Christmas will come early for Newcastle music-lovers, courtesy of the likes of Hockey Dad, The Living End and Birds of Tokyo.
Earp Distilling Co is gearing up to stage its inaugural two-day Portside Festival at The Station on Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 December.
And, best of all, tickets for the 18+only extravaganza are now on sale.
Indie/garage/surf rock band Hockey Dad, San Cisco, Keli Holiday, Raave Tapes, Sumner and two more acts will provide the epic vibes on the opening day.
Then, The Living End, Birds Of Tokyo, Eskimo Joe, Killing Heidi, 28 Days and Butterknife step onto the stage less than 24 hours later.
“It is going to be a huge event for the local community… and we couldn’t be more excited,” a spokesperson said.
“We love Carrington but we wanted to go big this year.
“Partnering with The Station lets us bring the best ‘live’ music to more people in Newcastle.
“Plus, it’s the perfect spot for future Earp Presents events.”
Wollongong duo Hockey Dad, comprising vocalist/guitarist Zach Stephenson and drummer Billy Fleming, formed in 2013.
The name of the band derives from a video game shown in a 2003 episode of The Simpsons called The Regina Monologues.
They recorded their debut EP, Dreamin’, in 2014, followed by the track Can’t Have Them, the lead single from the maiden album, Boronia.
Since then, they’ve released three studio offerings, most recently Rebuild Repeat in 2024.
Meanwhile, The Living End – boasting the talents of Chris Cheney (vocals, guitar), Scott Owen (double bass, vocals) and Andy Strachan (drums) – is one of Australia’s most-loved groups.
They rose to fame in 1997 after unveiling their EP Second Solution/Prisoner of Society, which peaked at No. 4 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart.
They’ve also released eight studio albums, two of which reached the No. 1 spot on the ARIA Chart: The Living End (October 1998) and State of Emergency (February 2006).
The Living End enjoyed success in the US and the United Kingdom, too.
The band was nominated 27 times, and won five awards, at the ARIAs: Highest Selling Single for Second Solution/Prisoner of Society (1998), Breakthrough Artist – Album and Best Group (1999), as well as Best Rock Album for White Noise (2008) and The Ending Is Just the Beginning Repeating (2011).
To purchase tickets to the Portside Festival, allocated by each day, go to https://earpdistillingco.com/pages/portside-festival
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- Aussie music legends Ross Wilson, Shane Howard headline Dashville Skyline’s 10th anniversary
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