RISING has rolled out its late-night program, featuring dance parties in curious locations and a bunch of the world's most interesting DJs.
RISING is back in the Melbourne/Naarm CBD this winter. While it’s hard to look past big-name acts such as Lil’ Kim and Cate Le Bon, the RISING program isn’t purely devoted to international headliners.
Over the last handful of years, RISING has earned a reputation for its late-night programming, frequently inviting left-of-centre club DJs from around the world.
This year’s late-night options are bountiful, including parties in curious locations such as the State Library and the National Communication Museum, and a two-week takeover of Bass Lounge, the mysterious club located beneath the Paramount Food Court in Chinatown.
RISING: late-night programming
- Wednesday 27 – Monday 8 June
- Various venues, Melbourne CBD
- Program and tickets here
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The Bass Lounge lineup is full of international mavericks and trusted local party ushers. It kicks off on Friday 29 May with world-class digger Rotational, who comes to Naarm all the way from Rotterdam. Rotational, aka Karim, is known for his globe-scouring eclecticism, filling his DJ sets, radio shows and YouTube channel with electronic dance music from South America, Africa and Asia.
In Rotational’s Bass Lounge headline set, we can expect to hear Angolan kuduro, Brazilian funk carioca, Moroccan techno, Cambodian house and rare Puerto Rican reggaeton. For a preview, check out this Rotational mix of Surinamese bubbling and Angolan kuduro, or this Rotational mix of African hip hop.
There’ll be a live set from Naomie Klaus, an art-pop musician and collagist originally from the French city of Marseille. With a stage-name that nods to operatic post-punk-era vocalist Klaus Nomi, the Brussels-based solo artist makes compelling downtempo that is equal parts abstract and pop-inclined. Front Page Leslie will also be in town representing the Brussels scene, performing a set of live dub. Both acts release on the excellent Brussels-based experimental label, moli del tro records.
The night will also feature a set from Colombiana DJ Zalina, founder of Naarm’s hottest Latinx dance party, Chuleo Club. Euphoric trance and EBM producer Kidskin is coming down from Sydney for a live set, and Skylab’s Elsie will go b2b with Xavier on the interstitial soundtrack.
Headlining Bass Lounge’s week two event, on Friday 5 June, is Nicolini, the electronic music project of Amsterdam-based musician Nic Mauskovic, known elsewhere for leading the Mauskovic Dance Band and performing with Zamrock legends WITCH. As Nicolini, Mauskovic specialises in “penni funk”, a brand of bassy, lo-fi dance music with influences of dub, funk, dembow, and the daily sounds of Amsterdam.
B(if)tek co-founder Nicole Skeltys will perform as Artificial, celebrating 30 years since B(if)tek released their pioneering debut LP, Sub-Vocal Theme Park (Acid Unravelled), a record that drew on trance, techno, goa trance and downtempo.
Rounding out the bill are a handful of Naarm’s finest selectors: Telemuzik’s Ed Kent, a b2b from NTS Radio DJs Bridget Small and Sofay, and PBS FM’s Emelyne going track-for-track with Kassie.
Throughout the festival, RISING will turn Wax Music Lounge, on Flinders St, into its very own Artist Bar.
The RISING Blue Lobster Band; a rotating collective of the country’s finest jazz-leaning musicians, will warm up most nights, with each show bringing a fresh configuration of collaborators alongside founder Jules Pascoe.
The band lineup across the season includes Loretta Miller, Ollie McGill, Kym Dillon and Hue Blanes, among many more.
Wild and wilful acts from Naarm and beyond then take to the stage, covering everything from classic rock’n’roll and anarchic punk to delicate folk. The lineup also includes Tongue Dissolver, Yergurl, Maxine Funke and Loose Lips, plus pop-up markets, performances and a few surprises along the way. There’ll be a daily happy hour from 5pm until 7pm, live performances, and late-night DJs dishing out everything from disco, pop and indie sleaze to techno and harder sounds.
RISING comes to the State Library on Friday 29 May for Library Up Late. The iconic Dome will feature a shimmering soundscape courtesy of Cloudy Ku and Solar Cells & the New Vision System. DJ JNETT will be playing a set of Italo disco on the ground floor, aka the Quad, before Elbain pulls up for a set of electro and Y2K-inspired beats. There’ll also be live performances in the Ian Potter Queen’s Hall from composer and sound artist Monica Lim and the Concordis Chamber Choir.
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It has become tradition for RISING’s festival within a festival, Day Tripper, to be followed by a late-night rave in Melbourne Town Hall. Moktar headlined the launch event in 2024 before last year’s First Frequency featuring RONA. and DJ PGZ. This year, UK techno producer turned acidic shoegazer Daniel Avery will take the helm. Avery will be playing with a live band, pulling material from last year’s rock-influenced Tremor LP, as well as his landmark debut, 2013’s neo-rave Drone Logic. There’ll be a rare live set from Sui Zhen before Avery takes the stage.
Also on RISING’s late night program: a night of multi-disciplinary live performances curated by Pseudo at National Communication Museum (NCM); and Sissy Ball 8: The Doll House, which brings the Australian Dance Biennale to a close at Melbourne Town Hall with international houses of the Southern Hemisphere battling it out ballroom style.
For more information on this year’s RISING program, head to 2026.rising.melbourne.
Beat is a proud media partner of RISING.
