The Tivoli and Princess Theatre's Open Season returns this winter offering music lovers a smorgasbord of performances from the likes of Weyes Blood, Middle Kids, Thundercat, Winston Surfshirt and much, much more.
"Brisbane tends to hibernate over winter and we wanted to create a contemporary, curated music-led programme that gives audiences something awesome and new over what is traditionally a quiet time of year," co-owner Dave Sleswick says. "Even as Open Season grows and takes its place alongside Australia's big winter festivals and cultural events in the southern states, it will always retain that grungy, grassroots and artist-led philosophy upon which it was founded.
"Brisbane is very much at the heart of Open Season, both for audiences and artists, and we demonstrate our commitment to this philosophy by programming great, local talent and bringing huge international artists to the city so Brisbane has everything it needs right on its doorstep."
From grungy, grassroots gigs and community celebrations to big-name Aussie bands and cult-following international acts, the programme offers a vibrant and diverse line-up with Northeast Party House getting the party started on 27 May.
The international arrivals are pretty spectacular commencing with New Zealand pop, R&B artist Kimbra (31 May), followed by the chamber pop and psychedelic folk of Weyes Blood (3 June) before English punk OGs The Damned (7 June).
The world of '90s hip hop collides when The Pharcyde are joined by Masta Ace and Marco Polo (11 June) while Belarusian post-punk band Molchat Doma will also partake in Open Season (15 June).
"Let's goooo Brisbane. Amazing line-up, can't wait," shares Kimbra. Prolific producers Thundercat (7 June) and Tourist (28 July) round out the overseas talent.
From a local perspective, the line-up is stacked with Winston Surfshirt, Coterie, Middle Kids, Lastlings, Ngaiire (with Queensland Symphony Orchestra), Full Flower Moon Band, First Beige and Gordi playing Princess Theatre with King Stingray playing The Tivoli.
"Brisbane, it has been too long – we are coming to play some new music for you," Middle Kids says.
Rounding out the Open Season programme are three flagship projects that bring together stacked line-ups of local and national artists. Blak Day Out takes over The Tivoli with some of Brisbane's best and brightest First Nations artists including Birdz, Alf the Great, The Last Kinection and CLOE TERARE.
The Tivoli also collaborates with Harry K Productions (Fluffy) on The Glam Awards, Brisbane's newest dedicated queer performing arts awards and club night featuring a line-up of Australia's finest drag and queer performers.
A brand-new event, Set Roulette is a music festival with a random twist – the playing schedule is decided on the day by the spin of a roulette wheel.
"So proud to announce that I will be bringing my symphonic show to Meanjin/Brisbane in collaboration with the amazing Queensland Symphony Orchestra," Ngaiire says.
"The show is being presented as part of the Open Season line-up and it's honestly a trip seeing this experience just multiply. August 4 Baby! The day after my b'day so we'll be dropping the Open for Leo ? Seeezuuun ma. Full throttle."
Tickets are on sale.
Open Season @ The Tivoli & Princess Theatre 2023 Tour Dates
Princess Theatre
Sat 27 May - Northeast Party HouseWed 31 May - Kimbra
Fri 2 Jun - Winston Surfshirt
Sat 3 Jun - Weyes Blood
Tue 6 Jun - Sleaford Mods
Wed 7 Jun - The Damned
Sat 10 Jun - Coterie
Thu 15 Jun - Molchat Doma
Fri 16 Jun - Middle Kids
Sat 1 Jul - Lastlings
Sat 15 Jul - Oneohtrix Point Never
19-22 Jul - Bernie Dieter's Club Kabarett
Fri 28 Jul - Tourist
Fri 4 Aug - Ngaiire & Queensland Symphony Orchestra
Sat 5 Aug - Set Roulette
Fri 11 Aug - Full Flower Moon Band
Sat 19 Aug - First Beige & Special Guests
Thu 24 Aug - Gordi
The Tivoli
Wed 7 Jun - ThundercatSat 11 Jun - The Pharcyde with Masta Ace, Marco Polo
Fri 7 Jul - King Stingray
Sun 16 Jul - Blak Day Out
Sat 19 Aug - The Glam Awards
Fri 25 Aug - A Night For The Queen: A Royal F You To Cancer feat. Polytoxic & Hot Brown Honey
