At Melbourne’s Sidney Myer Music Bowl on Saturday February 11 ICEHOUSE and Eskimo Joe will welcome iconic Australian indie darlings Frente and the anthemic alt-rock quartet Motor Ace as part of the line-up while Blues and Soul powerhouse Karen Lee Andrews opens the show at Brisbane’s Riverstage on Saturday February 18.
A welcome addition to the bill, Eskimo Joe’s storied career has seen them bring home 3 International Song-writing Awards, 8 ARIAs and 11 WAMi Awards, with 11 of their songs featuring in Triple J’s Hottest 100 countdown including ‘Black Fingernails, Red Wine’ which landed them in 2nd place.
Fresh from celebrating the 30th anniversary of their era-defining record ‘Marvin the Album’ and its string of hits including ‘Ordinary Angels’, ‘Accidentally Kelly Street’ and ‘Labour of Love’, Frente join the Melbourne line-up alongside Motor Ace who also returned to the live scene in 2022 celebrating their own anniversary, 20 years on from the release of their debut record ‘Five Star Laundry’, the landmark album that catapulted them on to the global music scene.
And finally, a unique and gifted performer with a deep and undeniably soulful voice Karen Lee Andrews and her band will open the show at the Brisbane Riverstage, performing a selection of her blues-infused rock anthems and heartrending soul numbers.
The Melbourne concert has been rescheduled to Saturday February 11, 2023, and the Brisbane show rescheduled for Saturday February 18. Original ticket purchases will be valid for the new date without the need for exchange.
‘Great Southern Land’ was first released in August 1982 as the lead single from ICEHOUSE’s multi-platinum second studio album, ‘Primitive Man’. The song debuted at #5 on the Australian Singles Chart and made its debut on triple j (2JJJ as it was known then).
‘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.
The writing of Great Southern Land was triggered when Iva became incredibly homesick during the first ICEHOUSE overseas concert tour.
‘I recall the lightbulb moment when I was flying from east coast Australia to the west, falling asleep over inland desert and waking several hours later still over desert — for the first time, the continent’s vastness really hit home’.
The tour artwork features ‘Bush Medicine’ by Gloria Petyarre, which has been licensed with permission from the artist’s family, estate, and the Aboriginal Artists Agency Ltd. ICEHOUSE would like to acknowledge and pay their respects to the Petyarre family.
Iva Davies explained the work’s significance to him ‘This painting was gifted to me by my partner who also has another notable painting from this family by Gloria’s sister, Kathleen. Both paintings share a similar style but what struck me immediately was how ‘alive’ this painting is with movement’.
He added, ‘In that sense it occurred to me that it shared the same quality that I was trying to describe in ‘Great Southern Land’. That is that the land is ‘alive’, and that despite the fact that this is a painting which should logically be static, and stationary, it is constantly moving in subtle ways and evolving, just like the land’.
SIDNEY MYER MUSIC BOWL, MELBOURNE – SATURDAY FEBRUARY 11, 2023
ICEHOUSE
Special guests Eskimo Joe + Frente + Motor Ace
BRISBANE RIVERSTAGE, BRISBANE – SATURDAY FEBRUARY 18, 2023
ICEHOUSE
Special guests Eskimo Joe + Karen Lee Andrews
Tickets for all shows are on sale now.
For complete tour, ticket, and VIP Experience information
visit: www.icehouse-ivadavies.
