Best Queensland music gigs of 2018... and 2019

It was another blockbuster year for live music fans in Queensland, and 2019 is shaping up to deliver more top-tier shows.

AFTER huge tours including Adele, Paul McCartney, Guns N’ Roses and Justin Bieber passed through Queensland in 2017, it looked like it might have been a difficult year to top — but with the likes of Ed Sheeran, Pink, Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, Bon Jovi and Cher, 2018 proved to be another blockbuster year for live music fans.

The year in arts in 2018

Biggest dining events of 2018

Why do we love Ed so much?

Before January was over, one of the biggest — and loudest — shows of 2018 hit Brisbane, with US rockers Foo Fighters, accompanied by Weezer and Brissie band DZ Deathrays, playing an almost three-hour set to 40,000 people at Suncorp Stadium.

The 24-song set that included early hits Learn to Fly, My Hero and Everlong, new numbers Run, The Sky is a Neighborhood and Sunday Rain, and crowd-pleasing covers including Queen’s Another One Bites the Dust and Ramones’ Blitzkrieg Bop.

Former Pink Floyd creative linchpin Roger Waters has always been an innovator when it comes to melding theatricality with musical prowess and his immersive Us + Them arena rock spectacle, which hit Brisbane Entertainment Centre for two nights in February, proved to be his most visually arresting production yet. With a giant bank of screens dropping from the roof halfway through the show, a drone-controlled flying pig and spectacular audio-visual accompaniment, the 74-year-old again set the new standard for what a rock ’n’ roll show can be.

Roger Waters brought his sophisticated stage production to Brisbane.

Bruno Mars in action in Brisbane

Fresh from winning six Grammys in January, R&B superstar Bruno Mars made what was clearly an intricately choreographed show look effortless and showed he has the musical chops to back it up live. Flanked by a live band and a bevy of back-up dancers, Mars had the crowd in palm of his hand over two sold-out nights at BEC, with a set that was drawn heavily from his latest album 24k Magic, but also included older hits such as Locked Out of Heaven, Gorilla, Grenade and Just the Way You Are.

It’s been over two decades since Robbie Williams first asked audiences to let him entertain us, and more than 10 years since his triumphant performances at Suncorp Stadium, and on his Heavy Entertainment tour, which hit BEC in February, the UK singer proved he’s still a master entertainer. With a career-spanning set that included Let Me Entertain You, Angels, Rock DJ, Rudebox and Kids, as well as crowd-pleasing covers including Sweet Caroline, Viva “Bris” Vegas and George Michael’s Freedom 90, the 44-year-old was still as brash and brazen as ever, flashing his underwear and flirting with audience members.

Nine months before Rami Malek hit the big screen as late Queen singer Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, original Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor joined forces with American Idol alumnus Adam Lambert for a stadium rock show at BEC in February. With a set that included Don’t Stop Me Now, Under Pressure, We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions, to name but a few, Queen + Adam Lambert accomplished the difficult task of appropriately honouring Mercury’s legacy while contemporising the iconic group’s embarrassingly rich back catalogue.

Adam Lambert with Brian May in Brisbane

After selling out Suncorp Stadium in 2015 on the final leg of his X (Multiply) tour, English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran went one better by selling out the venue on two consecutive nights during his return visit for his ÷ (Divide) tour in March. The UK superstar conquered a collective crowd of more than 100,000 people, playing an 18-song set armed with only his guitars, loop pedals and an endearing blend of unbridled confidence and self-deprecation.

The Commonwealth Games opening and closing ceremonies weren’t without their controversy, but the Games’ accompanying Festival 2018 series of concerts in April — which included free live performances on the Gold Coast, in Cairns, Townsville and Brisbane by the likes of Amy Shark, Busby Marou, Regurgitator, Archie Roach and Ed Kuepper — were difficult to fault.

One Direction may still be on “indefinite hiatus”, but two of the pop group’s most popular and successful members, Harry Styles and Niall Horan, both hit BEC within weeks of each other earlier this year. Styles impressed his screaming fans with solo offerings such as Sign of the Times, Two Ghosts and Kiwi, as well as a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s The Chain, and Horan delivering a strong set that included mega-hit Slow Hands, ballad This Town and a well-received cover of Bruce Springsteen’s Dancing in the Dark.

Both also peppered their sets with a few One Direction songs, with Styles dropping If I Could Fly, What Makes You Beautiful and Stockholm Syndrome into his set, and Horan treating fans to Fool’s Gold and Drag Me Down.

Neil Finn wows the Gold Coast’s new Home of the Arts.

Amy Shark performs with Archie Roach at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games closing ceremony.

Before heading off as the eyebrow-raising replacement for Lindsey Buckingham in Fleetwood Mac, former Split Enz and Crowded House frontman Neil Finn treated fans to a performance of his new orchestral album Out of Silence in its entirety at the Gold Coast’s new Home of the Arts.

It was also a big year for festivals, with Bluesfest featuring an eclectic five-day line-up that included Robert Plant, Lionel Ritchie, Lauryn Hill, Tash Sultana, Jimmy Cliff and the Wailers. July’s Splendour in the Grass featured one of the strongest line-ups in the event’s history, with international acts such as Kendrick Lamar, Lorde, Vampire Weekend and Franz Ferdinand playing alongside home-grown acts including Hilltop Hoods, Amy Shark and Dune Rats.

Since its modest beginnings almost two decades ago, Brisbane music industry conference and live music festival BIGSOUND has gone on to become the biggest event of its kind in Australia. This year’s BIGSOUND took place in September, and included keynote addresses from the likes of Virginia Hanlon Grohl and Paul Kelly, and some stellar showcases from rising stars such as Sahara Beck, Tia Gostelow, Tape/Off and Didirri. But the undisputed highlight was a surprise midnight set from Kelly at Brisbane venue The Zoo, during which he played a career-spanning set to several hundred lucky punters.

With a career that has spanned 30 years and garnered album sales of 250 million, Celine Dion is one of the world’s most enduring singers, and the Canadian superstar had the crowd in the palm of her hand when she played two shows at BEC in July. The Power of Love, Because You Loved Me, All By Myself and My Heart Will Go On all received suitably rousing receptions, but her soaring cover of John Farnham’s You’re the Voice was the unexpected highlight.

Five years after last visiting Australia with her The Truth About Love tour, US pop superstar Pink proved she still has what it takes to draw a crowd and get the party started, playing to more than 50,000 people over seven nights at BEC in August. With an eight-piece backing band, 10 dancers, a veritable greatest-hits set and a show-stopping finale in which she slung herself across the stadium in an aerial display that wouldn’t be out of place in a Cirque du Soleil production, Alecia Moore again delivered one of the tours of the year.

Bob Dylan might not have uttered a word between songs during concert at BEC in August, but with a peerless catalogue of songs filled with masterful lyricism as deep as his, and a backing band comprised of guitarists Charlie Sexton and Stu Kimball, multi-instrumentalist Donnie Herron, bassist and musical director Tony Garnier and drummer George Receli, who needs between-song banter?

With Dylan now aged 77, his vocal style has developed into more of a gravelly rasp than the nasally drawl of decades ago, but for the most part the blues-tinged arrangements of his classics complement his characterful vocals, and over five decades since he was derided as Judas for daring to go electric, he’s still unafraid to reinvent himself.

Her most recent album Witness received mixed reviews from critics and failed to match the success of her multi-million-selling 2013 album Prism, but US pop star Katy Perry still had enough fans wanting to hear her roar to play two shows at BEC in August. Opening with the title track from her new album, Perry appeared on a floating star in a glittering red catsuit, and enthralled the mostly young crowd with a more-than-20-song set that included Hot N Cold, California Gurls, I Kissed a Girl and Firework.

Fans bore Witness to Katy Perry in Brisbane.

Cher was still theatrical after all these years.

Formerly estranged KISS bandmates Gene Simmons and Ace Frehley buried the hatchet for a double bill at The Tivoli in Brisbane, in support of Simmons’ Vault Experience in which hardcore fans shelled out thousands for a hand-delivered boxed set. But there’s still no word on whether Frehley has been invited on KISS’s next farewell tour.

And over 50 years since she struck global stardom, and a decade on from her last “farewell” tour, the beat is still going on for ageless pop diva Cher. With a visually arresting show featuring hits from I Got You Babe, Gypsys, Tramps and Thieves and Half Breed through to Believe, Strong Enough and a medley of ABBA songs, the 72-year-old proved she is unrivalled when it comes to reinventing herself, and doesn’t need to turn back time to elicit an audience response many performers half her age would envy.

Pop superstar Taylor Swift closed the Australian leg of her Reputation tour in front of more than 40,000 fans, playing a six-act, hit-packed set. Kicking off with Ready For It, then reeling off Gorgeous and a medley of Style/Love Story/You Belong With Me in quick succession, Swift’s set also included fan favourites Shake It Off, Blank Space and Bad Blood – all to the flashing lights of fans wristbands, given out on arrival and timed to the beat of Tay Tay’s hits.

“Guilty pleasure” is often used to describe US arena rockers Bon Jovi, but when the veteran band took to the stage at Suncorp Stadium earlier this month for their This House is Not For Sale tour, there was nothing for the crowd to feel guilty about. This was a show that was all pleasure and paeans, as the New Jersey boys performed a more-than-20-song, career-spanning set including everything from evergreen ’80s hits You Give Love a Bad Name and Bad Medicine, through to ’90s classics Keep the Faith and Bed of Roses, and more recent fare such as This House is Not For Sale and Roller Coaster.

Taylor Swift only enhanced her Reputation in Brisbane.

Jon Bon Jovi is still rocking it after over three decades.

The year ahead

If some of the tours already announced for this year are any indication, 2019 is shaping up to another big year for live music aficionados.

In January, Conversations With Nick Cave hits both the Home of the Arts on the Gold Coast and Brisbane City Hall. Also in January, UK folk-rockers Mumford and Sons will perform at BEC, Phil Collins brings his Not Dead Yet tour to Suncorp Stadium, London electro-punk pioneers The Prodigy head to Riverstage, and Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash, alongside backing band Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, is coming to the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Phil Collins is Not Dead Yet.

Red Hot Chili Peppers are back at long last.

In February, ’90s retro tours RNB Vine Days, featuring Nelly, Craig David and All Saints, and So Pop, with Aqua, Vengaboys, Blue and B*Witched, will hit Sirromet winery at Mt Cotton and Eatons Hill Hotel respectively.

Eminem will also perform at QSAC later in the month, and Red Hot Chili Peppers play two shows at BEC — their first shows in Brisbane in 12 years.

In March, American thrash-metal innovators Slayer hit Riverstage as part of their final world tour, and the Eagles’ world tour will bring iconic the band to BEC for two nights for the first time since 2015.

On the festival front, some huge Day on the Green line-ups will be hitting Sirromet, with Rodriguez, Bryan Ferry and Kylie Minogue all scheduled to headline performances at the Mt Cotton winery in February and March.

Missy Higgins is heading Way Out West.

Norah Jones is on the Bluesfest roster.

Laneway will also return to Brisbane Showgrounds next month, with performances from the likes of Gang of Youths, Courtney Barnett, Baker Boy and Camp Cope.

Byron Bay Bluesfest, which takes place over the Easter weekend, has assembled an impressive line-up for its 30th birthday celebrations, with Jack Johnson, Iggy Pop, Ben Harper, Paul Kelly, Norah Jones, Mavis Staples and Kasey Chambers among the artists already announced.

Further out – both on the concert calendar and geographically – Way Out West, featuring performances from Amy Shark, Missy Higgins and John Williamson returns to Winton in May, and the Big Red Bash, which hits Birdsville in July, will be headlined by Midnight Oil.

Last but not least, American rockers KISS are set to bring their End of the Road Tour to BEC in November.

Nearly two decades after their ‘Farewell Tour’, KISS have finally reached The End of the Road.

2019 gig guide

January

Conversations with Nick Cave HOTA, Gold Coast, Jan 5;
Brisbane City Hall, Jan 12.

Pineapple Fields (Tash Sultana plus Ocean Alley, Oka, Lime Cordiale)

Sunshine Coast, Jan 12.

Summer Series (The Jacksons, Kool & the Gang, The Pointers Sisters, Village People and Sister Sledge)

Sandstone Point Hotel, Jan 13;
Gold Coast Convention and
Exhibition Centre, Jan 15.
Mumford and Sons

Brisbane Entertainment Centre,
Jan 15.
Phil Collins

Suncorp Stadium, Jan 19.

Under the Southern Stars (Hoodoo Gurus, You am I , Sheppard, Superjesus, British India)

Broadwater Parklands, Jan 19; Sunshine Coast Stadium, Jan 20.
Prodigy

Riverstage, Jan 28.
Slash ft Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators

Brisbane Convention and
Exhibition Centre, Jan 30.

Peter Garrett and Midnight Oil will play the Big Red Bash at Birdsville in their only Australian performance for 2019 announced so far.

February

Laneway (Gang of Youths, Courtney Barnett, Baker Boy, Camp Cope), Feb 2.

By the C (Icehouse, Sunnyboys, Do Re Mi, Mental as Anything)

Coolangatta, Feb 2.
RNB Vine Days

(Nelly, Craig David, All Saints) Sirromet Winery, Feb 3.
So Pop (Aqua, Vengaboys, Blue, B*Witched) Eatons Hill, Feb 9.
Red Hot Summer Tour(Jimmy Barnes, Joan Jett, Living End, Diesel, Richard Clapton) Sandstone Point, Feb 9-10.

Eminem QSAC, Feb 20.
Red Hot Chili Peppers Brisbane Entertainment Centre,

Feb 25-26, sold out.

Day on the Green (Rodriguez, Xavier Rudd, Busby Marou, Pierce Brothers)

Sirromet, Feb 9.

March

Bryan Ferry, I’m Talking, Died Pretty, Models, Sirromet Winery, Mar 3.

Kylie, Jake Shears, Hatchie,Sirromet Winery, Mar 17.
Slayer & Anthrax Riverstage, Mar 7.
Eagles Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Mar 9-10.

CMC Rocks (Thomas Rhett, Florida Georgia Line, Luke Combs, Michael Ray, Locash, Frankie Ballard, Kasey Chambers, Troy Cassar-Daley, Danielle Bradbery) Willowbank, Mar 14-17.

By the C(John Farnham, Daryl Braithwaite, Jon Stevens, Vanessa Amorosi, Ross Wilson) Coolangatta, Mar 16.

April

Bluesfest,Byron Bay, Apr 18-22.

Way Out West(Amy Shark, Missy Higgins, Brett Eldredge, San Cisco) Winton, Apr 25-28.

May

Blues on Broadbeach

(Canned Heat, Eric Bibb, Harts, The Bamboos, Tami Neilson) May 16-19.

July

Big Red Bash, Birdsville(Midnight Oil, The Living End, Kasey Chambers) Birdsville, Jul 16-18.

November

KissBrisbane Entertainment Centre, Nov 28.