Throughout the year nine regions from around Australia have hosted events, inviting artists that play original live music to take part in their own local live music venue supported showcase of amazing talent. One act from each region is then invited to play the Friday night Showcase event at Airlie Beach Festival of Music on the mainstage.
Friday night of the festival sees the nine acts play in front of a panel of music industry judges including Rai Thistlethwayte, front person of Thirsty Merc, Jeremy Berg drummer for 19Twenty, Mark Westaway from Australian Venue Co and long-time friend of the festival and supporter of live original music Cindy Jensen (Buskers By The Lake).
While the panel deliberates, the 2023 winners Avalanche will perform for the crowd of dedicated music fans that are keen to support emerging talent in Australia. Following Avalanche, Thirsty Merc and Jebediah will show the audience what drive, determination and talent looks like as Australian bands with years of success under their belts.
Avalanche had this to say about their time with Passport and Airlie Beach Festival of Music to date, “We had the absolute time of our lives last year playing and partying at the best and biggest live music comp and festival in Oz! We had the chance to meet and play with some of our absolute childhood heroes, got treated like rockstars all weekend long, made a tonne of new friends and fans, sold out on merch, and the best part … we get to do it all again!”
The regional representatives this year are The Corbs from Darwin, Slippery Gypsy the Townsville band who won the Cairns event, Noah Davis from Mackay, Tom Neilson from the Sunshine Coast, HILZ from Brisbane, Space & Ages who played the Gold Coast, Thirst Trap from Byron Bay, Phoebe Over from Newcastle and ANA from Melbourne.
The Passport to Airlie acts from around the country then go on to gig Saturday and Sunday in the iconic official street venues of Airlie Beach including Magnums, KC’s and Boaty’s as well as 11 other venues from breakfast right through until it’s time to head to the main tent for the headliners.
This year 22 of the acts on the Airlie Beach Festival of Music line-up have entered or have a direct working relationship with Passport to Airlie making it an integral part of the festival. The festival team are committed to supporting grassroots music around the country and to working with organisations and venues that are doing the same.
Airlie Beach Festival of Music promoter Gavin “Butto” Butlin is looking forward to checking out this year’s talent, “Every band that plays on a mainstage or a stadium was once a local band writing their originals and looking for an audience. We have a ready-made audience of fantastic music fans, so we love to bring the two together.”
Cherrie Hughes, the National Coordinator of Passport to Airlie says, “We are really proud that we offer the acts some invaluable industry experience and networks to help them on their way to the top as well as a great weekend of music and good times in paradise”.
3-day tickets to the festival include entry to this great event or there is a more accessible day ticket price to give fans a chance to see this emerging talent alongside the three headliners. There will also be the chance for those in the tent early to WIN a VIP ticket upgrade for the evening.
