Open Season 2023 is keeping Brisbane audiences warm this winter with an incendiary programme of premier, contemporary, international and local artists presented across two iconic heritage venues.
Now in its third year, Open Season is taking its place on the Brisbane cultural calendar as a permanent annual event from the team behind The Tivoli and The Princess Theatre."I feel like it's filling a niche and unique gap because there's not actually a lot that happens in Brisbane over winter and there is an amazing opportunity to really entice audiences," Creative Director for The Tivoli and The Princess Theatre, Dave Sleswick says.
"Winter is usually a season of hibernation, and we want to encourage the complete opposite of that. I feel like it's a perfect opportunity to dive in and provide something for audiences that was otherwise not there."
Open Season begins in late May with Northeast Party House taking the stage at The Princess, kickstarting a winter-long celebration of live music and performance that showcases local talent alongside high-profile international artists.
Running until August, the 2023 programme welcomes an international cohort featuring UK punk icons The Damned, cult Belarus post-punk synth-pop trio Molchat Doma, renowned New Zealand songstress Kimbra and US songwriter Weyes Blood.
"I'm really keen to check out Molchat Doma from Belarus, they're an amazing trio in that electronic punk space," Dave says. "They're a project I don't envisage would have come to Brisbane if there weren't people on the back end behind it.
"I'm really excited about Kimbra; she has new music out. Other artists on my list will be Ngaiire and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra collaboration, which is exciting after they did the Sydney Opera House show, and Oneohtrix Point Never is another highlight for me."
There are also performances from Aussie acts like Winston Surfshirt, King Stingray, Lastlings, Middle Kids, Full Flower Moon Band, First Beige, Gordi and Coterie.
"I'm excited by the artists but I'm also excited by the number of partnerships we've been able to forge with other major festivals around the country," Dave adds.
"There is a lot of content in our programme that we have co-presented or collaborated on with festivals down south in Dark Mofo, Rising Festival in Melbourne, Illuminate Festival in Adelaide and VIVID in Sydney.
"We have a number of crossover projects that potentially otherwise wouldn't be seen in Brisbane if we didn't undergo those collaborations."
The Open Season concept was born out of COVID as a way to counter the barrage of event cancellations and provide opportunities for local working musicians. "There was a little bit of government subsidy floating about to stimulate content back into the venues," Dave explains.
"We managed to get some funds to help us underwrite presenting and programming our own content as opposed to waiting to be booked by promoters. We took that opportunity and dove into it, and that was the first phase of us pivoting our business model."
In the post-COVID era and with the encouraging return of Australia's live music industry, Dave says Open Season in 2023 has taken on greater significance as an ongoing celebration of our tenacity and resilience.
"That's another thing about Open Season," he says. "We want to go out there with a bang and we want to help bring the collective conscious back to the fact that things aren't just getting back to normal, but back to better than before.
"We want to keep growing and evolving, and that's a big objective of ours, to inject some spirit back into the music industry and back into Brisbane."
Open Season takes place at The Tivoli and Princess Theatre (Brisbane) from May-August.
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
