George Michael Returns With Orchestral Tour

All that faith has finally paid off... George Michael fans, the wait is over! It has just been announced that the Wham! star will be arriving in Australia for his Symphonica: The Orchestral Tour.

Last year, to our great disappointment, the Australian leg of the tour was postponed due to a hectic bout of pneumonia that halted the singer. But alas, November will see the popstar’s return down under.

The anticipated shows will see Michael perform past songs, standards from the 1999 release Songs From Last Century and also new material from his forthcoming album White Light which is expected to come out at the end of the year.

Pre-sale tickets are available from this Saturday (May 5) at GEORGEMICHAEL.COM

See below for concert dates:

Brisbane

Tuesday November 27 - Brisbane Entertainment Centre

George Michael Returns With Orchestral Tour

New One Direction Shows Melt Ticketek

THE announcement of new 2013 shows for British boy band One Direction has sent ticketing website Ticketek into meltdown. Again. 
 
The band's second tour from September 11 to 29 next year, including concerts in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne Adelaide and Perth, was announced at the end of their last tour on the eve of their departure from Australia on April 18.


Ticketek announced on Twitter today that One Direction would now do two extra shows on the tour, one in Sydney and one in Melbourne, and tickets would be available from 5.30pm (AEST).
Fans took to the site and to Twitter, with some saying they'd had success, others saying the site froze and others appealing to people not buying tickets to get off the site.



This is not the first time the ticketing website has gone into overload. Ticketek was unable to complete purchases recently for those buying tickets for concerts for Prince in April and Radiohead earlier this year.

Not that it's stopping the One Direction fans. They're now calling for extra shows to be scheduled in Brisbane. 

New One Direction Shows Melt Ticketek

Brisbane Symphony Orchestra And Brisbane Chorale Present 'Seascapes'

Music has played matchmaker for many couples who perform in two concerts in May.

Under the batons of conductors Emily Cox and Antoni Bonetti will play with their respective spouses, organist Christopher Wrench and clarinettist Ruth Bonetti.

Recently returned from their honeymoon are Brisbane Symphony Orchestra’s concertmaster Megan Arends and her partner Gerald who emigrated from Germany to play violin with her and the orchestra. A couple from Argentina sing soprano and baritone with Brisbane Chorale.

FAMILY AFFAIRS

Across the two ensembles, Brisbane Chorale and Brisbane Symphony Orchestra, the Thomson family encompass all areas of the stage. Glenise Berry sings soprano, and will be joined onstage by her husband Dr Damien Thomson, daughter Genevieve and son Jeremy. Then, there’s a mother and daughter in the Brisbane Chorale and a mother and son in the Brisbane Symphony’s cello section: Matthew and Juliet Hoey.

ENSEMBLES UNITE

Two respected musical organisations match up for the first time – a historic occasion.

On May 20 and May 27, the Brisbane Chorale and the Brisbane Symphony Orchestra will present “Seascapes” featuring Vaughan Williams’ choral epic A Sea Symphony and works by Debussy commemorating the 150th anniversary of his birth.

Vaughan Williams set moving poems by American poet Walt Whitman. From its opening exultant words “Behold, the sea itself” to the quiet visionary conclusion, the symphony is an exhilarating and intense journey where man’s exploration of the majestic, timeless sea becomes a voyage of self-discovery and a metaphor for the soul’s voyage to eternity.

Early Debussy works were both originally composed for piano four-hands but later orchestrated because of their appeal. Marche ecossaise is his tribute to Scotland. The delightful Petite Suite opens with a gentle view of the sea in its opening movement.

Concert details

Concert 1 – 3.00pm Sunday 20 May, Lake Kawana Community Centre, Sportsman Parade, Bokarina. Tickets & Bookings 20 May: $30/$25/$15 (Tel 5413 1400)

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It's Business Time: Flight Of The Conchords Announce Aussie Tour Dates

 

Song in their heart, laugh in their belly: Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. Picture: Channel Ten

AFTER sell-out tours in New Zealand, Kiwi comedy duo Flight of the Conchords will cross the Tasman for their first-ever run of Australian headline shows.

Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, who claim to be "New Zealand’s best export after sheep’s wool", will perform six shows in July.

"We are finally returning to Australia. Mostly to apologise,'' Clement said.

Flight of the Conchords have come a long way since winning Best Newcomer at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival more than a decade ago.

After getting their start in stand up comedy, they created a radio series for BBC Radio 2 before making the acclaimed HBO comedy series Flight of the Conchords.

The series earned them a massive 10 Emmy nominations and a WGA nomination for Best Comedy Series.

Tickets go on sale on Tuesday 17 April via www.frontiertouring.com/fotc

Tour dates for Flight of the Conchords' Australian tour:

- Sydney Opera House - Thursday, July 5
- Brisbane Entertainment Centre - Saturday, July 7
- Newcastle Entertainment Centre - Tuesday, July 10
- WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong - Wednesday, July 11
- The Plenary, Melbourne - Saturday, July 14
- Challenge Stadium, Perth - Wednesday, July 18
It's Business Time: Flight Of The Conchords Announce Aussie Tour Dates

Prince Confirmed For Three-Stop Concert Tour of Australia in May

 The east coast of Australia can get ready for some more rain in May - of the purple kind.

After months of rumours, and following a final none-too-subtle clue from Chugg Entertainment on Twitter last night that "Hmmmm. Just checked the weather report. It's predicting purple rain for tomorrow..." it has finally been confirmed that Prince will be touring Australia for the first time since 2003 in May.

Dubbed the Welcome 2 Australia tour, the multi-platinum selling artist will be performing his arena shows in the round, with a 360-degree stage, in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Prince performs at the Hop Farm Festival at The Hop Farm on July 3, 2011 in Paddock Wood, England. 

The singer who had hits with Purple Rain, When Doves Cry, 1999, Kiss and Little Red Corvette has only visited Australia twice before, he last visited in 2003.

The enigmatic artist who has seven Grammy awards, in addition to a Golden Globe and an Oscar, is well known for experimenting with sound, styles, concert formats and even his name. For those still unsure, the formerly named Artist Formerly Known As Prince is Prince once more.

The concerts are aiming to be accessible to all fans, with no public pre sale and promoter Garry Van Egmond saying in a statement “we have tickets starting from only $99 so that everyone can see this legendary superstar performer, Prince.”

The statement also demurely claims "this tour of Australia is destined to be one of the greatest concert events in years." There is some grounds for this however as Prince's multiple concerts at Madison Square Garden sold out in 30 minutes, and his 21 night stand at the 20,000-seat O2 Arena in London set new box office records.

Prince: Welcome 2 Australia Tour
May 11 - Allphones Arena, Sydney
May 14 - Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
May 18 - Entertainment Centre, Brisbane

Tickets to the Prince shows go on sale on Monday, April 16 at 9am from Ticketek.

Prince Confirmed For Three-Stop Concert Tour of Australia in May

Good Food & Wine Show's Australia 2012

You probably also know that 5 SPICE isn't a boy band from Shanghai... But did you know...
The Good Food & Wine Show is back and will spice up your weekend with new chefs, new features, new master classes plus hundreds and hundreds of delicious food and wine tastings - it's sure to be a weekend to remember!

Click on a city below to see which chefs and features are coming to you!

Melbourne 1-3 June 2012
Sydney 21-23 June 2012
Perth 13-15 July 2012
Adelaide 12-14 October 2012
Brisbane 9-11 November 2012
Good Food and Wine Shows in Australia 2012

Brisbane to Host Davis Cup Tie Between Australia and South Korea

AUSTRALIA'S Davis Cup team will prepare for life after Lleyton Hewitt in Brisbane next month. 
 
In a further boost for the venue which hosted record crowds at the Brisbane International in January, the Queensland Tennis Centre at Tennyson will stage Australia's tie against South Korea from April 6-8.

Team stalwart Hewitt will not play as he nurses a foot problem expected to keep him off the court until June.

Australian hopes will rest on Queenslander Bernard Tomic and most likely the nation's No.2, Matt Ebden, for the Asia Oceania Zonal second-round tie.

World No.85 Ebden made his Davis Cup debut in Australia's 5-0 first-round win against China in Geelong last month, winning a dead rubber after Tomic, Hewitt and Chris Guccione had sealed victory.

Meanwhile, Marinko Matosevic stormed into contention for a Davis Cup recall by reaching his first ATP quarter-final yesterday.

Matosevic, who lost his only Davis Cup match in a 2011 tie against China, came through qualifying to upset sixth-seeded Russian Alex Bogomolov Jr at Delray Beach.

Head of Australian men's tennis Todd Woodbridge is excited by the options for a Davis Cup role that "a couple of years ago it looked like we were going to struggle to fill".

"We look at the line-up knowing that Lleyton's no longer going to be in the plan for this particular tie," Woodbridge said.

"Bernard, this will be his fourth playing tie and he knows how to shoulder responsibility and handle pressure. It's really who's going to vie for that second singles spot.

"Matt Ebden is a choice by top 100. Marinko Matosevic has played before, maybe he's starting to hit some form."

On the fringes of selection is James Duckworth, who upset Frenchman Nicolas Mahut in Brisbane this year.

"We've known who the targets possibly are and they're starting to follow through with the results," Woodbridge said.

"It's a bit more of a challenging and exciting time for some of our young guys because there's a bit of pressure on them to try to get that spot, a want for that spot."

The hardcourt tie is ideal for Australia's new guard to gain Davis Cup experience and move a step closer to ending the nation's five-year absence from the elite World Group.

South Korea's highest-ranked player is No.285 Yong-Kyu Lim.

The winning team will advance to the September playoffs for a chance to return to the 16-nation World Group in 2013.

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