Arden Sounds brings Metro Tunnel’s Arden Station to life with immersive jazz performances for Melbourne International Jazz Festival.
As part of the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, Arden Sounds transformed the soon-to-open Metro Tunnel station in North Melbourne into a captivating, immersive music experience.
Held within the stunningly cavernous station – a beacon of raw and industrial spaces surrounding the new Arden Station, this sold-out, festival-exclusive event featured three groundbreaking ensembles—Allara, the Brandee Younger Trio, and Invenio—each debuting original compositions inspired by the station’s architecture and acoustics.
A jazz spectacular in the Metro Tunnel
- Brandee Younger, Allara and the Invenio Singers performed at Arden Station
- It was a collaboration with the Metro Tunnel Creative Program
- The stunning performance helped end the 2024 Melbourne International Jazz Festival on a high
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Set in one of Melbourne’s most anticipated Metro Tunnel hubs, Arden Sounds invited audiences on a musical journey through the heart of North Melbourne. With spaces beneath high arches and vast concourses, attendees experienced the sound and atmosphere of Arden Station before it officially welcomes commuters in 2025. This intimate preview celebrated the Metro Tunnel project’s cultural and community impact by allowing jazz music to fill a space that will soon be central to Melbourne’s public transport network.
Allara: Cultural storytelling and powerful bass
Allara, a Yorta Yorta artist and storyteller, opened the evening with soulful sounds that connected with the space’s significance in the Metro Tunnel. Playing the double bass with a loop station, she brought together hard-hitting spoken word and deep bass tones that reflected cultural and environmental empowerment, captivating the audience within the vast station’s acoustics.
A deeply moving performance that informed the audience about the stunning salt lake and wetlands that used to exist in the area pre-colonisation, it was a powerful and incredibly apt political statement.
Brandee Younger Trio: A harp-led jazz performance
Next, the Brandee Younger Trio showcased jazz harp at its finest. Known for breaking the mold and introducing harp into jazz, Brandee Younger’s performance, accompanied by Rashaan Carter and Allan Mednard, felt perfectly at home in the Metro Tunnel’s new station. The group’s blend of jazz, R&B, and hip-hop influences provided an inspired performance that harmonised with the station’s modern design.
To be able to see a Grammy-nominee lead her trio in such a cavernous space was the musical highlight of the day.
Invenio: Ethereal vocal harmony under Metro Tunnel’s arches
The final performance featured Invenio, an acclaimed vocal ensemble directed by composer Gian Slater, who brought 15(!) of Australia’s most exciting vocalists to fill the station with expansive, celestial harmonies. Their layered vocal landscapes created an immersive soundscape within the Metro Tunnel project’s industrial structure, highlighting the human voice’s emotional resonance.
They moved slowly and purposefully around the building, leading the audience with them before basking us all in the bright sunlight to end the day. Particular kudos to the falsetto, who would have given Justin Vernon a run for his money.
Arden Sounds offered a one-of-a-kind way to experience the Metro Tunnel’s Arden Station before it opens to the public. For festival-goers and jazz enthusiasts alike, it was a memorable opportunity to experience this landmark as a cultural destination.
Find out more about Melbourne International Jazz Festival’s Metro Tunnel performance here.
