Our comprehensive gig guide for May has you covered
ZZ Top
ICC Sydney Theatre, May 13
Long before hipsters co-opted beards, Texas band ZZ Top – singer-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and bassist-vocalist Dusty Hill – were rocking facial hair that would make Hagrid jealous. Hill died in 2021 and Beard is currently unwell, but Gibbons will power on with reliable ring-ins Elwood Francis (bass) and John Douglas (drums). This gig will be two legendary blues-rock acts for the price of one, with George Thorogood and the Destroyers – on their final Oz tour – joining the ZZ boys.
Nag Nag Nag
Mothership Studios and Marrickville Bowling Club, May 22-24
Now in its 10th year, this three-day inner-west music festival has become an essential event for anyone keen on keeping their finger on the pulse of Australia's underground music scene. On Thursday there'll be sets from Ela Stiles, Lorry, Warm Currency and Wild Desire; Friday's line-up includes Double Date, Rapid Dye and Wet Kiss; Saturday will host Bed Wettin' Bad Boys, The Green Child, UV Race and more. Want to be the person who knows the hottest up-and-coming bands? Get along.
Vivid Live: Pale Jay
Opera House Joan Sutherland Theatre, May 23
Keeping your true identity a secret and never appearing in public without a red ski mask may sound like an obvious gimmick to create intrigue – which it has – but the artist known as Pale Jay backs it up with great throwback R&B songs that show off his falsetto. At this one-off show for Vivid Live – the first of five festival highlights recommended here – the masked mystery man makes his Australian debut with a string trio.
Vivid Live: Sigur Ros with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra
Opera House Concert Hall, May 23-25
The epic, dreamy songs of Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Ros are about to get even more epic and dreamy thanks to a series of in-the-round shows accompanied by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. It's the first time the Reykjavik trio have played at the Opera House, although frontman Jonsi has previously graced the space – he performed a 2019 Vivid Live show in support of his Riceboy Sleeps album.
Vivid Live: Anohni and the Johnsons
Opera House Concert Hall, May 26-27
At these special performances Anohni will perform music from across her catalogue against a backdrop of cinematic portraits of the Great Barrier Reef, mixed with Australian scientists reflecting on the reef's transformation over the years in a 'ceremony fit for the purpose of grieving a loss of such monumental scale,' says Anohni. Former band member Joan Wasser, aka Joan As Police Woman, is also in town this month, playing at City Recital Hall on May 23.
Vivid Live: Beth Gibbons
Opera House Concert Hall, May 30
Beth Gibbons' discography may be small – one solo album, two collaborative albums and three albums with Portishead – but her impact has been seismic. An artist who can rightly claim to be the defining voice of trip-hop, Gibbons was last in Australia with (the now sadly inactive) Portishead in 2011; these will be her debut solo performances here, showcasing songs from last year's acclaimed Lives Outgrown LP (Gibbons will perform twice on the night, at 6 and 9pm).
Vivid Live: Mount Kimbie
Opera House Joan Sutherland Theatre, May 31
Formed in 2008 by Brits Dominic Maker and Kai Campos, Mount Kimbie have genre-hopped over the years from post-dubstep to post-punk and electronic to indie-rock, making them a hard act to classify. Regardless, their music is defined by adventurousness and innovation, the duo now expanded to a quartet as of last year's indie-rock-leaning LP The Sunset Violent. Whether heating up a dance floor or a mosh pit, Mount Kimbie know how to move a crowd.
Who will you be seeing this month? Other acts heading our way include the Lemonheads (performing the albums It's a Shame About Ray and Come on Feel the Lemonheads), Chris de Burgh, Alessia Cara, the Offspring with Simple Plan, Eli 'Paperboy' Reed, Montell Fish, Park Rd, Roachford, Train with KT Tunstall, Ravyn Lenae, Jessica Pratt, Marlon Williams, Ichiko Aoba, Alison Moyet and Ezra Collective. Local acts include Wolfmother (playing their debut self-titled album in full), Ian Moss, Ruel, 3%, Holy Holy, Old Mervs, Hot Dub Time Machine, Emily Wurramara, Tyne-James Organ, Ball Park Music, Miss Kaninna and the Cruel Sea. Who will you be seeing? Let us know in the comments.
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