There’s no question that there’s been a great deal of difficulty in the music world over the last few years, with a variety of cancelled tour dates, botched album drops and festival audience caps.
While it’s still far from a good time to be a muso in Australia, things are slowly getting back to normal, and Live at Warrawee in Oakleigh is one of the highlights returning to our calendars.
Live at Warrawee will bring some excellent acts into the eastern suburbs in 2022, with talented acts like Emma Peel, Fletcher Gull and Orlando Combo providing the support, while sensational power-pop duo The Merindas and the amazing Michael Gudinski ARIA Breakthrough award-winning artist Budjerah headline.
What you need to know
- Live at Warrawee brings great music into Melbourne’s outer suburbs
- It’s being held at Warrawee Park in Oakleigh
- It’s happening on Saturday March 19 at 4pm. Tickets are free.
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Events like Live at Warrawee are turning the City of Monash into one of Melbourne’s cooler up-and-coming areas, spread across suburbs like Burwood, Chadstone, and Oakleigh. While COVID-19 restrictions undoubtedly put a dampener on the area’s recent rise, Monash Council has nonetheless injected life into its suburbs with events that create an exciting atmosphere. There’s also been an influx of cool food spots and shops over recent years, which have added to an emerging inner-city vibe in the outer suburbs.
Live at Warrawee is now marking its fifth iteration, previously featuring fantastic acts like Alex Lahey, Mental as Anything, and Taxiride.
This year’s festival comes after a number of cancelled events from the City of Monash, and will be their first major event since cancelling their highly-anticipated Carols by Candlelight event and the popular Clayton Festival. Now that the future’s looking slightly rosier, and shows can be planned with less hesitation, Live at Warrawee is set to go off without a hitch.
The festival is taking place at the titular Warrawee Park on Drummond Street in Oakleigh, an expansive area that’s perfect for housing some of our biggest and best performers. It’s the ideal area to throw down a picnic rug, enjoy some food truck grub, and relax with some killer music.
Live at Warrawee includes music from Emma Peel – who you may well know from her phenomenal work on PBS’s Switched On – an artful DJ who’ll be bringing her mixing skills and unique repertoire to the stage.
Then we’ll see Fletcher Gull, a highly talented up-and-comer who blends indie rock with soul and dreampop elements, which has earned him significant airplay on Triple J and Unearthed. His music is ideal for this type of festival, you can lay back, soak up the (hopefully) great weather, and immerse yourself in his sound.
Then, for a bit of a different flavour, audiences will be treated to a set from Orlando Combo, a group who call themselves “Melbourne’s best working band”. They focus on an energetic style of jazz that’s set to send Warrawee into overdrive. The group have been around since 1996, where they met at VCA, and have been working on their craft ever since – and they just keep getting better and better.
As we make our way into the last few acts of the afternoon, we reach The Merindas, who have been deservedly earning a lot of attention lately: this may be one of the last times you can catch them for free. They’re a pop duo that blend elements of R&B and soul, with many comparing them to groups like TLC and Destiny’s Child. The pair also perform in a mix of their native Noongar language, as well as English.
Closing out Live at Warrawee festival is the mega-talent Budjerah, who will dazzle audiences with his angelic voice and heartfelt lyrics. He’s been on the up and up in recent times, receiving a whopping five ARIA nominations in 2021 and winning an NIMA award. He’s greatly benefitted from producer Matt Corby, who’s helped to send Budjerah to the next level.
These acts will join forces to show local audiences what a post-Covid music world can look like, while simultaneously showcasing the amazing City of Monash, and all it has to offer. So, grab a hat and pack a picnic blanket, Live at Warrawee is waiting for you.
Tickets are free but you can check out more info on Live at Warrawee here.
