Overview
Not content with boasting Descendents for their first Australian tour since 2017 — plus Oliver Tree, Chet Faker, Hilltop Hoods, Earl Sweatshirt, Golden Features and Ocean Alley, too — Wollongong's Yours and Owls has just added two huge names to its 2023 lineup. Fancy dancing to Flight Facilities' famed Decades mixes? To Australian electronic favourites Pendulum, too? They're both now on the bill.
Taking place between Saturday, October 14–Sunday, October 15, this'll be the first Yours and Owls since April 2021, when it became the first major music festival that New South Wales had seen in over a year due to the pandemic — and the first to allow dancing as well. So, of course it's going big. The event was forced to cancel in 2022 when La Niña flooded its Stuart Park venue, which ensures that making another return is definitely worth celebrating.
The two-day shindig affectionately labelled Gong Christmas has added both Flight Facilities and Pendulum to its Sunday bill at its new home at the University of Wollongong (UOW) campus. Stopping by during their own tours — with both Flight Facilities and Pendulum doing the rounds Australia-wide in October — they join a roster of talent spanning over 60 local and international acts, and a whole heap of genres.
Also already on the list: US drill star Lil Tjay, as well as Vera Blue, Meg Mac, Peach Pit, Bakar, Safia, Broods, Hobo Johnson, Masego, RVG, Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers, Royal Otis and Sorry.
A few names from the SXSW Sydney music lineup are on the Yours and Owls program, too, with the two events sharing dates. Wallice, Ekkstacy, Dice, Go-Jo, Phoebe Go and Rum Jungle will all be appearing at both events.
The south coast festival's dance music stage Das Shmelthaus is also returning, and is sure to make the most of the new UOW home. On its lineup of electronic tastemakers: Club Angel, DJ PGZ, Sam Alfred, Mike Who and Lauren Hansom.
UOW and the festival have inked a three-year partnership, with the all-weather solutions available at the campus cited as one of the driving factors behind the team-up — plus the university's picturesque green spaces and a mutual commitment towards carbon-emission reduction. You can expect stages to pop up across the expansive space, with Yours and Owls promising to activate grounds, ovals and laneways.
Jess Gleeson
YOURS AND OWLS 2023 LINEUP:
Bakar
Broods
Chet Faker
Descendents
Earl Sweatshirt
Flight Facilities
Golden Features
Hilltop Hoods
Hobo Johnson
Lil Tjay
Masego
Meg Mac
Ocean Alley
Oliver Tree
Peach Pit
Pendulum
Safia
Vera Blue
Angel Du$t
Big Wett
Daily J
Dice
Ekkstacy
Fazerdaze
Forest Claudette
James Marriott
King Mala
Old Mervs
Pacific Avenue
Phony Ppl
Redhook
Royal Otis
RVG
Shagrock
Sorry
Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers
Teenage Dads
The Grogans
The Rions
The Terrys
The Vanns
Tia Gostelow
Wallice
Babyface Mal
Billy Otto
Full Flower Moon Band
Girl and Girl
Go-Jo
Lazywax
Phoebe Go
Possehot
Rum Jungle
Stevan
Stumps
These New South Whales
Towns
YB
Wiigz
Das Shmelthaus:
Object Blue b2b TSVI
Cleo
Club Angel
DJ PGZ
Kornél Kovács
Lauren Hansom b2b Mike Who
Luca Lozano
Sam Alfred
Seb Wildblood
Skatebard
Tangela
Yours and Owls 2023 will return from Saturday, October 14–Sunday, October 15 at its new home at the University of Wollongong, Northfields Ave, Wollongong — with tickets on sale now.