Section 8’s big f*ck off winter party is bringing snow, roaming puppets and all-day DJs to the laneway
Rug up, Melbourne: Section 8 Presents: A BIG F*CK OFF WINTER PARTY is stomping into town on 22 August.
The one-day event is Section 8’s send-off to the cold season, with a snow installation, winter-themed projections, live performance art and a jam-packed line-up of DJs and live acts all part of Section 8 Presents: A BIG F*CK OFF WINTER PARTY.
Section 8 Presents: A BIG F*CK OFF WINTER PARTY
- Saturday 22 August, 1pm – 1am
- Kick-ons at sister bar Aster: 1 – 3am
- Free entry!
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Doors open from 1pm and things don’t wrap up until 1am, with market stalls, hot food and a free sip and paint workshop rounding out the day.
Music kicks off from 3pm with sets from TAMAJAY, TOP HUN, JJ<3 (live), CHARBINK$ b2b SAMMIE, ROMIINDAHOUSE, BADDIE JUICE b2b KIARA FRIEND, UP2 b2b VINCYDEL and AZIFM b2b LUCAS HOUND closing things out at midnight.
There’s also a mystery act set to pop up sometime between 9pm and midnight, though organisers are staying tight-lipped on exactly who or what’s on the cards.
Once it gets dark, The Elementals, a troupe of large-scale roaming puppets presented by A Blanck Canvas, will be wandering the queue and the venue to interact with the crowd.
There’ll be drink specials running all day too, courtesy of event partners Coopers, Tito’s Vodka and Papa Salt, so there’s plenty to keep warm with while you browse the market stalls or catch the roaming puppets doing their thing.
And if 1am feels too early to call it, Section 8’s sister bar Aster is picking up the baton with kick-ons running from 1am through to 3am, so the winter send-off doesn’t have to stop just because the main party does.
Between the snow, the puppets, the mystery performer and a lineup running from early afternoon right through to the early hours, Section 8 Presents: A BIG F*CK OFF WINTER PARTY is shaping up to be one of the bigger farewells to the cold season Melbourne will see this year.
For more information, head here.
This article was made in partnership with Section 8.
The Christmas Spectacular returns to Melbourne with illusions, circus and festive anthems
The Christmas Spectacular is heading back to the Palais Theatre on 5 December for two performances, kicking off a five-city tour that wraps up in Brisbane on 23 December.
Now in its sixth year, the production pairs internationally acclaimed illusionist Michael Boyd with powerhouse vocalist Prinnie Stevens for a show that throws large-scale magic, aerial circus, high-energy dance and Christmas classics into one big festive blender.
The Christmas Spectacular
- Palais Theatre, Melbourne — 5 December, 2pm and 6.30pm
- Canberra Theatre Centre — 12 December, 2pm and 6.30pm
- State Theatre, Sydney — 19 and 20 December, 2pm and 6.30pm
- The Star, Gold Coast — 22 December, 2pm and 6.30pm
- The Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane — 23 December, 2pm and 6.30pm
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.
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Stevens will be belting out holiday staples including All I Want for Christmas Is You and Joy to the World, while Boyd promises the kind of impossible disappearances and jaw-dropping illusions that have built his reputation on stages worldwide.
Rounding out the cast is aerial artist Aleisha Manion, whose gravity-defying routines have become one of the show’s signature moments, alongside a crew of elite dancers — several of whom have performed with the Moulin Rouge and Lido de Paris. Each city will also get a mystery special guest artist joining Stevens on stage.
The Christmas Spectacular has steadily grown into one of the country’s most reliable holiday traditions, pulling thousands of punters each year with a formula that leans hard into spectacle. Think Vegas-grade production values crossed with Nutcracker charm and Radio City Rockettes-level precision — basically everything short of actual snow falling from the ceiling.
Whether you’re after a family-friendly afternoon or a glitzy evening out with mates, the two daily sessions at the Palais give you options. Tickets are on sale now across all five cities.
For more information, head here.
Love Actually In Concert
Fall in love with the holidays all over again at LOVE ACTUALLY IN CONCERT! As the beloved film plays in its entirety on a full-size screen, a live orchestra performs the soundtrack, featuring music by Craig Armstrong alongside favourites including Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” and “Love Is All Around.”
Since its release, the film has become a holiday favourite around the world thanks to its all-star cast, endlessly quotable scenes, and heartfelt intertwining stories about love in all its messy, funny, and beautiful forms. Combined with live music from the film’s composer, Golden Globe®, BAFTA®, and Emmy®-winning Craig Armstrong OBE, the film’s emotional highs and festive spirit become even more powerful, creating a magical evening filled with humour, romance, and unforgettable music.
LOVE ACTUALLY IN CONCERT transforms this beloved holiday film into a unique live experience, bringing Australian audiences together to celebrate the season through one of cinema’s most cherished romantic comedies. Don’t miss the Christmas spectacle of the year!
Aziz Ansari is bringing his Hypothetical Tour to Australia in September
The Emmy-winning actor, writer, director and comedian has built a career that stretches well beyond the stage. As co-creator and star of Netflix’s Master of None and the unforgettable Tom Haverford on Parks and Recreation, Ansari has become one of the most recognisable names in comedy.
He also recently wrote, directed and starred in the film Good Fortune alongside Keanu Reeves and Seth Rogen.
Aziz Ansari — Hypothetical Tour
- Auckland, The Civic — 24 September
- Sydney, Sydney Opera House — 28 September
- Brisbane, Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre — 30 September
- Melbourne, Margaret Court Arena — 1 October
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.
Now, Ansari is returning to live stand-up with an all-new hour of material. He’s also one of the few comedians to have headlined and sold out Madison Square Garden, so expectations for the Hypothetical Tour are high.
The Australian leg of the Hypothetical Tour wraps up in Melbourne at Margaret Court Arena on 1 October, giving local fans a midweek dose of one of comedy’s biggest names. The tour is being brought to Australia by TEG Dainty.
Ansari’s comedy has always leaned into sharp observations about modern life, relationships and culture, and the Hypothetical Tour promises more of the same. With a new film under his belt and a return to the stage, 2026 is shaping up to be a big year for the comedian.
For more information, head here.
There’s a 90s video store-themed games venue opening. Here’s what’s inside
The venue — built by the team behind Holey Moley, Hijinx Hotel, Archie Brothers and Strike Bowling — takes its cues from the look and feel of a 90s video store. Think VHS-lined shelves, cult movie posters and pop culture Easter eggs tucked into every corner, all wrapped around nine physical challenge games that guests can play across an hour of unlimited sessions.
Those games span a range of formats. Total Recall is a pop culture memory challenge. Stop Hammer Time tests reaction speed. Pong Time reimagines beer pong as an arcade cabinet (minus the beer). Line Master goes oversized Etch A Sketch for a draw-and-guess setup. And Ready Player Run has guests dodging swinging pendulums through a candy-covered tunnel, which sounds exactly as chaotic as it should.
Playback96
- Playback96, The Social Quarter, Level 1, Chadstone Shopping Centre
- Opens 27 August
- Open 9:30am–10pm Monday to Thursday and Sunday, 9:30am–11pm Friday and Saturday
- Adults $29, kids $22
- Minors not permitted after 8pm
- Bookings open now at playback96.com.au
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.
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On the drinks side, the bar leans into the theme with signature cocktails including Screen Burn, Funlab’s take on a Sex on the Beach, which comes with a free playable Pixel Pet. Selected cocktails arrive with Troll Doll straw toppers. The soundtrack skips the obvious 90s hits in favour of deeper cuts from acts like Massive Attack, Portishead, Outkast and Blur.
Scattered throughout the venue are interactive throwbacks including a stand-up N64 console, glowing Furbys and dial-up modem phones, plus Shazza’s, a retro hairdresser-themed nook where guests try to name as many songs as they can through hair dryers. Staff — called Motherfunners, in true Funlab fashion — roam the floor kitted out with walkmans.
Playback96 can host up to 48 people on the games floor per hour, with party packages available for kids, teens and adults. Guests can also combine sessions across Funlab’s other Chadstone venues, including Holey Moley, Hijinx Hotel and Archie Brothers. The B Corp-certified company now operates more than 80 venues across eight brands.
Funlab was founded in 2001 and has grown from a single Strike Bowling location on Chapel Street to a global operation spanning Australia, New Zealand and the US. Playback96 is its ninth brand and its first dedicated to 90s nostalgia as a concept.
The venue sits alongside Chadstone’s wider Social Quarter precinct, which already houses several Funlab brands. Parking is available on-site and Uber drop-off is accessible directly.
For more information, head here.
This underground Preston venue is hosting a grassroots poetry book launch, zine-fair and market
A Preston book launch for Melbourne-based poet Jordan J. Cassells’ new release, Stonefruit, is turning into a full and wonderful creative community gathering.
Presented by Golden Silhouette and Love Letter, the Stonefruit launch is opening its doors well beyond one book.
Alongside performances, readings and stories from Cassells, the event doubles as a full book and zine fair, with local writers, poets and creatives invited to bring their own work along, read on the day, and set up a table to sell whatever they’ve made, whether that’s a zine, handmade jewellery or something funkier to categorise.
It’s shaping up as a proper grassroots gathering, built as much around the wider creative community as it is around any single release.
Stonefruit launch – Preston
- Saturday 12 of September, 12pm to 5pm
- Preston
- Donation entry
Feature poets
Other works by
- Sarah Masson
- Freakazoid
- James Alfred Podhorodecki and Kial Menadue
- + more (could be you!)
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Anyone keen to grab a table and sell their own work on the day, whether it’s poetry, zines, prints or anything in between, can get in touch directly at [email protected].
It’s an open invitation, and organisers are keeping a handful of spots free for whoever wants to jump in closer to the date.
At the centre of it all is Stonefruit itself, a 200-page multi-disciplinary archive that weaves together narrative-driven poetry, travel photography and personal journals from three years of Cassells’ life, following on from his 2021 debut, The House of Honesty.
Rather than reading like a traditional collection, the book plays out like a visual diary of a life mid-transition, moving between life-drawing studies, brushes with the paranormal and quietly observed moments of everyday life, with the cover art courtesy of Sacha Pola.
“It’s a book about the ‘invisible chapters’ of one’s life: the slow realisations that eventually lead us back to ourselves.”
The seeds of Stonefruit were planted in September 2024, not long after Cassells released his second album and returned from a three-month stint overseas.
Craving a reset, he set off on a self-supported, 680-kilometre trek along Australia’s east coast, thru-hiking, hitchhiking and stealth-camping with little more than a bivvy bag, a tarp and a sleeping pad.
For three months, the pack on his back was the closest thing he had to a home, and it left him chasing a simpler, stripped-back way of living that had been calling him for years.
Writing became inseparable from the walking. On days he wasn’t covering 15 to 25 kilometres on foot, Cassells was sitting somewhere scribbling for the sake of it, worried that stopping might mean losing the thread altogether.
Much of Stonefruit was written in those in-between moments on the road.
“After years of shedding skin after skin, I proudly announce the launch of my second book titled ‘Stonefruit’. I’ll be performing songs, reading poems and sharing some stories from the book. Alongside me, I have some terribly talented friends performing and selling some of their work with me.”
“When I finally tasted the end of this damned book, I felt like abandoning it. I came so close, feeling that the act of writing it fulfilled its purpose alone; that it never needed to see the light of day.
“With gentle nudges from loved ones, some of my own spit in the eye and just enough drive to honour the old self—it’s happening. I see this not only as a way to celebrate the efforts of a previous self, but to hold a space for others to share.
“I wanted this to become something larger than this book, or myself. This is about community.
“After many years of believing you’re an island, you become aware pretty quickly that no one moves through this alone. This book was born from that place, but I intend to make sure it goes with good company. So, dear friends, strangers and family, let’s make a fair of it.”
Donation entry will be used to fund the event and pay artists.
For more information, head here.
The Enormous Radio
A constellation of radios sparks an uncanny encounter with the animal world.
In this World Premiere of The Enormous Radio, The Substation Main Space will play host to a ring of old radios, replete with glowing dials, crackling speakers and twitchy antennas. Feeling somehow like a séance, what are these old-school communication devices tuning into?
Uncanny messages from the animal world.
This new work is part of an ongoing collaboration between innovative documentary theatremaker Roslyn Oades and internationally acclaimed sound artist Bob Scott. “I have interviewed humans from all walks of life from professional boxers to nursing homes to schoolies on the gold coast,” explains Oades. “I wanted to turn my attention to Australia’s wildlife.”
In the early days of tape recorders, scientists thought they could hear electronic voice phenomena (EVP) coming through in the background of recordings. A similar sort of ‘haunting’ is what Oades & Scott are playing with, a new ‘techno spiritualism’, as new technology affects and enables our understanding of the unseen world.
Oades is a member of Australian Wildlife Sound Recording Group whose extensive catalogue of documentary field recordings provides key source material and inspiration for The Enormous Radio.
Oades with text dramaturg Sarah Walker, feed animal recordings into voice enhancement software, instructing the machine learning software to translate as if they were spoken English. The result is an uncanny aural and textual language that taps into our human desire to communicate with the animal world.
Old radios are central to the work, reflecting the vital role they still play for Australian communities in emergencies and natural disasters.
Oades has a long history of collaboration and connection with Chamber Made. This work was seeded as part of a FRAME Documentary Lab Program and had been in development for several years when Oades submitted it to Voltage, a new commissioning partnership between Chamber Made and The Substation. Artistic Director Tamara Saulwick says: “The response to the Voltage commission call-out was massive, and a real reminder of how much artists are hungry for these opportunities. The Enormous Radio is a perfect example of why we created this partnership with The Substation. It is haunting, surprising and utterly singular. We could not be more excited to bring it to audiences and we look forward to seeing how they respond.”
In the time of human-made climate emergency, The Enormous Radio stokes our longing to connect and tune into the unknown and the wild.
The Enormous Radio
A constellation of radios sparks an uncanny encounter with the animal world.
In this World Premiere of The Enormous Radio, The Substation Main Space will play host to a ring of old radios, replete with glowing dials, crackling speakers and twitchy antennas. Feeling somehow like a séance, what are these old-school communication devices tuning into?
Uncanny messages from the animal world.
This new work is part of an ongoing collaboration between innovative documentary theatremaker Roslyn Oades and internationally acclaimed sound artist Bob Scott. “I have interviewed humans from all walks of life from professional boxers to nursing homes to schoolies on the gold coast,” explains Oades. “I wanted to turn my attention to Australia’s wildlife.”
In the early days of tape recorders, scientists thought they could hear electronic voice phenomena (EVP) coming through in the background of recordings. A similar sort of ‘haunting’ is what Oades & Scott are playing with, a new ‘techno spiritualism’, as new technology affects and enables our understanding of the unseen world.
Oades is a member of Australian Wildlife Sound Recording Group whose extensive catalogue of documentary field recordings provides key source material and inspiration for The Enormous Radio.
Oades with text dramaturg Sarah Walker, feed animal recordings into voice enhancement software, instructing the machine learning software to translate as if they were spoken English. The result is an uncanny aural and textual language that taps into our human desire to communicate with the animal world.
Old radios are central to the work, reflecting the vital role they still play for Australian communities in emergencies and natural disasters.
Oades has a long history of collaboration and connection with Chamber Made. This work was seeded as part of a FRAME Documentary Lab Program and had been in development for several years when Oades submitted it to Voltage, a new commissioning partnership between Chamber Made and The Substation. Artistic Director Tamara Saulwick says: “The response to the Voltage commission call-out was massive, and a real reminder of how much artists are hungry for these opportunities. The Enormous Radio is a perfect example of why we created this partnership with The Substation. It is haunting, surprising and utterly singular. We could not be more excited to bring it to audiences and we look forward to seeing how they respond.”
In the time of human-made climate emergency, The Enormous Radio stokes our longing to connect and tune into the unknown and the wild.
Meet @ the Market: Session 2
This program is all about energy, variety and personality.
It opens with Stravinsky’s Danses Concertantes: music that feels like a witty, abstract ballet, full of twists, playful rhythms and bursts of colour. It’s lean, stylish and packs a punch. Next comes Nielsen’s Flute Concerto, a piece that feels both charming and mischievous. It’s music that sings, sparkles and teases, and it gives the flute a rare starring role. Bringing it to life is Lisa-Maree Amos, Orchestra Victoria’s Section Principal Flute, whose sound is equal parts radiant and agile. Paul Stanhope’s Apollo grounds the program in the present, blending a tribute to the Apollo space missions with a nod to Stravinsky’s clear-lined style. The evening closes with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1. Picture a bold young composer throwing down a gauntlet to the world. This symphony is personal, playful, dramatic and brimming with confidence: to us it represents the spark that ignited everything Beethoven would later become.
On the podium is Umberto Clerici, a conductor known for his warmth, humour and fearless musicality.
Now or Never festival brings 250 artists to Melbourne, and it all starts this week
The countdown is over. Now or Never kicks off this week, taking over Melbourne from 19 to 30 August with light, sound and technology.
Now in its fourth year, the City of Melbourne festival will spread across more than 150 events over 12 days, with over 250 local and international artists descending on some of Melbourne’s most iconic venues, including the Royal Exhibition Building and Melbourne Town Hall.
Now or Never
- When: 19–30 August 2026
- Where: Various venues across Melbourne
- Tickets here
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.
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The festival kicks off Wednesday 19 August, with a free light trail switching on along the Yarra River – Birrarung and around Melbourne Town Hall: a projection from Jess Johnson and Simon Ward covering Hamer Hall’s facade; a forecourt takeover beginning with Korean artist Jung Haejung’s Row, Row, Row Your Boat, and Robbie Avenaim’s Shine Caught Blue, a collaboration between human and robotic percussion at Federation Bells.
Melbourne Town Hall also transforms that night, with Chunky Move premiering a laser-lit dance work running through Thursday 20 August.
From Thursday 20 August, the light trail expands with a laser installation from Taiwanese artist AKA Chang at Birrarung Marr, and a piece from local artist Emily Parsons-Lord making Evan Walker Bridge appear to vanish into mist.
Friday 21 August brings a wave of openings at Melbourne Town Hall: Robin Fox takes over the Main Hall with sound and laser, a sculptural exhibition extends the life of late composer Alvin Lucier using his own biological material, and Korean artist HKASON joins the forecourt takeover with Knot Protocol.
The same night, Orchestra Victoria and pianist Maki Namekawa perform a tribute to composer Philip Glass, and Library Up Late returns to the State Library.
Things move to the Royal Exhibition Building on Saturday 22 August, with a breathwork and sound bath session from The Breath Haus, featuring First Nations musicians David and Daniel Wilfred from Hand to Earth, running into that evening’s main event: SOMNIA, an overnight sleep concert under the dome from William Basinski and Bendik Giske, running through to Sunday 23 August.
The talks program picks up mid-festival, with a First Nations Futures panel featuring Axel Garay, April Phillips and Allara Briggs Pattison on Monday 24 August, followed on Tuesday 25 August by sexual historian Mindy Seu at the State Library Victoria and writer Cory Doctorow on the decline of online platforms.
The late-night music program runs across three consecutive nights to close out the festival: Friday 28 August features A.Chal, Slim Soledad, LIZZ, Dinamarca and Zalina at Chuleo Club, alongside Friday Night Social and Queer PowerPoint at Fed Square; Saturday 29 August brings Octave One, Sleep D x Hybrid Man, JNETT and Baby G for Finding Figaro; and Sunday 30 August closes with MY DISCO and Robin Fox.
Returning favourites running across the full festival period include ACMI’s Long March: Restart, an XR program with the Melbourne International Film Festival.
Last year’s festival was estimated to have generated more than $19 million for the local economy, supporting around 1,000 jobs across the city.
With the doors opening this week, tickets are on sale now for a festival running nightly through to 30 August across venues throughout the CBD.
For more information, head here.
Beat is a proud media partner of Now or Never.
Hail Freya
Please join us for an eclectic display of awesome music! From blues to metal and much more in between, this gig is not to be missed!
Pre-sale tickets to be available soon!
Hail Freya are a three piece psychedelic doom and stoner metal band from Melbourne, Australia. Built on huge fuzz, hypnotic grooves and crushing riffs, the band blends classic doom, desert rock and psychedelia with a dark, pagan atmosphere.
What is the Kind Regards? It is the first crackle of a stylus hitting vinyl. The distorted guitar that at once assaults and caresses the ears. The hum of the amps before it all begins. The tapping sticks and that first heavy kick. The thumping bass that brings it all back home & the screaming vocals that remind you that sometimes people mean & feel what they write. That is the Kind Regards.
Trash & The Treasures combine frantic, angry punk rhythms with swampy harmonica powered wailing blues. Lyrics feature shouty, tragic protagonists who lurch between eloquent Shakespearean melodrama and snarling profanities. There are outbreaks of psychedelic jam, snatches of ska and some heavy, heavy vibes. Somehow though it still makes you want to dance.
SLUGS
It’s about nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing. We promise.
An electro-punk concert, a play, a clown show, and a basement puppet nightmare all rolled into one from award-winning performance/comedy duo Creepy Boys (S.E. Grummett & Sam Kruger). Join us for a technocolour acid trip where you’ll meet puppet Joni Mitchell, a two-person horse and every body part we have, and try to have a good time while the world burns.
For tonight, at least, we are free.
Best Show Nominee – Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2025
SLUGS
It’s about nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing. We promise.
An electro-punk concert, a play, a clown show, and a basement puppet nightmare all rolled into one from award-winning performance/comedy duo Creepy Boys (S.E. Grummett & Sam Kruger). Join us for a technocolour acid trip where you’ll meet puppet Joni Mitchell, a two-person horse and every body part we have, and try to have a good time while the world burns.
For tonight, at least, we are free.
Best Show Nominee – Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2025
SLUGS
It’s about nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing. We promise.
An electro-punk concert, a play, a clown show, and a basement puppet nightmare all rolled into one from award-winning performance/comedy duo Creepy Boys (S.E. Grummett & Sam Kruger). Join us for a technocolour acid trip where you’ll meet puppet Joni Mitchell, a two-person horse and every body part we have, and try to have a good time while the world burns.
For tonight, at least, we are free.
Best Show Nominee – Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2025
Oliver Pol: Featherbrained (Melbourne Fringe Festival)
New Zealand comedian Oliver Pol is a silly goose. It’s been a turbulent time in his life, having quit drinking, been through a very personal medical situation about which he’ll happily massively overshare. Also he maybe wants to grow a moustache?
Enter the mind of a certified overthinker and marvel at the pop-culture ephemera and thought spirals within. Join Oliver in accepting and embracing uncertainty and silliness. Explore the way of the goose.
It’s weird, it’s charming, it’s an unnecessarily deep dive into the avian brain.
Fresh from critically acclaimed seasons at the New Zealand Fringe Festival and New Zealand International Comedy Festival, Oliver and his bevy of geese (some metaphorical mind-geese, some actually quite adorable toy geese) are flapping their way over to Melbourne for the first time.
Rama Nicholas: Fairy Smut
Grab your grimoire. Loosen your laces. It’s story time witches!
Award winning comedian & master storyteller Rama Nicholas conjures an outrageous multi-character night of laughs packed with smutty fantasy, surprising plot twists and razor sharp comedy.
Meet Thistle.
A jaded old fairy with a filthy mouth, a wicked imagination and one very steamy tale to tell. Pull up a toadstool, wandering adventurer, because tonight’s bedtime story is a wildly funny, gloriously unhinged romp through the world of “Romantasy.”
Rama Nicholas will have you wheezing and weak at the knees as they weave an epic, uproarious erotic tale that will leave you breathless, beaming and utterly bewitched.
WINNER – Moosehead Award, Melbourne Int. Comedy Festival 2014
WINNER – Brisbane Tour Ready Award, Melbourne Fringe 2017
NOMINEE – Golden Gibbo, Melbourne Int. Comedy Festival 2017
Rama Nicholas: Fairy Smut
Grab your grimoire. Loosen your laces. It’s story time witches!
Award winning comedian & master storyteller Rama Nicholas conjures an outrageous multi-character night of laughs packed with smutty fantasy, surprising plot twists and razor sharp comedy.
Meet Thistle.
A jaded old fairy with a filthy mouth, a wicked imagination and one very steamy tale to tell. Pull up a toadstool, wandering adventurer, because tonight’s bedtime story is a wildly funny, gloriously unhinged romp through the world of “Romantasy.”
Rama Nicholas will have you wheezing and weak at the knees as they weave an epic, uproarious erotic tale that will leave you breathless, beaming and utterly bewitched.
WINNER – Moosehead Award, Melbourne Int. Comedy Festival 2014
WINNER – Brisbane Tour Ready Award, Melbourne Fringe 2017
NOMINEE – Golden Gibbo, Melbourne Int. Comedy Festival 2017
Budjerah brings the heat on a suave, soulful debut
We’ve hearted him since his so-humble, tearful ARIAs acceptance speech (for Breakthrough Artist back in 2021), during which Budjerah acknowledged, “Oh, I didn’t expect to cry, but I’m crying and I sound weird”.
For his polished debut record, Budjerah worked with heavyweight songwriters/producers who have previously worked with the likes of Kylie, Jon Baptiste, Ne-Yo and Bruno Mars, and it shows.
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.
“Tonight you’re in the hands of a gentleman…” – with its suave bass, cowbell accents and elastic vocal lines, the opening title track is funky like Prince. Budjerah brings the heat to a spoken-word segment; we didn’t think he had it in him – prepare to blush!
Budjerah looks like a matinee idol, has collabed with Ed Sheeran and opened for Kylie. Furthermore, his vocals are pristine and untouchable, with the correct vibrato ratio (think: Pharrell-level awesomeness).
The ’70s soul/R&B-inspired Could I Be, which captures the exact moment you realise you’ve fallen in love, shows off Budjerah’s super-smooth falsetto. Heavenly strings usher in the gospel-tinged Sinner, which is elevated by crisp fingersnaps and honeyed harmonies.
“Without you/ How am I supposed to make it through?/ ‘Cause living without you/ Feels like doin’ hard time” – Hard Time’s catchy chorus drips with heartsickness.
Elsewhere, “I don’t want to…” Want You Back captures that specific sense of longing, I Only Remember Your Name touches on reggae and the classy Lonely deserves top hat-and-cane routine.
We’re totally here for Budjerah’s respectful-yet-sexy Gentleman era.
Label: Warner · Release: 24 July
Dive into the full record at budjerah.com.