aitken's David Stratton, Valerie Taylor, The Wiggles and Now Terry Masear Docos Have Enjoyed "It's funny because all those films are really quite different, but maybe they're also helmed by something that you're not even conscious that you're necessarily reaching for when you're making the film. I am very interested in our humanity. I like to make films that look at this incredible world through a new lens or through the other end of the telescope. So it's a thrill when that work gets invited to any of those festivals that you're mentioning. These are extraordinary environments to see work from all around the world. And I think it just speaks to the fact that we have an industry in Australia that is pretty challenged right now, and we are making work that that is as good, on par, right up there with everybody else — and that feels really good to be part of this global independent filmmaking sector." On Why Aitken Was Inspired to Bring Masear's Work with Hummingbirds to the Screen "Initially, I was sent the review of Terry's memoir and I genuinely thought 'what the heck? A hotline for hummingbirds?'. 'That is really very particular' was my initial thought. The curiosity of that was amazing to me. Not that I'm unaware that wildlife rescue happens, but I just never conceived that somebody would have such a singular focus — that hummingbirds would have this 24/7 helpline. And what on earth did that look like? So it was very much initially a curiosity, and when I read Terry's book, I realised it was so much more than that. The way she writes about the birds, it's very metaphorical. I realised in that moment there was an incredible opportunity to see these birds not just in their cinematic beauty — obviously the visual appeal of this film was always there — but that they could be this carrier of these much bigger philosophical ideas, these universal truths about our humanity. They were like a mirror to us. So I thought 'that is a really interesting film', that possibility, that invitation. It felt to me like this was much more than the story of someone just rehabilitating the hummingbirds that may be in that rehabilitation. It was actually a rehabilitation for ourselves. That was the starting point." On Making Two Films in the Past Four Years About Women and Their Work with Animals, and Their Place Among Aitken's Diverse Filmography Otherwise "It's certainly no secret that I am a huge champion of women's stories — women who are brilliant, women who are badass, women who are dastardly, women who are heroic. I think we can't scream those stories enough. But actually, what was quite funny, especially at Sundance — because Valerie Taylor: Playing with Sharks played at Sundance, and then this just played three years later — so many of the moderators, exactly like you, observed, they say 'oh, Sally was here three years ago with this film about this woman and the natural world, and what draws you to these stories of women?'. And the truth is that I make films about all kinds of things. I do true crime. I do music. I do all sorts of stories. So what I would say was 'well, fun fact, between Playing with Sharks and Every Little Thing, I made a small film about a small group called The Wiggles'. And actually the crowd, who are American by and large, they all cracked up laughing because it's so incongruous, right? This story about this childhood band in the midst of these films about ourselves and the interconnectedness with the natural, amazing, wonderful, miraculous world that we live in. But I think it's the same thing as what we were talking about before: it's finding a story that you think you know and telling this totally different story about that thing. So whether that's about sharks and the demonisation of sharks, and actually seeing them through the eyes of a woman who's quite literally been playing with them since the 1950s; or whether that's seeing the most well-known yellow-, purple-, red-, blue-clad characters that we see every day or every week on our breakfast television, and suddenly seeing them not in those colours, but seeing them as an incredible, incredible story of chasing your dreams, and this audacious idea of school teachers making it to Madison Square Garden; or whether it's hummingbirds, which in America are ubiquitous, they're just in everybody's backyard, and actually seeing them as these kind of magical fairy creatures — it's that same idea. It's just taking these things and putting a whole new lens on them, and telling a really hopefully cinematic, emotional story in the process." On How Every Little Thing Also Became About Masear's Personal Story "So it is really an act of faith, making a documentary. She says in the film she doesn't trust easily. That is true. What is also true is that when I read her book, her book doesn't talk about her personal story at all. Her book very much deals with the hummingbirds that she has looked after in the last 20-odd years, and it takes a few of those very memorable hummingbirds and explores the stories of how she came to care for those birds and what happened to those birds through rehab. That's essentially what the book is talking about. So the book is very much about her and the work with the rehabilitation. But it's this funny thing when you're making a film, especially a film that is observational — and documentaries on that kind of film, you're a very small crew. You're very, very tight. You're very intimate. And you're all signed up to this unknown adventure, because it's not like a drama. I always joke, I always think this is so much harder because we don't have a script, you don't have paid actors, you're not able to write your way out of the scene. You're actually filming real life. But she became increasingly comfortable. I'm very transparent in the way that I work. I like to tell people what my intention is, and also share my own vulnerabilities. I don't know how it's going to work out. Certainly that's not a statement that's not confident, but it's saying 'we're all in this together' — and I think that's very disarming for people, and certainly for Terry. She felt like she was among people who really valued her work, and so of course she started to trust us. And then so what actually happened is that she started opening up about her personal life — and of course, as soon as she did that, that was amazing, because so much fell into place in relation to some of the motivations for why she does the work that she does, or what might inspire her to do this work in the first place. So while that all happened, I also then, when I got into the edit with my brilliant, brilliant editor Tania Nehme [Monolith], I didn't want to make a film that was completely didactic. And so, like I said before, it was really an invitation. I wanted to draw this idea of Terry's biography, but to do it still in this lyrical, poetic way that just revealed the layers of her biography as we moved through the rehab process." On the Challenges of Editing, Including the Difficulties of Whittling Down the Footage and Deciding Which Hummingbird Stories to Tell "You are not wrong: the edit is absolutely the challenge, the moment that you go 'oh my god, I think I need to go and open a florist shop. Can I do it? It's really hard. How can these tiny birds be so goddamn heavy?'. You definitely have these moments where you think 'what?', and the volume of the footage was a big part of that. Terry takes so many calls through the season, and of course we captured as much as we could, but it's really a process, an iterative process. And so we got into the edit suite, and the one clear thing that I remember discussing with Tania was that our task in the edit was really to make the smallest things feel giant, to feel epic, to feel the stuff of grand cinema. So with that aspiration in mind, it was really just a process of working and working our way through the volume of footage. And then some of the characters, they reveal themselves to you. Jimmy is hilarious. Cactus is vulnerable. Alexa and Mikhail are thwarted love. In the mix of things, we wanted these characters to — in a way — be this mirror to the human experience as much as they were their own individual heroes, or are their own individual heroes, in the film." On Capturing Stunning Footage of Birds Known for Their Super-Fast Speed, and Pairing It with a Bird's-Eye View of Los Angeles "Right from the beginning, it felt like a film that had all of this visual potential. So if you've seen a hummingbird in real life, you know that they are incredibly fast — and magical. They look like fairies. They just whip in, they kind of come up and look at you, and then they whip off again. But the way that Terry wrote about them was very metaphoric, like I was saying. So I wanted to reach for a visual style and a visual treatment that was really replicating the way that Terry sees the birds — and the way that she sees them is otherworldly. So in the same way that a hotline for hummingbirds is quite specific, there is also a cinematographer whose specialty is hummingbirds. That's also pretty specific. So her name is Ann Johnson Prum [Terra Mater] and she lives in America. She is American. And she's an expert cinematographer with a camera called the Phantom Flex. The Phantom Flex is a camera that shoots at an incredibly high frame rate — it goes up to 1000 frames a second. And what that means is that when you film footage at a high frame rate, you can then really slow it down. So from the beginning, we wanted to lean into this idea of being able to enter into the hummingbirds' realm and not just be in our human limited sensory experience of them. And the other thing is that we have also two other cinematographers in the camera team, two Australian DPs, Dan Freene [Skategoat] and Nathan Barlow [a Valerie Taylor: Playing with Sharks alum]. And so we leant into cinematic time lenses, and that gave us macro lenses. So that gave us an ability to be really close to the birds — so close, in fact, that at times you can see their eyelashes. I mean, who knew that hummingbirds have eyelashes? So it was a huge challenge, but we really wanted to meet that challenge in order to make the birds feel worthy of this big-screen treatment, because they are worthy of a big-screen treatment. And it's really quite trippy, actually, when you know that a hummingbird is quite literally the size of your little finger, and then you're looking at it on a giant cinema screen — it's quite trippy, the experience for the viewers. So I was quite interested in playing with all of those ideas." On Every Little Thing's Crew Coping with the Casualties in Masear's Line of Work — as Newcomers to Facing It — But Ensuring That This Is a Film of Hope "That's a really perceptive question. And we were talking before about that intimate relationship — absolutely, of course, every time you make a film about whatever subject, it changes you or it affects you, not only because you're learning new things, but because you're working with, encountering, engaging with, being trusted with other people's experiences and their stories. So I found the whole experience incredibly moving. I think that, at the same time that I was in the edit — and Tania and I worked incredibly closely together. The shoot is very intense, you have the whole team, but when you're in the edit, it's really just the two of you. And the algorithms didn't make this film. It's a film that really, really does come from the heart, and it's exploring things that aren't always talked about or aren't always obvious. So to circle back to your first question, which is about the reaction, it's hugely affirming when people respond to that because it tells you that that need is there in all of us to have these stories about what is good in our humanity, what is kind, what is empathetic in a world that's actually constantly cynical — and constantly telling you that people are bad and politics is awful, and the world is existentially threatened with climate change. When you are in this news cycle, which is a horror show, when there's a story that comes along that reminds you that humans are resilient, imaginative, kind and empathetic, that's a good news story. And it's not like a Pollyanna good news — as you say, birds die. Life is tragic. Life is unfair. Life is awful. But the message, I suppose, in the film is that what matters is how you respond to that and the compassion that you put in when you're engaged in life. And I just thought that was such an extraordinary idea, along with the idea that if you take the time to get on bended knee for something that is so small, that's a giant act of your own humanity. I just thought that was such a strong, compelling call to arms for all of us, for how we can be — we can just be better." Every Little Thing opened in Australian cinemas on Thursday, March 6, 2025.
Slipping, sliding and splashing are familiar parts of every Australian summer, thanks to the nation's water parks. But Queensland's Wet 'n' Wild, Sydney's Raging Waters, Melbourne's Funfields, Adelaide's Semaphore Waterslide Complex and Perth Aqua Park — and all the other H20-filled, slide-heavy attractions around the country, too — could all soon have some hefty competition from the southern hemisphere's biggest indoor-outdoor facility of the same kind. Called SurfnPlay Aqua Park, it's due to open in Melbourne by 2024 as part of a four-hectare development in Dingley Village. Almost half of the park will be dedicated to indoor pools and recreation — 1.82 hectares, in fact — while another 1.3 hectares slides and pools will sit outdoors. Outside, there'll also be a beach pool that'll be able to generate 1.8-metre waves (so you'll really feel like you're swimming and surfing at the real thing). Also part of the current plans: an indoor wave room, water-jet powered slides that'll let you slip your way up an incline rather than just down, and a 250-metre stretch that's been dubbed a 'lazy river'. Basically, whether you like hitting a board, hurtling through water-filled tubes or just floating around, it'll be on offer at the facility, which is being developed by Pellicano. SurfnPlay Aqua Park has actually been in the works for the past couple of years — with initial plans submitted to the City of Kingston back in March 2019 — however it's now seeking final approval. Construction is expected to start within 12 months of the latter. If it comes to fruition, it'll become Melbourne's latest manmade site to catch a few waves — with not only the aforementioned Funfields featuring a heated wave pool, but surf park Urbnsurf pumping out waves since January 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BlEQt3PckY For more information about SurfnPlay Aqua Park — which is due to open in Dingley Village, Melbourne, by 2024 if it is approved — head to its Facebook page. Via Pellicano / The Herald Sun. Images: SurfnPlay Aqua Park
It's time you set your sights on the east coast because Aperol is coming to town in style with its Kombi Tour. The vintage, retrofitted 1976 Volkswagen van is back, chasing the sun with a road trip through some of Queensland's idyllic coastal towns — from Cairns to the perpetually stunning Whitsundays. The Kombi has been cruising around the southeastern corner of the state for the last month but is heading north for the rest of its tour, racing the winter chill and bringing the red-hot vibes along, too. There are five more stops on its journey before Aperol has to hang up its spritzes for winter. If you're in the area, chase the summer feeling and grab a delectable spritz while you still can. NORTHERLIES, AIRLIE BEACH The Kombi's next stop is Northerlies Beach Bar & Grill, just outside Airlie Beach. Aperol is stopping in for four weekends at the mellow beachside resort. Enjoy ice-cold Aperol Spritzes and exclusive specials — like the rosemary-infused Rosy Cheeks spritz — while taking in the gorgeous views of the salty waves crashing into the white sandy beaches. June 16–July 11, Northerlies Beach Bar & Grill, Airlie Beach. More information here. SALT HOUSE FOOD & WINE FESTIVAL Get a taste of the tropics at Salt House in Cairns when the Kombi rolls in this winter. The iconic waterfront venue is also hosting a Food & Wine Festival on Saturday, August 5, which will see winemakers, distillers, brewers and producers descend on the locale and share their wares with attendees. Enjoy local produce while sipping on a refreshing Aperol Spritz — direct from the Kombi. Not able to make it on the festival weekend? Well, you're in luck because it will be at Salt House for four weekends. July 28–August 7, Salt House Food & Wine Festival, Cairns. Book tickets here. CAIRNS ITALIAN FESTIVAL The inaugural ten-day Cairns Italian Festival is the next stop for the brightly-hued vehicle — although it won't actually be moving from Salt House. The waterfront spot is one of the many venues taking part in the festival, so the Kombi will sit tight at the venue for the festival's weekend in July. You'll be snacking on traditional Italian plates, woodfired pizzas, gelato and more — all while sipping deliciously bitter Aperol Spritzes. Saturday, July 29, Salt House, Cairns. More information here. TASTE PORT DOUGLAS The next stop on the 2023 Aperol Kombi Tour is the Taste Port Douglas Food and Wine Festival, held at the Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort. Experience (and then taste) the rich food culture of Tropical North Queensland as top chefs arrive to dazzle you with their inspiring creations. You know the drill: wash it all down with a perfectly chilled spritz from the Kombi. August 10–13, Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort, Port Douglas. More information here. SHERATON, PORT DOUGLAS If five-star luxury eco-certified stays are on your to-go-to list in 2023, take yourself to the Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort. This August and September, you'll be on the doorstep of two staggeringly beautiful UNESCO World Heritage Sites (the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest), plus you'll be perfectly placed for the freshest of spritzes when the Kombi hits the digs from Tuesday, August 8 till Monday, September 11. It'll be the ideal way to toast the end of winter and celebrate the coming of spring. August 14–September 5, Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort, Port Douglas. More information here. For more information on the Aperol Kombi Tour, and to plan your road trip to one of its pit stops, head to the website.
Since 2017, the Melbourne-based National Gallery of Victoria has hosted the NGV Triennial art showcase every three years, with this summer's iteration from Sunday, December 3, 2023–Sunday, April 7, 2024 the third. Designed to provide a portrait of the world each time it is staged — art trends and breakthroughs; the artists making them; and the themes, ideas and events they're responding to — each NGV Triennial delivers a hefty program. This time, there's 75 works from 100-plus artists, complete with more than 25 world-premiere projects, all tying into the themes of magic, matter and memory. A big highlight: Boston Dynamics robot dogs, which are showing off their very good painting skills. This clearly isn't Black Mirror, with Polish-born Agnieszka Pilat training the robot dogs to make art, as NGV Triennial attendees can watch happen. They're creating a monolithic durational work, with Pilat exploring technology's power in modern life in the process. While attending NGV Triennial is free, you don't have to go inside the NGV International on St Kilda Road to see Yoko Ono's contribution. Drawing upon six decades making art, including her famed Instruction Pieces and major public art commissions, she has provided a large-scale text-based piece that displays on the building's façade. One of the joys of an exhibition like this is the sheer variety of works — although Paris haute couture house Maison Schiaparelli's involvement would be a standout anyway. Artistic Director Daniel Roseberry has picked items from recent collections to display, plus a range of gilded surrealist accessories and body adornment. And, as well as showing his penchant for pushing boundaries and pairing art and fashion, there's a celestial theme. Also immersive: Tokyo-based artist Azuma Makoto's room-sized homage to nature, specifically plants and their magic, beauty and life force. The artist has frozen Australian flowers and botanicals into acrylic blocks, then combined them with a multi-screen film about the life and death of blooms. Yes, you'll be thinking about nature while you take it in. Tracey Emin has contributed a series of works, including five-metre-high text-based neon light installation based on the British artist's own handwriting. From Paris-based and American-born sculptor Sheila Hicks, Nowhere to Go stacks her blue-hued bulbous sculptures against a wall. Or, there's David Shrigley's Really Good — a seven-metre-high thumbs-up. Elsewhere, the massive one-hundred-metre-long woven fish fence Mun-dirra was made over two years by ten artists and their apprentices from the Burarra language group Maningrida, Arnhem Land — while large-scale commission Megacities tasked ten street photographers to snap Cairo, Dhaka, Jakarta, Delhi, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, Seoul, Lagos, Tokyo and Mexico City in all their urban glory. Don't miss Hugh Hayden's The end installation, which recreates a primary-school classroom but gets apocalyptic with branches and dodo skeletons. The full list of featured artists also spans Petrit Halilaj, Betty Muffler, Hoda Afshar and Fernando Laposse, plus Flora Yukhnovich, Yee I-Lann, Joyce Ho, Shakuntala Kulkarni and SMACK — and more, obviously. Images: installation views of Azuma Makoto's work, designs by Maison Schiaparelli, Agnieszka Pilat's work Heterobota and Yoko Ono's work I Love You Earth, on display as part of NGV Triennial at NGV International, Melbourne. Photos: Sean Fennessy.
When poring over the menu at Brunswick's Small Axe Kitchen, two words jump out at you straight away: breakfast pasta. Made with macaroni, sautéed peas, mint, pork cheek, and topped with a slow-cooked egg, it's the most eye-catching dish at this Sicilian-inspired brunch spot that is fast becoming a northside staple. Other standouts include their grilled brioche with pistachio granita, espresso mousse, nougat and bloody orange jelly, their warm chestnut rice pudding with figs, prunes, almonds and fennel pollen and — you might need to sit down — the fried scarmorza sandwich. The coffee, meanwhile, comes courtesy of Code Black Roasters in all the regular forms — but if you're having pasta for breakfast, you may as well go for an espresso martini. Images: Tim Grey
Acclaimed the world over — and named the World's Best Gin Producer for two years running to prove it — Australian's Four Pillars has built up quite the following in boozy circles. Since 2013, the Yarra Valley-based distillery has given Aussie gin lovers plenty of covetable drops to drink, including via famed tipples such as its beloved Rare Dry Gin and bloody great Bloody Shiraz Gin. Even if you don't sip the hard stuff, you've heard of Four Pillars. You've also got a mate with a gin shrine filled with Four Pillars bottles, because everyone does. But now, thanks to the distillery's latest range, folks who don't indulge in alcohol can taste what all the fuss is about — and anyone who is having a break from cocktails for whatever reason can keep knocking back the brand's beverages. Meet Bandwagon, Four Pillars' new booze-free line, which'll arrive for hangover-free drinks at the end of June. Those two popular tipples mentioned above, Rare Dry Gin and Bloody Shiraz Gin, have been given the sans-alcohol treatment — after the distillery spent two years getting everything just right. With Bandwagon Dry, the Four Pillars team started with the same ten botanicals that make up the Rare Dry Gin. Those flavours are extracted in a different way for this boozeless version, though, with the oils and flavours from juniper, lemon myrtle, coriander seed and the like gathered using steam distillation. And, each is distilled separately in order to control the flavour contribution and the quality. They're then mixed together with a water base, and combined with steamed and vacuumed fresh chilli to give the not-quite-gin the heat that comes with alcohol — and with a natural fructose from plants for weight. As for Bloody Bandwagon, it starts with Bandwagon Dry. Bloody Shiraz Gin is made with a base of Rare Dry Gin, too, so that process is replicated — but without alcohol. Then, the clear Bandwagon Dry liquid is mixed with shiraz juice, which is crafted with shiraz grapes that haven't been fermented (so, no booze). Basically, forget soft drinks — you only need to drink these booze-free spirits from now on. When the Bandwagon range hits shelves just in time for Dry July, you'll find it at the Four Pillars Healesville Distillery and Surry Hills Laboratory, as well as from BoozeBud, Coles Local, Dan Murphy's, IGA, Liquorland and Sans Drinks. You'll also be able to pick up just Bandwagon Dry at First Choice Liquor, Vintage Cellars and Woolworths. Wondering how to drink both tipples? Four Pillars co-founder and distiller Cameron Mackenzie recommends using "around 60 millilitres of Bandwagon Dry with 100 millilitres of of your favourite tonic. As ever, use plenty of ice and an orange slice as a garnish." For Bloody Bandwagon, Mackenzie says "this is a unique, purple, and slightly sweet alcohol-free spirit that you can use just as you would your Bloody Shiraz Gin. Combine 60 millilitres of Bloody Bandwagon with 100 millilitres of tonic or soda and you'll have yourself a deliciously grown-up, booze-free drink." It's also advised to use a bit more of the Bandwagon drinks with your mixers to help highlight the flavour. And no, Mackenzie didn't initially think a decade back that this is something that Four Pillars would ever whip up. "When we launched in 2013, never in our wildest dreams did we think we would make a non-alcoholic product. But as we've grown older and wiser, booze is not always your go-to and you a need quality alternative. Enter Bandwagon," he said. Four Pillars' Bandwagon Dry and Bloody Bandwagon will be available to buy from the end of June at the Four Pillars Healesville Distillery and Surry Hills Laboratory, as well as from BoozeBud, Coles Local, Dan Murphy's, IGA, Liquorland and Sans Drinks. You'll also be able to pick up Bandwagon Dry at First Choice Liquor, Vintage Cellars and Woolworths.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that St Jerome's Laneway Festival was being forced to find new digs, thanks to a boom in construction works — including the West Gate Tunnel project and a swag of new apartment buildings — around its current home, the Footscray Community Arts Centre (FCAC). Now, the festival has announced its new location for 2019 — and it's not too far away. After enjoying a nine-year stint at the FCAC, moving there in 2010 after outgrowing its original Lonsdale Street alleyway site, the festival will be heading to Footscray Park for 2019. While the festival's new home will be larger, the capacity will remain about the same, allowing for more flexible placement of stages, less lines for bathrooms and food stalls, and maybe even less jostling to get to the front of the stage. The new space has more shady spots under trees, too, for when you need a break from the fiery summer sun. [caption id="attachment_686533" align="alignnone" width="1920"] A map of the new Footscray Park festival site.[/caption] The lineup and dates of St Jerome's Laneway Festival 2019 have not yet been announced. You can sign up for pre-sales and announcements at lanewayfestival.com. Image: Anthony Smith
This November, there's only one piece of advice worth listening to — and you can get it right from the source. Back in 1995, TLC memorably told us all not to go chasing waterfalls, and to just stick to the rivers and the lakes that we're used to. Thanks to their slot on the 2022 Fridayz Live tour, they'll be singing those words of wisdom all over again. This year's throwback R&B bill has been renamed from RNB Fridays, but it don't want no scrubs, either — and, as well as one of the biggest girl groups of the 90s, it's bringing a heap of other nostalgic names to Australian stages. Shaggy will get boombastic, Craig David will croon about his weekly routine and Ashanti will rock wit u. Also on the lineup: Akon, Macklemore, Jay Sean and Dru Hill. Kicking off at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne on Friday, November 4, then heading to Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane before finishing up at Giants Stadium in Sydney on Saturday, November 12, the Fridayz Live gigs will feature Lumidee and Havana Brown as well, with Yo! Mafia on DJ duties. Playing host: Abbie Chatfield and Fatman Scoop. [caption id="attachment_863975" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Arturo Lorde[/caption] From remaining TLC members T-Boz and Chilli, who also played this year's Glastonbury back in June, expect to hear everything everything from 'Creep' through to 'Unpretty'. From the rest of the bill, 'Thrift Shop, 'Same Love', 'I Wanna Love You', 'Don't Matter', 'Walking Away', 'What's Your Flava', 'Baby', 'Foolish', 'It Wasn't Me', 'In the Summertime', 'Ride It' and more will get a whirl. By now, with Splendour in the Grass going ahead this year, Falls Festival locked in for a summer return and a heap of huge tours heading Down Under before 2022 is out, it's clear that live music is back. But when the big retro gigs start happening again, you know that the touring music circuit is returning to pre-pandemic normality. FRIDAYZ LIVE 2022 LINEUP Macklemore TLC Akon Craig David Ashanti Shaggy Jay Sean Dru Hill Lumidee Havana Brown Yo! Mafia Hosted by Abbie Chatfield and Fatman Scoop FRIDAYZ LIVE 2022 DATES Friday, November 4 — Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Saturday, November 5 — HBF Park, Perth Sunday, November 6 — Adelaide Entertainment Centre Friday, November 11 — Brisbane Showgrounds Saturday, November 12 — Giants Stadium, Sydney Fridayz Live's 2022 tour will head around the country in November in New South Wales in October. Telstra Plus ticket pre-sales start at 10am local time on Monday, August 8, then Frontier Members pre-sales at 1pm on Wednesday, August 11 — with general sales from 11am on Friday, August 12. For more information, head to the tour website.
Been spending the first few months of 2021 pondering the future? Given how the past year has panned out, that's only natural. But tonight, on Tuesday, April 27, you might want to look to the skies as well — and feast your eyes on a luminous lunar sight. For folks located Down Under, this is when you'll see this year's 'pink supermoon'. While super full moons aren't particularly rare — two usually happen each year — there are plenty of reasons to peer upwards this time around. If you're wondering why, we've run through the details below. WHAT IS IT? If you're more familiar with The Mighty Boosh's take on the moon than actual lunar terms, here's what you need to know. As we all learned back in November 2016, a supermoon is a new moon or full moon that occurs when the moon reaches the closest point to Earth in its elliptical orbit, making it particularly bright. They're not all that uncommon — and because April 2021's supermoon is a full moon (and not a new moon), it's called a super full moon. It's also a pink moon, too, which doesn't refer to its colour but to the time of year. In the northern hemisphere, April and spring go hand-in-hand — which means the April full moon usually arrives with the onset of the year's floral blooms, and with the first flowers from the pink-hued wild ground phlox specifically. Of course, it's currently autumn in the southern hemisphere, and the wild ground phlox are native to North America — but the name still sticks. WHEN CAN I SEE IT? If you're keen to catch a glimpse, you'll want to peek outside on Tuesday, April 27. While timeanddate.com notes that the super pink moon is expected to be at its peak at 1.31pm during the day today in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane — and at 1.01pm in Adelaide, and 11.31am in Perth — it's still worth looking up for once evening hits. If you're eager to take some pictures — and see if you can outdo previous supermoon snaps — moonrise is expected at 5.33pm AEST tonight. That's when the moon will first peek above the horizon for the evening, and it'll move higher into the sky across the night. WHERE CAN I SEE IT? You can take a gander from your backyard or balcony, but the standard advice regarding looking into the night sky always applies — so city-dwellers will want to get as far away from light pollution as possible to get the absolute best view. Typically, haze is predicted for Sydney, and Brisbane and Perth have partly cloudy forecasts — but the Bureau of Meteorology only tips light morning showers for Melbourne, and sunny conditions for Adelaide. If you miss out tonight, another supermoon is due on Wednesday, May 26 — and it's called the flower moon. Via timeanddate.com / space.com. Image: Andrew C.
Australians, it's time to break out the gin and juice again — because Snoop Dogg is coming back to our shores. For the first time since 2014, the rapper is hitting stages Down Under as part of this new 'I Wanna Thank Me' tour, which'll be playing arenas in Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane in October and November 2022. Clearly, the musician/actor/cook book author/wrestling MC/wine brand owner will be dropping shows like they're hot as he raps his way through the RAC Arena, Qudos Bank Arena, Rod Laver Arena and Brisbane Entertainment Centre. He'll also be inspiring hip hop fans to be the life of the party and, if you can remember his time as Snoop Doggy Dog and Snoop Lion across his career, to ask about his name as well. Yes, you can expect to hear singles such as 'What's My Name?', 'Gin and Juice', 'Drop It Like It's Hot' and 'Snoop's Upside Ya Head', as well as tracks from his latest album — which shares its moniker with the tour. His 17th record, I Wanna Thank Me came out in 2019. So did a documentary with the same title, which you can watch in parts on Snoop's offical YouTube channel if you need something to tide you over while you wait for his new live shows. After a lack of big international tours coming our way for the past two years due to the pandemic, Snoop joins a growing list of musicians that are planning to head to Australia in 2022. So, you might need to slot his shows into your diary alongside gigs by Tyler, The Creator, Alanis Morissette, Lorde and My Chemical Romance. SNOOP DOGG 'I WANNA THANK ME' 2022 AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES Perth — Wednesday, October 22, RAC Arena Sydney — Friday, October 28, Qudos Bank Arena Melbourne — Saturday, October 29, Rod Laver Arena Brisbane — Tuesday, November 1, Brisbane Entertainment Centre Telstra pre-sale tickets for Snoop Dogg's 'I Wanna Thank Me' tour go on sale at 12pm local time on Friday, September 10. Then, general public tickets on sale at 4pm local time on Monday, September 13. Visit the tour website for further details.
Over 40 street food vendors are set up shop each week at Hank Marvin Market, a street food market happening every Saturday at Alma Park in St Kilda East. Transforming parks into a hub of fresh produce, food trucks and street food stalls, you've got to wonder: who is Hank? More than just a man, Hank Marvin draws on British Cockney slang for 'starving' — and quite rightly so, as Melburnians always seem to be hankering for their next good bite. Founder Paul Wesolek spent years working the market food scene in London, and now he's back to highlight the best of Melbourne's street food vendors — those who are committed to responsible farming methods, seasonality and quality — as well as 20 local traders selling design and fine craft goods. The lineup changes each week, but favourites like Hammer & Tong, Happy Camper Pizza and the Little Mushroom Co. are often there, along with artisan doughnuts from Cobb Lane Bakery and traditional wood-fired bagels from Shtetl Bagels.
