CherryRock, the long-running street music festival of Cherry Bar in Melbourne’s AC/DC Lane, is headed to Sydney for the first time ever.
Having become a rock institution over the eight years its been hosted in Melbourne, the event will get its Sydney debut this May for CherryRock 2014, complete with the recently announced lineup.
Kicking off on Saturday 31st May (a week following the Melbourne edition), the Sydney CherryRock 2014 will take place at The Factory Theatre on both inside and outside stages.
Headlining the festival, returning Down Under for the first time over 20 years will be cult US band the Meat Puppets, with CherryRock 2014 being their only Sydney date.
Hailing from Phoneix, Arizona – the Meat Puppets’ Kirkwood brothers – Curt and Cris – were made famous when just 138 days before his tragic death in 1993 Kurt Cobain invited them to perform with him on the infamous MTV Unplugged performance, where Nirvana covered three classic Meat Puppets songs: ‘Plateau’, ‘Oh Me’ and ‘Lake of Fire’.
As well as being a massive inspiration on Nirvana, Meat Puppets also influence guitar bands such as Pavement, Soundgarden and Dinosaur Jr with their distinctive sonic identity, mixing their spiky punk flavours with country and psychedelic rock, all punctuated by Curt Kirkwood’s distinctive vocals – to this day their rare live shows are the stuff of legend. “I believe the future of music festivals is all about modest capacity, affordable price and great line-ups created for genuine music lovers.”
Along with Meat Puppets, the first CherryRock to be held outside of Melbourne’s iconic Cherry Bar will feature 13 acts, with the first round bringing a slightly different lineup to the Melbourne edition.
Rocking The Factory for the Sydney CherryRock 2014 will be epic Melbourne four-piece Redcoats, incendiary Sydneysiders Gay Paris, the blues rock vigour of Chris Russell’s Chicken Walk, mighty Melbournites King Of The North, New Zealand’s roaring Beastwars, rising stars Drunk Mums, along with Child, Bitter Sweet Kicks, The Harlots, Don Fernando, and more to be announced in the coming weeks.
Speaking of expanding CherryRock 2014 in a climate that’s been less than forgiving to the music festival market, Cherry Bar owner and booker James Young admits, “I’m an idiot. There’s blood in the streets at the moment amongst the music festival circuit. Only an imbecile would choose this time to expand and take a 100% rock n festival dominated by the absolute very best Melbourne rock acts into another State.”
So why take the risk? “I’ve got Meat Puppets and I honestly believe that within my original hometown of Sydney beats a rock n roll heart craving a niche festival tailor-made for well-behaved heavy-drinking heavy-music lovers,” says Young.
“I believe the future of music festivals is all about modest capacity, affordable price and great line-ups created for genuine music lovers,” he adds. “Let there be CherryRock!”
The Cherry domo has also voiced concerns that the upcoming eighth edition of Melbourne’s CherryRock 2014 could be threatened by noise complaints from residents of a new residential complex “overlooking AC/DC Lane in the first week of June;” at least until Melbourne officials implement the coveted ‘Agent Of Change’ to protect CBD venues from noise complaining residents.
Meanwhile, CherryRock 2014 Sydney is announced amongst the backdrop of the State Government introducing tough new laws on the city – including 1:30am lockouts, 3am last drinks, and statewide closure of bottle shops from 10pm. New laws that threaten to wipe out Sydney’s live music scene and the next generation of musicians, according to MusicNSW and local bands such as The Preatures.
Tickets for the inaugural CherryRock 2014 are $60 (plus booking fee) and go on sale today from www.factorytheatre.com.au. Full details for both editions of CherryRock 2014 below.
CherryRock 2014 Sydney Lineup
The Meat Puppets (USA)
Redcoats
Gay Paris
Chris Russell’s Chicken Walk
King of the North
Beastwars (NZ)
Child
Drunk Mums
Bitter Sweet Kicks
The Harlots
Don Fernando
+ more to be announced
CherryRock 2014 Sydney Dates, Tickets
Saturday 31 May – The Factory Theatre
2pm – 11.30pm
13 acts, 2 stages, inside and outside.
Tix $60 (+b/f) from www.factorytheatre.com.au from Friday 14 February
CherryRock 2014 Melbourne Lineup
The Meat Puppets (USA)
Chris Russell’s Chicken Walk
Redcoats
King of the North
Beastwars (NZ)
Child
Drunk Mums
Bitter Sweet Kicks
The Harlots
Don Fernando
+ more to be announced
CherryRock 2014 Melbourne Dates, Tickets
Sunday 25 May – Cherry Bar, AC/DC Lane Melbourne
12noon-9.30pm
13 acts, 2 stages, no clashes
Early Bird tix $74 from www.cherrybar.com.au from 9am Monday 10 February
