Two years waylaid by the COVID-19 pandemic, The Station at Newcastle came alive Sunday with the long awaited Sound Station music festival.
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The homegrown music showcase was first announced in January 2020, and slated for April of that year to feature the best of Newcastle's diverse musical soul.
Colourful pop-punk duo The Gooch Palms were initially booked to headline the event before their eventual breakup, along with acts like Jets Play Jets, DV8, Grace Turner, Eat Your Heart Out and The Porkers to cater for multiple generations of music fans. With the imposition of the pandemic, the concept went into hibernation, but organisers could not be deterred.
"Newcastle is such an iconic centre of live music through the '70s and '80s, in particular, and now as well," Newcastle state MP and Taskforce chairman Tim Crakanthorp told the Newcastle Herald in anticipation of the event which finally went ahead at the weekend. "We're at the crucible of live music and young artists.
"The Taskforce really wanted to showcase the great local talent we have here, and remind people that they can go out and have a great time and listen to live music here in Newcastle."
Newcastle is such an iconic centre of live music through the '70s and '80s, in particular, and now as well ... We're at the crucible of live music and young artists.
- Tim Crakanthorp, MP and Taskforce chairman
Legendary Newcastle pub band The Screaming Jets headlined the festival Sunday night, alongside contemporaries Spy vs Spy, DV8, The Blues Bombers and ska legends The Porkers to offer a nod to the city's golden rock past.
As the pandemic wrought havoc on the live music scene, and in more recent months bring the anticipated closure of the Cambridge Hotel the impending sale of Lizotte's, the local music scene has been thrust again into uncertainty. Mr Crakanthorp said it had made Sound Station even more important than it was in 2020.
"It's really brushing the cobwebs off and saying, 'here we are near the harbour in the middle of the city on the foreshore at The Station and we're presenting wonderful local acts'," he said.
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