V Festival 2008 Announced

Yet another festival announcement.

Last year's V Festival cause quite a stir with its star-studded lineup including Pixies, Beck and Phoenix, but the big thing holding it back for many was the fact that it was only held in Sydney and the Gold Coast. Melbourne concert goers who couldn't afford a flight up to Sydney were given V Festival sideshows which cost a premium, merely to see a few acts. At the time, the organisers of the festival had said that their research indicated that Melbourne wasn't a festival city, with people preferring to go to sideshows.

Thankfully, along with the acts announced today for next years incarnation of the festival, the organisers have decided to take it nationwide!

Dates for the festival are:
Sydney: Centennial Park, Saturday March 29th, 2008
Gold Coast: Avica Resort, Sunday March 30th, 2008
Melbourne: Showgrounds, Saturday April 5th, 2008
Perth: The Esplanade (City), Sunday April 6th, 2008

And the line-up so far is:
The Smashing Pumpkins, Duran Duran, Queens of the Stone Age, Mika, The Jesus & Mary Chain, The Presets, Air (!), CSS, The Tough Alliance, and Plug-In City.
(Mika and Air won't be playing the Perth leg of the tour)

So there you have it. Tickets go on sale Thursday December 6, get them through the website.

Iron & Wine; Beirut announce Australian tour-dates

Two great releases this year were Iron & Wine's The Shepherd's Dog and Beirut's The Flying Cub Cup, and while both acts have already been announced for the Golden Plains festival, those of you who feel you can't justify the $190 for a ticket will be happy to know that both acts have announced separate tourdates around the country as follows:

Iron & Wine

Melbourne - Friday March 7 - The Athenaeum Theatre (tix from Ticketmaster)

Sydney - Tuesday March 11 - The Maning Bar (tix from Moshtix)

Brisbane - Sunday March 9 - The Zoo (tix from The Zoo) 

Beirut

Melbourne - Tuesday March 11 - The Corner Hotel (tix from The Corner) 

Sydney - Wednesday March 5 - Manning Bar (tix from Moshtix)

Brisbane - Thursday March 6 - The Zoo (tix from The Zoo)

Both artists will be bringing full backing bands along for the ride, so you can expect some very special shows.