Fresh off the back of the Queensland Tourism Awards held last Friday night where Blues on Broadbeach took home the silver award for Major Festivals and Events 2018, Broadbeach Alliance is proud to announce the first line-up for 2019.
The Multi-award-winning Blues on Broadbeach Music Festival is returning for its 18th year with top local and international acts you don’t want to miss. The much loved festival has grown to become one of the largest music festivals in the country, being hailed as a sophisticated music event like no other. Enjoy a complete destination experience that allows you to listen to diverse blues tunes while relaxing in upscale restaurants and staying in a plethora of accommodation choices. All of this with the stunning Gold Coast beaches as your festival backdrop, makes Blues on Broadbeach one of a kind.
“Blues on Broadbeach has evolved to take top billing on the national blues calendar … an event not to be missed,” says Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate. “What amazes me is the ability for the event to attract the world’s best musicians while still retaining its earthy, raw feel. Even more impressive is that the entire weekend is free.”
The first line-up includes six international acts as well as 11 stellar Aussie artists, with many more still to be announced. Check out the festival sizzle reel here.
Bringing Woodstock to the Gold Coast and performing for the second time at Blues on Broadbeach is international sensation CANNED HEAT who has collaborated with top artists including John Mayall, Little Richard and John Lee Hooker. The band represent a historical time in popular music and achieved several worldwide hits, including Going Up The Country and On The Road Again.
Canned Heat’s ‘Fito’ and Larry said, “It’s great to be ‘On The Road Again’ and returning to Blues on Broadbeach. We really love Australia and look forward to playing for that great audience!” Come and boogie with Canned Heat!”
Another top act from the USA who brims with blues cred is 2018 Grammy Award nominee ERIC BIBB who preserves the best of pre-war blues through his unique music that glides seamlessly between genres. Bibb is an activist who centres his values on the civil rights movement of the 60s, and uses his unique music to entertain, educate and motivate listeners to form a better world.
The diverse and wonderfully curated 2019 Blues on Broadbeach line-up also boasts funk-soul band THE BAMBOOS who have received five ARIA nominations and three APRA Songwriting Award nominations. They recently released their eighth studio album called ‘Night Time People’ which “hits the sweet spot in every sense of the word” according to British music magazine Blues & Soul.
Returning next year is HARTS, who is making good after his 2017 scheduled show had to be cancelled due to rain and is stepping up from a three piece band to a much larger production which will include a full brass section. He has been compared to icons like Prince and Jimi Hendrix due to his unique blend of funk, jazz, blues, psychedelic rock, and indie electronic. Earlier this year, renowned American rapper Joey Bada$$ recruited Harts to play guitar for his performance on Triple J’s ‘Like a Version’, leaving his fans eagerly awaiting his performance next year.
Audiences will be blown away when they hear the soulful voice of New Zealand songstress TAMI NEILSON who has won the Tui Award for each of her past four albums as well as the 2014 APRA Silver Scroll. Nick Bolinger of NZ National Radio has described Neilson as “A red-hot honky-tonker, somewhere between Patsy Cline and Wanda Jackson with perhaps just a little bit of Peggy Lee sophistication.”
Rounding out the international offering is the ERIC STECKEL BAND from the US. A regular visitor to our shores, this will be Eric’s first time at Blues on Broadbeach, although he has left audiences in 25 countries mesmerized with his incredible guitar shredding. A true virtuoso!
Chris Cain (US) offers up real deal blues that are uniquely his own. In the words of Joe Bonamassa “One of my favourite, and criminally underrated blues players of all time…killer voice and songs to boot.”
And let’s not forget crowd favourite THE LACHY DOLEY GROUP who have performed at over 200 shows and festivals around the globe. Lachy Doley is the most celebrated Blues Soul Rock Organ Player in the world, hailed by Glenn Hughes from Deep Purple as being ‘the greatest living keyboard player in the world today’. Blues on Broadbeach will get the chance to see this great soul/blues act before they head off for their next European tour.
Festival Director Mark Duckworth said, “We’ve curated such a wide scope of Blues, Soul and Funk performers for the 2019 program reaching from home soil to New Zealand and the UK to the US. This year’s festival is so varied and unique, be prepared for a lot of brass and a lot smiles.”
Blues on Broadbeach is expected to draw huge crowds after the 2018 festival saw over 170,000 people at the exciting four-day music festival. The festival is presented by Broadbeach Alliance and led to a huge $21 million economic boost in 2018.
The festival is held over four glorious days and allows patrons to enjoy 70 incredible acts perform across 20 different stages in stunning Broadbeach locations.
CEO of Broadbeach Alliance, Jan McCormick said “Once again we are presenting a wonderful first line up to our loyal Blues fans. Having Canned Heat return to Blues is going to be an incredible experience for those fans who saw them last here in 2007. Won’t they get a surprise, the festival is over double its size.”
McCormick is excited for next year’s festival and said that “None of this would be possible without the support we receive from the City of Gold Coast and Tourism and Events Queensland. And of course, the loyal fans who come back each and every year.”
More info & tickets at bluesonbroadbeach.com
