[MUSIC NEWS] LIGHTHOUSE ROCK Line Up Announced
Following the phenomenal success of the first, sold out, event in 2022, Lighthouse Presents is thrilled to announce the Lighthouse Rock 2023 is returning on Saturday, 14 October 2023 with another lineup of legends ready to rock Burnett Heads.
Lighthouse Rock is located by the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. It’s a perfect fit for fans of traditional Aussie rock from the young to the young at heart.
So without further ado, let us introduce you to the stars of 2023 Lighthouse Rock:
With a career spanning over 40 years, ICEHOUSE is one of Australia’s most iconic bands, transcending age groups with their hit songs, well known and loved by audiences across generations, playing to sell-out, capacity audiences in Australia, New Zealand and throughout the World.
Formed by Iva Davies, the band’s frontman and musical creative force, ICEHOUSE went on to have an amazing 28 Platinum albums, eight Top 10 albums and over thirty Top 40 singles.
ICEHOUSE’s unofficial Australian anthem, Great Southern Land, is 40 years old and has been the soundtrack to everything from discussions about Mabo and the soundtrack to the Australian cricket team walking on the field, to having a plane named after it.
Great Southern Land has been a part of almost every Australian’s summer soundtrack for the past 40 years and in 2014, it was inducted into the National Film and Sound Archive’s Sounds of Australia registry. It’s also been remixed a number of times, most notably Bill Laswell’s The Great Southern Mix, clocking in at almost 16 minutes, and the Byrralku Dhangudha remix from 1994 which features Indigenous musicians playing and singing the chorus in their own language. Its message is as current and relevant today as it was when it first appeared.
In 2017, the year the band celebrated 40 years of live performances, they received another tribute when Qantas invited the public to vote for the names of the planes for their new fleet of Dreamliner 787-9s. Out of over 60,000 name suggestions submitted, Great Southern Land won the honour of the very first plane in the fleet being named after the iconic hit.
For the first time in the Bundaberg area in over 35 years, don’t miss your chance to hear ICEHOUSE deliver the songs of a generation from Hey Little Girl and We Can Get Together, to I Can’t Help Myself, Electric Blue and Crazy to name just a few.
The Living End are one of Australia’s most ferocious live acts, consistently headlining festivals around the country. The band tour internationally relentlessly averaging over 120 shows each year making Chris Cheney (vocals, guitar), Scott Owen (double bass, vocals) and Andy Strachan (drums) constantly match-fit and ready to rock. Their blistering live performances have earnt the band an enviable position of one of Australia’s greatest live bands.
The band rose to fame in 1997 after the release of their double A-sided single, Second Solution/ Prisoner of Society, which peaked at #4 on the Australian Singles Chart and went on to sell triple platinum. Since then, The Living End have released 7 studio albums, with 2 reaching the #1 spot on the Australian Albums Chart). They have also gained chart success in the United States and United Kingdom. They’ve been nominated for an outstanding 27 ARIA Awards, winning on 6 occasions as well as an APRA Music Award for Song of the Year in 2009.
By blending a range of styles, The Living End has managed to produce anthemic choruses and memorable songs in abundance and they’ll be playing them all at Lighthouse Rock in October.
Many of us will never forget hearing Baby Animals for the first time. They came blazing out of the radio with the aptly titled Early Warning. “Too young to know,” Suze DeMarchi sang. “Too old to listen.” If you were in Australia in the summer of 1991/92, you couldn’t avoid Baby Animals – they were everywhere.
Their self-titled debut was released the same month as Nirvana’s Nevermind and it sold nearly twice as many copies it did in Australia, preventing the Nirvana album from reaching #1 showing what an impact Baby Animals made.
Suze DeMarchi was (and is) a star; an Aussie rock goddess to rank alongside Chrissy Amphlett. The band’s former manager, John Woodruff, says his biggest regret is that Baby Animals didn’t become global stars. “They were just so close on that first album,” Woody said. “Suze was the biggest star out of everyone I ever had.” High praise indeed from a man who also managed Savage Garden, The Angels and Diesel.
Of course, Baby Animals are now all grown-up, but they’ve got plenty of life left in them. As their most recent studio album noted, This Is Not The End. And the beautiful thing is they still rock like untamed teenagers, too young to know, too old to listen. Luckily, we’re not too.
Born out of Newcastle in 1989, The Screaming Jets have been an enduring rock force in the Australian music landscape for over 3 decades (can you believe Better is 30 years old?!). These five blokes from Newcastle took the Aussie music scene by the scruff of the neck and gave a red-hot shake. Before they had even signed their first record deal, The Screaming Jets had already clocked up more than 200 live shows, won the ‘Triple J Battle Of The Bands’ competition and established themselves as an onstage, no holds barred, powerhouse of Aussie rock n roll.
Since then, the band have kept their peddle to the metal, releasing 9 studio albums (4 of them Top 5 on the Australian ARIA Charts), scored multiple gold and platinum records and notched up literally thousands of gigs and touring miles.
Their 30 plus years in the Oz music biz has not slowed down The Screaming Jets and their hunger to make great rock music and entertain their fans will be front and centre at Lighthouse Rock in October.
Also appearing are three local outfits, all set to well and truly warm up the stage for our headliners.
Mason Rack Band’s shows are spellbinding as audiences at the Woodford Folk Festival, Blues On Broadbeach, Mitchell Creek Blue’s Festival, Byron Bay Blues Festival and the Australian Blues Music Festival-Goulburn can attest.
Their music is a collection of rock/blues/roots with flashes of Tom Waits and Hendrix, melting towards Ben Harper, with screaming slide, big bass, big drums, big interactive show, and wait for the surprise in the latest performances – a drum trio/duo involving all band members in a stunning moving percussion display.
Abby Skye, singer, songwriter, and producer from Wide Bay, has been performing since she was 5 years old – she taught herself to play guitar and wrote her first song at just 14!
Since then she has performed for thousands of live audiences with her uniquely expressive, powerful and versatile voice, often compared with the like of Melissa Etheridge, Toni Childs and Suze DeMarchi. Abby is known for giving 100% to every performance and for her commitment to human and animal rights. In 2021, she released her highly anticipated album Build A Castle With Me, along with Learning To Fly: Early Recordings showcasing her favourite songs from the last 20 years of writing and recording.
Boldly addictive riffs, powerful unity, and a fiercely passionate devotion to the cause – Evergreen Aus deliver the classic embrace of hard rock, with an edge of deeply human revelation at its core. Driving with unwavering commitment, inspired by the likes of Rage Against the Machine as much so as Nirvana and Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Evergreen Aus are helping elevate alt-rock to unrivalled levels.
Triple M Bundy and Lighthouse Presents are once again running their Battle of the Bands competition searching for the best new local talent to kick off proceedings.
Local bands, solo artists, duos, trios and everything in between are encouraged to enter for the chance to perform in front of 5000+ music fans at Lighthouse Rock! Full entry details will be available on the website shortly.
Lighthouse Rock supports tourism in Bundaberg and is wholly committed to impacting positive change. We take this responsibility seriously, particularly since the pandemic has shaken our Queensland communities. Not only in Bundaberg, but also the surrounding regions.
We work proudly in support of local charity initiatives to increase exposure and funding to the area.
Artist imagery, bios and artwork can be downloaded from here.
For the second year running, we are once again supporting Great Barrier Reef Legacy and the Living Coral Biobank Project initiative – last year we managed to raise over $3,500 which will go to support the collection of all Great Barrier Reef hard coral species in this world’s first ‘coral ark’. Concertgoers will have the opportunity to again support the non-profit organisation by opting to donate at the time of ticket purchase.
“We can’t thank the Lighthouse Rock festival and attendees enough for their generous and now ongoing support – every dollar raised helps with this incredible conservation initiative” said Dr. Dean Miller, Managing Director of Great Barrier Reef Legacy.
Lighthouse Rock is also again supporting the work of the Sea Turtle Alliance.
Sea Turtle Alliance is a not for profit organisation dedicated to protecting our endangered sea turtles and habitat. Ainsley Gatley, President of the Alliance, said “We rely on donations to continue our work and are excited to once again be a beneficiary for Lighthouse Rock.”
Lighthouse Presents’ Director, Gavin Hales, said “Thanks to the continued community support we receive for our events, we are thrilled to be able to once again showcase Aussie rock ‘n roll through Lighthouse Rock and 2023 is shaping up to be even better than 2022. With more bars and food options, larger capacity for the audience to enjoy, this is another one not to be missed!
“We hope to make this a ‘must see’ event for our region with people marking the dates on their calendars each and every year. I am excited to be able to bring this stellar line-up to our town and can’t wait to hear us all ‘Rock Out’.”
Fans are also strongly advised to use the official ticket links and not to buy tickets from so called “reselling” websites such as Viagogo who typically advertise heavily online and often mislead consumers into paying much higher prices than necessary for tickets that may turn out to be fake.
Lighthouse Rock members can secure early-bird tickets from 8.00am on Tuesday, 16 May to 7.59am on Thursday, 18 May. To register for early access, sign up at lighthouserock.com.au now.
General public tickets go on sale at 8.00am on Thursday, 18 May 2023 from here. After a sold out first year, we recommend getting in fast before they’re all gone!
The Bundaberg Regional Council Micro Grants Program is proud to provide funding for Lighthouse Rock.
Saturday, 14 October 2023 | Burnett Heads
ICEHOUSE
The Living End
Baby Animals
The Screaming Jets
Mason Rack Band | Abby Skye | Evergreen Aus
Triple M Battle of the Bands winner
Tickets on sale at 8.00am on Thursday, 18 May from here