The gigs you shouldn’t miss in Sydney in December

With so many international acts returning to Australian shores for the summer festival season, deciding which of your favourites to see is no easy task.

To make things easier, here’s a selection of our must-see gigs for December.

Rufus du Sol

December 2-3, The Domain

Rufus Du Sol: Tyrone Lindqvist, James Hunt and Jon George.Credit: Eliot Lee Hazel

Seven nominations at this year’s ARIA awards show just how highly Australian music fans and critics rate Rufus du Sol. Described by BBC1 Radio host Pete Tong as “Sydney’s finest three-piece”, they are an even bigger deal overseas.

In the US, where they now call Los Angeles home, they have been nominated for three Grammys and won best dance/electronic recording for their single Alive.

Returning home to tour their fourth studio album Surrender, which picked up this year’s ARIA for best produced album, the trio (Tyrone Lindqvist, James Hunt and Jon George) will play two sold-out shows at Sydney’s Domain to begin December. With expansive soundscapes that evoke rolling blue skies and endless windswept beaches, Rufus’ music is best enjoyed outside, making back-to-back dusk-lit shows at the Domain the perfect way to unofficially launch into summer.

Jack Johnson

December 5-7, Opera House Forecourt

Laid-back, multi-talented, “unimpeachably likeable”, Hawaiian singer-songwriter Jack Johnson has been bringing his distinctive easygoing sound and charismatic demeanour to the stage for more than two decades now.

Johnson brings with him fresh tunes from his eighth studio album Meet the Moonlight, released in July. From questioning humanity’s faith in unseen gods on Open Mind to ruminating on the passage of time in Any Wonder, these 10 tracks see Johnson dip into heavier themes than the easy-breezy reputation he has gained through his most well-known songs – all without ever deviating from his distinctive, easygoing sound.

The last time Johnson was in Australia was to headline Bluesfest in 2019, and he last played at the Opera House forecourt back in 2017. All three of those shows were sell-outs, but there are still tickets available to all three dates this time around.

Kendrick Lamar

December 8-9, Qudos Bank Arena

Since achieving mainstream success with the critically acclaimed album Good Kid, M.A.A.D City in 2012, the Compton-raised rapper has gone on to become a defining voice in 21st century music and politics.

He was the first non-classical or jazz artist to win the Pulitzer Prize for music with his 2017 album Damn., and his latest album Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers swept the American Music Awards and is up for two gongs at the 2023 Grammys.

Kendrick Lamar performs in the half-time show at the NFL Super Bowl in February.Credit: Julio Cortez

The Australian leg of his Big Steppers tour kicks off in Perth on December 1. Tickets for Lamar’s back-to-back shows at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena are sold out and will be difficult to come by, but fans can expect a show equal to his extraordinary talents.

If you’re a fan of Lamar’s collaborations with Kamasi Washington, the groundbreaking saxophonist and composer will be playing at the Sydney Opera House on December 4.

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis

December 16-18, Sydney Opera House Concert Hall

Nick Cave performing at Hanging Rock in November.Credit: Rick Clifford

Cave’s last tour of Australia was an intimate Q&A-style show where he pierced the veil of his own mystique, fielding audience questions and obscure trivia on everything from his creative process to his trademark suits. If November’s performance at Hanging Rock is anything to go by, this tour marks a return to the showmanship and bombast normally expected of a Nick Cave show.

Rusted-on Cave fans will be hoping the equally grandiose, newly renovated concert hall at the Opera House brings out more of the same across three sold-out performances alongside longtime collaborator Warren Ellis.

What gigs are you looking forward to this month? Tell us about them in the comments.

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