Music

To help you start mapping out your next New South Wales adventure, we’ve rounded up a bunch of the most exciting events to mark in your diaries.

Big news, Sydney. The heroes of house music at Ministry of Sound are back to host an outrageous party next month to celebrate the EDM outfit’s three-decade stretch of good vibes and great tunes.

Live jazz is the perfect soundtrack for a French feast, and a mariachi band adds Mexican flare to your margarita. These awesome Sydney restaurants feature regular live music, which is music to our ears. 

Now is the perfect time to soak up some cultural experiences and Opera Australia has just the thing with their 2023 production of Madama Butterfly.

Dipping into the decade of nostalgia, Yellowjackets on Paramount+ is back for another nail-biting season.

Enter: Casa Aperol, the result of two icons —Aperol and Bondi Pavilion—coming together to create an immersive summer pop-up experience that will transport you straight to the Amalfi Coast. 

For artists like Isaac who are drawn to creating, music is undeniably in their blood, so we've teamed up with Australian Red Cross Lifeblood to dive a little deeper and uncover the passion for collaboration, live performance and a drive to contribute to the world around him that pump an unmistakable rhythm through his veins. 

We’ve linked up with Australian Red Cross Lifeblood to take you on a deep dive into Australian artists with music in their blood, and there’s no better place to start than with LK (her dad is Paul Kelly, and if that doesn’t suggest she was born with music flowing through her veins, we don’t know what does.)

Summer in Sydney is looking the goods. After a successful traffic-stopping inaugural festival in January of this year, it's just been announced ELEVATE Sydney will be returning next month to celebrate summer and the new year. 

From grass-stomping day festivals and one-off intimate gigs to globally-revered performances and three-day camp-outs, you’re spoilt for choice; no matter where you are in Australia, we guarantee these music events are well worth the flight, train or road trip convoy with your crew. 

Fing free food, live music and mulled wine at this winter festival throughout July. 

Nestled in the beating heart of Surfers Paradise, we’ve found the perfect place for the ultimate fun day out. Think: epic games, live sport and a total foodie nirvana. So where can you find this awesome spot? Perched on the corner of Surfers Paradise Boulevard and Cavill Mall, boasting a 100-metre frontage opposite the world-famous Surfers Paradise Beach, is Paradise Centre. Home to over 90 stores, an alfresco dining precinct and a buzzing entertainment hub, gather your crew and make tracks here stat.

Stack your cal with drag, drink and disco this winter with a slew of events from the crew at The Star.

A string of street parties titled Your Street, Your Party are bringing delicious food, live music and the best of local businesses to Sydney's suburbs throughout June and July.

A string of street parties titled Your Street, Your Party are bringing delicious food, live music and the best of local businesses to Sydney's suburbs, and the Northern Beach and Parramatta are kicking things off in May. 

Vivid LIVE is the perfect opportunity to discover your new favourite emerging artist amongst the much anticipated 2022 live music line up. 

The award-winning musical has captivated Australian audiences but now the production will be drawing the curtains closed on Sunday, 27 February 2022—which means there's still plenty of time to nab your tickets. 

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In 2017, Kiama four-piece indie rock band Pacific Avenue was born, but their history goes way back.

We caught up with CIVIC and spoke to Jim over a couple of Sailor Jerry bevs about good vegan dinners, getting tattooed by Eddy Current Suppression Ring’s Danny Young, and how they’re planning to go ‘all in’ and finally celebrate their album release.

At just 23 years of age, Naarm singer and artist Kaiit (she/they/he) is one of the most exciting talents to grace the Australian music scene and bless our ears with her sweet and honeyed vocals. 

This bespoke presentation, approved by Andrew Lloyd Weber, of course, will be performed outdoors on an overwater stage, with the sparkly Sydney Harbour at twilight as its backdrop. 

Isol-Aid Homegrown is a collaboration providing creative and financial support to emerging acts across Australia and New Zealand.

Splendour in the Grass—the mud, the noise, the music, and the flight to Ballina or the 12-hour road trip—is a rite of passage for us Sydney kids. With COVID still in play here in Australia, the legends behind the iconic east coast festival have come up with a few ideas to keep the vibes alive.

Amazing news: The Festival Of The Stone is back in Byron Bay on 5 June 2021 and heads up, tickets will sell out real quick.

Right now, Sydney is entering a new era of nightlife. The red tape and restrictions that once earned us accolades like “10th worst city in the world” are being replaced with late-night licenses, city-wide festivals, and new venues keen to tap into the government’s grand scheme for a 24-hour city.

Daft Punk’s December 2007 Sydney show is the stuff of legend. Called Neverland, the mini-festival worked through a roll call of all the major local electronic music talent of the time (Cut Copy, The Presets, Van She, and Muscles), before Paris’ ultra-cool Ed Banger crew took to the stage (Busy P, SebastiAn, and Kavinsky). Then, Daft Punk’s neon pyramid lit up Sydney Showgrounds for the first and last time.

We sit down with Australian singer-songwriter Thandi Phoenix to uncover what makes a luxe long lunch.

We sit down with Touch Sensitive to chat about the perfect movie night set-up.

 Oh how long we’ve waited.

It’s true, our love for hip hop runs deep. We’re big fans of the genre’s boundary-breaking, rebellious attitude (perhaps a love that’s been magnified after living through the insanity that was 2020) and it’s the leading part in the revival of '90s streetwear fashion. 

With Peking Duk, Allday, Sneaky Sound System, Kwame and a whole lot more.

Welcome to Culture Curve—your go-to guide to what’s on the rise and slide in culture in December 2020.

This month, we're adding bedroom pop to our playlists, a genre spawned from artists getting creative in iso. We investigate a new wave of augmented reality e-commerce that's adding a little creativity to practicality, and we take a deep dive on the mega-force of gaming—no longer just a channel for entertainment and escapism, but the final curtain of pop culture. 

We’ve curated a list of our recent sounds you need to check out, from Gaga’s latest bops to a few Aussie favourites.

Sydney, you may not be able to get out and about as much you’d like to soak up our city’s glorious music scene but fear not, we’re here with a silver lining.

The new program, called “From our House to yours”, is essentially a free on-demand library, with new content being dropped at 6pm Wednesday through Sunday every week. 

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’d know that the short-form video app, Tik Tok has well and truly taken over the world. 

Get set to hit the dance floor (in your bedroom).

Huge news Sydney, a mammoth one-night climate change concert is descending on the Hordern Pavilion this month and it’s very casually sporting one hell of a line-up.

Forget about cherry-picking your gigs this month, because Melbourne’s hottest new festival—Can’t Do Tomorrow—is serving up fiery musical acts left and right. Not only is Can’t Do Tomorrow going all out in the street art scene, but the music lineup is not something to be scoffed at. With the likes of Melbourne legends TEYMORI and MzRizk, Triple j favourite Cool Out Sun, Australian dance music powerhouse DJ JNETT and more, Can’t To Tomorrow is about to become your ultimate February gig haven. And because we’ve always got your back, if you use the promo code URBANCDT when you book, you get $10 off your ticket cost.

Since playing at some of Sydney’s most iconic live music venues Mesmeriser has continued to churn out all the bangers so we decided to sit down with frontman Fischer to talk local artists they’re digging, the best pubs for a cold one and Sydney’s best-kept secrets.

Featuring Golden Gaytime and Double Choc Chip Espresso Martinis.

 Think Queen, Amy Shark, Peking Duk and Daryl Braithwaite.

The best way you can help the bushfire crisis is to donate directly, but if you’re heading out this weekend, buying coffee, brunch or drinks—make it count at one of these concerts, restaurants and parties. 

Brace yourself for handball comps, nattie wine bars and taco dumplings.

Clear your schedules because there's no denying Sydney becomes one hell of a mecca for festival season and mammoth Christmas markets come summer.

With more than 21 events, including impromptu raves, boat parties, film screenings, immersive experiences and a record collecting fair, this year’s Electronic Music Conference will celebrate Australia's electronic music scene at large. 

A mammoth carpark blowout is descending on Sydney, so start pencilling this one in because it might just be the party of the year.

If your summer goal is to lap it up under laser beams, prisms of light and some of the best dance music Australia has to offer, look no further than the latest blowout to hit Down Under.

With record stalls, whisky tastings and a basketball comp too!

Created by the legends that brought Rolling Loud to Australia, No Limit Fest is here is to hero next-generation Aussie hip hop and RnB, and you can expect a full line-up of up-and-coming Australian artists to get stuck into.

Young Henrys Rock ‘N’ Roll Circus is on the return this Halloween featuring a solid line-up with 12 Aussie artists and plenty of tricks up its sleeve. And it's absolutely free. 

He’s the guy on everyone’s playlists and now he’s heading down under for an exclusive, intimate show. 

Full of laser projectors, Asian club music and kick drums.

If you’re still mourning the series finale of Game of Thrones (guilty), dry your eyes because you’ll soon have the chance to relive all the heart-breaking and blood-thirsty action in person. After touring around Europe and America for the past two years, The Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience is finally headed to our shores and trust us when we say this is one hardcore fans won’t want to miss.

With the approval of an extended licensing being granted to the venue – enabling The Lansdowne to stay open till 5am—Sydney’s nightlife is on a steady rise.

For all the music stans out there, listen up. We’re about to dish the dirt on how you can nab backstage tickets at shows, meet your favourite artists, score killer merch and get exclusive VIP treatment at festivals. 

Plus Steve Aoki and Armin van Buuren.

He’s back.

The mammoth line-up has finally dropped so mark your calendars.

And keep an eye out for the hidden disco.

Meet Gabreal Marial, the entirely self-funded co-founder of WavyLand. He's one of a few legeneds working very hard to bring the spark back to Sydney's music scene. 

Grab your partner in wine.

Hans Zimmer, musical genius and composer of almost every epic movie score in existence, will be touring the East Coast of Australia this spring.

Return To Rio is back bigger than ever.

Plus a secret Grammy Award-winning line-up.

Championing a new era of live music and late nights in Sydney. 

Listen Out has dropped its 2019 line-up and it’s massive.

As part of Urban List Music Month we're bringing light on the artists that are shaping the music industry from the ground up.

This Barcelona festival is making headlines for its 50/50 talent split including Tame Impala, Miley Cyrus, Charli XCX, Future and Nas.

If you were devastated when news broke out last year about Childish Gambino cancelling his Australian tour, hang tight, because we’re about to serve you a generous slice of good news pie.

It’s almost been a whopping four years since her last album, but we’ve finally gotten word that Grimes is coming out with a new LP, so drop everything you’re doing and listen up. A few weeks ago, Grimes took to social media to unveil details about her forthcoming LP titled Miss_Anthropocene, a concept album about the anthropomorphic goddess of climate change.

His close team of songwriters and musicians have worked to finalise the late DJ’s unfinished album.

This is the moving story behind Beychella.

Bring on April 13.

Cancel Culture is undoubdtedly one of the most powerful digital movements today affecting the music world.

We couldn’t kick off the first week of music month at Urban List without chatting to pop music’s most coveted duo right now. In their first project together, Troye Sivan and Lauv’s I’m So Tired cracked top 10 in the UK—a first for both performers—reached the top 20 on the Billboard charts, has been streamed nearly two million times on Spotify and performed everywhere from Jimmy Kimmel Live to The Late Late Show with James Cordon.

Plus Chance The Rapper, Tame Impala, SZA, Hayden James, Matt Corby and Ziggy Alberts.

An ode to all things friendship, freedom and protecting your own energy.

Tkay Maidza is the ambitious Australian rapper taking up space on everyone’s playlist right now. We caught up with her during recording sessions in Melbourne to dive into her wardrobe and talk creative inspirations, self-discovery, fashion as expression and never (ever) blending in.

Better Daze is back so bring on the Sydney DJ line-up and sangria jugs.

Even in spite of last week’s election results, the heroes over at Stoney Roads are bringing a banging line-up of DJs and tech-house antics. 

Mallrat. Hayden James. Set Mo.

Just casually.

Bring on the vortex of hip hop and soul.

Secret rooftop sessions and house beats by the sea.

Mask Up.

Think an electric mix of afrobeat, hip hop and all the food ever.

Sydchella is a thing, and tickets are on sale right now. 

Debuted at sacai’s Fall/Winter 2019 runway show in Paris, we now have a release date for the Japanese brands collaboration with Beats by Dre. 

She’s the eclectic pop slash hip-hop sound in everyone’s ears right now and considering she’s just 20, that’s a pretty huge feat.

Sydney’s creative collective showed up in the tens of thousands on a rainy Thursday night in February to voice their support of a future Sydney packed with live music and culture. Here’s what you need to know.  

Topping all Sunday sessions, this Californian summertime oasis boasts all the Palm Springs vibes.

Cliff top oasis and Bali beach club Ulu Ciffhouse has been redefining beachside nightlife since it opened its doors in 2017. With direct access to the beautiful beaches of Uluwatu, this beach club boasts a 25-metre infinity pool, resort, music recording studio, art space, world class food and drinks, and an oceanside deck that hangs above the waves.

The rally is set to draw 30,000 people to the streets in support of music and culture in NSW.

20 DJs. 10 killer shows. One night.

The EDM duo remember their years DJ-ing at Kit & Kaboodle and now they’ve dropped their first album, there’s no turning back.

Females dominated the Album Of The Year nominations and the award ceremony made firsts in the world of hip hop. 

Behold, the rise and rise of Billie Eilish.

With DJs spinning tunes from what could have been at Fyre including Major Lazer, Blink 182, Disclosure, Migos andLil Yachty.

We’re losing it.

The music antics are taking place in pretty much every space imaginable so think car parks, rooftops and basements.

Free entry. No lockout. This Friday.

It’s her biggest tour to date and tickets go on sale Thursday.

Basement parties, a festival pre-party on an island and a delicious Mary’s collab for your rest day.

And what to expect when you hit play? Think glitchy transitions, hip hop vibes, over-sized jackets, all the bisexual lighting and chunky sneakers. In other words, it’s a sure-fire mirror of everything cool right now.

And Bali, you know—in case you’re there.

You'll find this one in lush parklands and industrial laneways.

PNAU are essentially Australian royalty. The guys have been banging out hits since their first album release in 1999. In 2007 they released their fifth studio album, Changa, and it produced some absolute tracks.

Hate deep house music? Maybe you just never listened to it the right way.

Additional acts include Client Liaison, Hockey Dad and Jungle Giants. 

The day-to-night party antics preach everything from hip hop to disco and house.

The South African-born, Australian-raised DJ has been hitting the decks at festivals like Your Paradise and Coachella.

It’s set for March next year and the line-up drops next week.

It was... awesome.

Got an entertainment buff you need to please? From retro arcade games to stylish sound systems, we’ve got something that will have them cancelling all their plans for 2019.

Featuring Jameson's, limited edition Young Henry's cold ones, Frankie's pizza and a whole lot of live music. We're sold. 

 Marshmello, Martin Garrix, The Chainsmokers and Adam Beyer.

Over the weekend musician slash actor slash creative genius Childish Gambino graced the southern hemisphere with his presence, bringing his highly anticipated PHAROS experience to New Zealand.