Double the music
2023 Program Guide
The music program is designed so you can take in early and late shows on the same night. Here are our recommendations of what to pair up in your schedule.
MUSIC CO-HEADLINES
THE DAMNED AND WITCH — FRI 9 JUNE
The first of the London punks. The Damned are a fun-loving fearless band, who never stopped shedding their lizard skin. Joined by utter riff lords, Witch. Light your inner cauldron and flame on.
ESA'S AFRO-SYNTH BAND FT. KAMAZU AND MIM SULEIMAN — SAT 10 JUNE
A South African music powerhouse enlists two disco stars and plenty of party-starters for a night of afro-synth perfection.
LIV.E AND OBONGJAYAR — THU 15 JUNE
“RNB’s new avant-garde star” Liv.e and rapper Obongjayar join forces to coheadline at The Forum.
CORNELIUS AND SHINTARO SAKAMOTO — FRI 16 JUNE
Cornelius, the master of kaleidoscopic pastiche. Shintaro Sakamoto, the rock’n’roll equivalent of opening the windows for a warm breeze in. Here with sensuous sonics and pedal steel sunshine.
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LORAINE JAMES AND ARUSHI JAIN — FRI 16 JUNE
Loraine James takes a sometimes abrasive, always hypnotic approach to dance music. Arushi Jain feeds ancient Indian song structures through a transcendent, experimental dreamscape.
IF THIS, THEN THIS TOO
WED 7 JUNE
HAND TO EARTH — WED 7 JUNE
Yolngu manikay (song cycles)—an oral tradition from Southeast Arnhem Land that’s over 40,000 years old—in conversation with a Korean vocalist and minimalist jazz.
WEYES BLOOD — WED 7 JUNE
Natalie Mering’s folk project, Weyes Blood, is frank and perceptive with a sound that swells with orchestral majesty.
PAUL KELLY — TUE 6 — WED 7 JUNE
The songwriting legend cracks a fresh one after a long day and takes us on a journey—one vivid vignette at a time.
THU 8 JUNE
GHETTO BIENNALE — THU 8—SUN 18 JUNE
Atis Rezistans (Resistance Artists) occupy Alpha 60 Chapter House with an ambitious, metamorphic celebration of Haitian street culture, spirit guardians and revolution.
ICHIKO AOBA — THU 8 JUNE
Ichiko Aoba builds warm, haunting gardens of song from her guitar, her voice, and her dreams.
DESIRE MAREA — THU 8 JUNE
Post-gospel spiritual jazz that bubbles warm textures, operatic drama and communal vitality.
Fri 9 June
ETHEL CAIN — FRI 9 & SAT 10 JUNE
She’s got the pristine Tallahassee drawl, the songs that ache with confessional drama and the dark, gospel atmospherics that flutter like gossamer.
HEAR MY EYES : GOOD TIME — FRI 9 JUNE
The Safdie Brothers’ white-knuckled heist movie re-scored live by preeminent Melbourne rhythm and rap experimentalists.
THE DAMNED AND WITCH — FRI 9 JUNE
The first of the London punks. The Damned are a fun-loving fearless band, who never stopped shedding their lizard skin. Joined by utter riff lords, Witch. Light your inner cauldron and flame on.
Sat 10 June
ETHEL CAIN — FRI 9 & SAT 10 JUNE
She’s got the pristine Tallahassee drawl, the songs that ache with confessional drama and the dark, gospel atmospherics that flutter like gossamer.
ESA'S AFRO-SYNTH BAND FT. KAMAZU AND MIM SULEIMAN — SAT 10 JUNE
A South African music powerhouse enlists two disco stars and plenty of party-starters for a night of afro-synth perfection.
THUNDERCAT — SAT 10 JUNE
A velvety fusion of soft rock, R&B, jazz and funk. Dexterous, swerving and soulful but never self-serious.
Sun 11 June
WARIPA — SUN 11 JUNE
Waripa means Ceremony in Mutti Mutti. Join the chorus with senior songman Uncle Kutcha Edwards in a huge, ceremonial celebration of Blak music.
BLACK MASS — SUN 11 JUNE
Black Mass, a celebration of the POC-led revolution in electronic music, rising from the underground and drenching dance floors in sweat.
WED 14 JUNE
BIRDZ & FRED LEONE PRESENT : GIRRA — WED 14 JUNE
An in-demand rapper and Butchulla songman unite to debut a dynamic new project.
RVG — WED 14 JUNE
Revered Melbourne band RVG grind your heart into paste, then paint the room front to back with a shiny, thrilling, punch.
LIQUID ARCHITECTURE — WED 14 JUNE
The founders of radical, communal sonic experiences since the dawn of millennium. RISING’s handed Liquid Architecture subterranean territory for a night of world building.
Thu 15 June
SONIC ECLIPSE — THU 15 JUNE
An immersive sonic event featuring new works by art music luminaries—a mass of mobilised musicians, spatialised sonic choreography and a reframing of the marching band phenomenon.
LIV.E AND OBONGJAYAR — THU 15 JUNE
“RNB’s new avant-garde star” Liv.e and rapper Obongjayar join forces to coheadline at The Forum.
REAL LIES — THU 15 JUNE
A rave up from two martyrs to the night. One next-level producer and one streetlight storyteller, kicking up sparks in the embers of youth. Reach for the lasers.
FRI 16 JUNE
RUTH RADELET — FRI 16 JUNE
Smokey, cinematic folk-pop that opens the sunroof and drives headlong down highways of LA longing and loneliness.
CORNELIUS AND SHINTARO SAKAMOTO — FRI 16 JUNE
Cornelius, the master of kaleidoscopic pastiche. Shintaro Sakamoto, the rock’n’roll equivalent of opening the windows for a warm breeze in. Here with sensuous sonics and pedal steel sunshine.
LORAINE JAMES AND ARUSHI JAIN — FRI 16 JUNE
Loraine James takes a sometimes abrasive, always hypnotic approach to dance music. Arushi Jain feeds ancient Indian song structures through a transcendent, experimental dreamscape.
Sat 17 June
FLYING LOTUS — Sat 17 June
The zeitgeist changed when Flying Lotus fried jazz, soul, IDM and hip hop with his gamma gun.
NTS Closing Party — Sat 17 June
The Hackney tastemakers who reinvented radio are hosting the RISING closing party. Limber up. It’s an all-night affair.
The Forum at RISING 2022. PHOTO: Shannyn Higgins