High Ground announces 10 more acts for its inaugural winter festival in Fitzroy.
Fitzroy has long been a spiritual home for Melbourne’s independent music scene, and High Ground — the multi-venue live music series named after the area’s traditional Wurundjeri name Ngár-go — is leaning hard into that legacy.
The inaugural winter festival has just dropped its second wave of artists, and it’s a proper mixed bag of electronic, rock, synth-pop, soul and everything in between.
High Ground spans three of the suburb’s most iconic rooms — The Night Cat, The Evelyn and Punters Club — running through until the end of August.
The latest additions to the lineup include Egyptian-Australian DJ and producer Moktar making his live show debut, Sydney electronic duo Cosmo’s Midnight, and multi-platinum-selling rapper, singer and producer Winston Surfshirt. Melbourne synth-pop five-piece Cousin Tony’s Brand New Firebird and Kirin J Callinan also join the bill, alongside creative producer Kumi and the gloriously named Sunshine & Disco Faith Choir.
Also announced are Naarm-based art-pop outfit Kosmetika, Adelaide six-piece rock band West Thebarton, electronic funk and nu-jazz act Tony Soprano Band, Blue Radio DJs and psychedelic three-piece Brown Spirits.
Fitzroy – High Ground
- Moktar | Cosmo’s Midnight | Winston Surfshirt — dates TBC, check highground3065.com
- High Ground: In Motion — 18 July, The Night Cat, The Evelyn & Punters Club, Fitzroy
- StandardX Rooftop Session with Disco Mediterranea — 11 July, The StandardX Melbourne, Fitzroy
- Disco Mediterranea headline show — 1 August, The Evelyn, Fitzroy
- Punt Fest II — 29 August, Punters Club, Fitzroy
- Tickets here
Check out our gig guide, our festival guide, our live music venue guide and our nightclub guide. Follow us on Instagram here.
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One of the festival’s centrepiece events is High Ground: In Motion on 18 July, a single-night multi-venue affair running simultaneously across all three venues within the Fitzroy Triangle.
That night’s lineup features Skeleten, Sleepazoid, XIAO XIAO, Orange Moon, No News, Rain Dogs, Horatio Luna, DJ LUV YOU, Public Figures, Setwun & The Soulstranauts, Miles Nautu and Bridget Small.
There’s also a special afternoon activation happening on 11 July, with High Ground teaming up with The StandardX Melbourne for a rooftop set from Disco Mediterranea, who take over the rooftop from 4pm–6pm ahead of their headline Evelyn show on 1 August. To mark the occasion, The StandardX and Audio Technica have a competition running with a stack of prizes up for grabs.
Already in the books are completed shows from post-punk act Protomartyr, Senegalese rhythmic group Mark Ernestus & Ndagga Rhythm Force, Japanese audiovisual collective Violent Magic Orchestra, Los Angeles R&B artist Jenevieve, and UK post-punk band Dry Cleaning, who played a free show at Punters Club.
For more information, head here.
