Summer Sounds 2024

On The Road Again presents Summer Sounds 2024. Back in full force, celebrating its 7th year on the Bunjil Place stage.

This year brings something extra special with our outdoor Plaza being transformed into a temporary indoor/outdoor events space, surrounded by shipping containers that house food and beverage service areas and covered seating. 

Featuring our double headliners RVG and Jen Cloher, supported by Play Lunch and DJ Tinika. 

Join us for an evening of local live music, delicious food and cool drinks, the perfect way to relax and soak up the warm summer night.

RVG

Australian combo RVG, blend lush jangling guitar pop with elements of post-punk, goth, and ’80s college rock. Hailing from the Naarm suburb of Preston by singer/songwriter and Adelaide native Romy Vager, the band followed a trail set by forebears like the Go-Betweens, the Soft Boys, and the Sisters of Mercy.

No strangers to the live scene, the iconic band set has been seen at Meredith Music Festival, travelled Europe and the UK with Shame (UK) and Sleaford Mods (UK), toured the USA with Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, toured Australia with Kurt Vile (US), Pixies (UK) and POND, showcased at SXSW, The Great Escape and Reeperbahn, performed at Denmark’s renowned Roskilde Festival, and played a BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge session, hosted by Huw Stephens.

The four bandmates will be performing songs from their third studio album Brain Worms, a release that pushed them into new spaces, receiving critical acclaim both locally and internationally in 2023. “If we could only make one more album, it would be this one” Vager.
 

JEN CLOHER

Songwriter and performer Jen Cloher’s (Ngāpuhi & Ngāti Kahu) taut, terse brand of rock is charged with the static tension that comes with being an eternal misfit; they have spoken truth to power with the shrewd eye that only an outsider can possess. Their incisive, generous songwriting has been admired over the course of five albums, winning a J Award and AIR Award, with ARIA and Australian Music Prize nominations, and will serenade the audience with gems from their 2023 album I Am The River, The River Is Me.

Inspired by Cloher’s powerful matrilineal line of wāhine Māori, I Am The River, The River Is Me is not urgent, or hurried, but it is vital. The joy of life, Cloher seems to say, is in forgiving your moments of weakness with grace, and embracing the parts of you that are unfinished.

PLAY LUNCH

Self described as Bogan Funk, the East-Melbourne locals have been likened to Silk Sonic, Flight of the Conchords, The Lonely Island, Vulfpeck and The Chats.

DJ TINIKA

Dedicated to amplifying the UK Funky scene in Australia, Tinika is more than just a DJ and producer; she's a sonic storyteller, a radio presenter, event curator and educator who brings her unique experiences and influences to the forefront of her artistry inspired by the likes of bass driven rhythms, the dynamic world of remix culture, and the rich musical tapestry of the Afro Diaspora.