As part of Open Season, presented by Brisbane’s The Tivoli, First Night: Blak Day Out will bring a free, all-ages street party from Blak Social.
Open Season is The Tivoli’s way of bringing some life to Brisbane’s quieter winter period, with pop-up locations, international and local talents, and artworks. Check out the Open Season line-up for 2024.
First Night: Blak Day Out celebrates some of the continents most exciting First Nations artists, alongside some seriously good eats and pop-up bars, food stalls, Indigenous retailers, outdoor music stages and entertainment.
Plus, there’ll be a Silent Disco with DJ Kritty, a live mural painting by Sam Harrison, and dance activations from The First Creatives.
“It's embedded so beautifully in the Open Season programme, where there are so many great things to see and do. At the end of the day, this is just about celebrating Indigenous music, and that's what's at its heart,” event curator Alethea Beetson says.
Read our full interview with Alethea.
A handful of First Nations artists will take to the stage for Blak Day Out.
Kicking things off is Emma Donovan, who has toured and recorded with the likes of Paul Kelly, The Teskey Brothers, Paul Grabowsky, and the late Uncle Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter. She’s also known for her work with The Putbacks, and the Black Arm Band project. She’s part of the famed Donovan family of singers of the Gumbaynggirr people on her mother’s side, and the Yamatji people on her father’s.
Rapper and MC Dallas Woods plus triple j Blak Out host and Yuin MC Nooky and Gumbaynggirr singer-songwriter Angus Field make up 3% – a name referencing their people who make up just 3 per cent of the population in Australia. 3%’s debit album ‘Killing The Deas’ is about to drop.
The psychedelic music project Velvet Trip is made up of Zeppelin Hamilton and Clayton Allen. They’ve each honed their respective crafts, performing and writing alongside hard-hitters like Julia Jacklin, Dan Sultan, Faye Webster, Middle Kids and Emily Wurramurra. They’ve played at SXSW and Lost Paradise, just to name a few.
BADASSMUTHA has a sound inspired by reggae, alt-pop, soul and funk. She weaves her stories through lyrical wit-poetry and catchy melody. The Githabul, Migunberri-Yugumbeh woman is a seasoned multidisciplinary artist and has performed alongside Xavier Rudd, Blue King Brown, Hot Brown Honey and Polytoxic. She’s also made music for children, as Alinta & Waveney.
The Ancient Bloods are a First Nations, youth transitional band, run by Digi Youth Arts. It’s made up of Gara Doolah, Shaiesha Towler, Emelia Stacy and Gillian McInnes, bringing us into 2024 with their first EP ‘Blended’, which stirs up generational hope, resistance and good vibes.
“Blak Day Out is a space for community to come together and celebrate the music being made by this continent’s very First musicians,” Alethea Beetson says. “The line-up gives audiences a taste of the vast world of Indigenous music which should be celebrated all year round.”
Blak Day Out is on at King Street, Bowen Hills (Brisbane/Meanjin) 1 June.
Blak Day Out 2024 Line-Up
Emma Donovan3%
Velvet Trip
BADASSMUTHA
The Ancient Bloods
