Arts Centre Melbourne’s four-month long festivalLive at the Bowl has just added a heap of new artists to the line-up making the first quarter of 2023 an exciting start.
Dan Sultan – Fatboy Slim – ICEHOUSE – PASIFIX – Piknic Electronik – Reminisce – Share the Spirit – Soju Gang – Sorbaes: Sundae – Ultra Australia
The annual celebration of the survival of First Nations peoples returns on 26 January with Share the Spirit presented by Songlines. For 2023 the theme is Continuum: Those Who Tell Their Story In Song and headlining the day-long, free event will be multi ARIA Award-winner Dan Sultan. Joining him will also be Jessica Hitchcock and Bumpy with more artists announced in the new year.
Sorbaes: Sundaeis back and more delicious than ever! On 26 February, DJ and designerSoju Gang (Gunai/Kurnai, Yorta Yorta and Wiradjuri) returns to the Sidney Myer Music Bowl for a third year with her club concept, Sorbaes. This season, it will venture into a new and intimate area inside Gate 1 with a specially designed viewing deck for those wanting a VIP boiler room experience. Collaborating for the first time together at the Bowl, Cypher Culture’s City Sessions will host an invitational for heavy hitters in the dance community to battle it out against the backdrop of Sorbaes: Sundae. Concert by day, club by night the exceptional line-up of artists, bands and DJs will be announced soon.
Community-led events are always at the core of Live at the Bowl’s ethos and after the success of PASIFIX in 2021 the all-ages celebration of Australia’s proud Pacific Islander community is back. The all-star line-up of performers from across the region will take to the Bowl stage on 18 Marchspanning reggae, soul and hip-hop in a showcase of Pacific Island talent, alongside spectacular cultural performers. The line-up is being curated by Airileke, one of the Pacific’s leading musical identities, and will be announced soon.
The original ICEHOUSEconcert in November has now been rescheduled to 11 February joining the Live at the Bowl festival as the unofficial Australian anthem ‘Great Southern Land’ celebrates 40 years. The song has been the soundtrack to everything from discussions about Mabo and the impassioned theme to the Australian cricket team walking on the field, to having a plane named after it.
Piknic Électronik is now in its ninth season and will have two shows take place at the Bowl in February.Teaming up with Thick as Thieves seesPiknic Électronik: Kölsch, Cristoph, Korolova, Boogs & Wiser on 5 February and Piknic Électronik: Filth on Acid on 19 February will see Reinier Zonneveld, Kiki Solvej, Rory Marshall, Paul Abad, Lisa May, Emanni, Dagu and Acid Baby take to the stage.
Reminisce Classic House is back on 25 March with John Course counting down the Top 50 classic house tracks of all time as voted by you. Tiga plays his first ever classics set, Sneaky Sound System returns to top their Reminisce 2019 show and Late Nite Tuff Guy finally graces the Sidney Myer Music Bowl stage with a disco infused house set.
The world’s biggest electronic music festival Ultra Australia is back for one show only on 15 April. The festival will expand its offerings in 2023, ushering in an even bigger, more impressive multi-stage production, hosting four separate areas at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl and Kings Domain.
Revered DJ and prolific producer Fatboy Slim returns to Australia for the first time since the pandemic. On 28 April he will take audiences to new and dizzying heights after fans were left frothing for more at his last show.
Live at the Bowl is an annual festival at Victoria’s most iconic outdoor venue the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. Spanning January to April, the four-month long festival has become a calendar highlight for Victorians as the heart of the city comes to life. The exhilarating program features the best in music, dance, community-led and family-friendly events. See the Sidney Myer Music Bowl come to life with some of the best home-grown acts and international artists. Come together on the hill, share a picnic, take in symphonies at sunset or dance the night away to your favourite bands and DJs.
More programming will be announced in the new year so stay tuned!
Live at the Bowl media partners are Beat, Triple R and PLAKKIT.
4 – 5 January Arctic Monkeys 21 January Midsumma Extravaganza 26 January Share the Spirit (just added!) 27 January Kehlani
29 January Boris Brejcha
4 February Darren Hayes 5 February Piknic Électronik: Kölsch, Cristoph, Korolova, Boogs & Wiser
(just added!) 8 February Melbourne Symphony Orchestra – A Tchaikovsky Spectacular 11 February ICEHOUSE (just added!) 12 February Teeny Tiny Stevies 15 February Melbourne Symphony Orchestra – Mosaics 17 February SYNTHONY NO.3 18 February Melbourne Symphony Orchestra – Carmina Burana 19 February Piknic Électronik: Filth on Acid (just added!) 26 February Sorbaes: Sundae (just added!)
4 – 5 March Bon Iver 10 – 11 March Lorde 18 March PASIFIX (just added!) 25 March Reminisce (just added!)
15 April Ultra Australia (just added!) 28 April Fatboy Slim (just added!)
