Live music
Exclusive
Music festivals
Another Sydney music festival calls it quits, blaming 529% increase in costs
Return to Rio, created by husband and wife duo Ricky and Alex Cooper, was born in 2013 but last year confronted $300,000 in extra costs under the state’s controversial “user pays” system.
- by Michael Koziol
Latest
Calling all Janiacs: Austen’s love of music has inspired a modern concert
Melburnians brought out their boas for Harry Styles then sequins for Taylor Swift. For a Jane Austen musical tribute, the dress code is: favourite character.
- by Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen
‘Sell out The Zoo and you’re on your way’: Powderfinger mourns venue loss
Powderfinger’s John Collins knew the five-piece was on the way to something big when the band played to a packed house at The Zoo – a rite of passage for up-and-coming Brisbane bands for more than three decades.
- by Cameron Atfield
Pop superstar Billie Eilish announces huge Australian tour
The two-time Oscar winner will return to Australia to tour her coming album.
- by Helen Pitt
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Opinion
Music festivals
Tech issues and outrageous pricing aren’t the worst things about Coachella
The problem for the festival is that it is synonymous not with iconic music but with A-listers and overpriced beer.
- by Ed Power
When this play premiered, its actors were arrested for obscenity. Now it’s back
A controversial classic, and a smart contemporary response to it, takes the stage at La Mama in an excellent double bill.
- by Cameron Woodhead, Karl Quinn, Tony Way and Sonia Nair
This album is a rare misstep for Taylor Swift, but is she too big to fail?
For the first time in a long time, critics aren’t loving a new Taylor Swift album. Does it even matter?
- by Nell Geraets
Singer Martha on what it’s like to be a Wainwright: ‘We talk, yell, cry it out or whatever’
After her revealing memoir about her famous musical family, singer Martha Wainwright brings her disarming candour to Australian stages in May.
- by John Shand
Open Season’s 2024 program shows a live music scene still thriving
“We need to encourage people to stay interested in arts and culture, rather than scare them off by saying it’s falling apart.”
- by Courtney Kruk
Ticketmaster, Splendour in the Grass owner investigated by US government
Australia’s live music industry could be in for a massive shake-up, if the US forces Live Nation to offload its ticketing arm.
- by Karl Quinn