The best gigs in Sydney this week

Sing out, Louise! If you thought that bursting into a musical number in the middle of a ’50s-style diner only happens in Grease, think again. A new Broadway-themed diner opens in Sydney this November – aptly located in the Broadway Shopping Centre. Here, the entire restaurant is transformed into a stage, and patrons can become audience members (and participants) in a delicious production.  Broadway Diner resurrects retro Americana with unparalleled commitment. Decorated with a classic chessboard-chequered floor, oversized campy trinkets and glowing neon signs, the interior is an Insta-worthy backdrop to enjoy a bite or a jazzy cocktail. Your wait staff will be kitted-out with vintage-style milk bar uniforms and roller skates, and they’ll not only be taking your order, but treating you to an entire show. They’ll be performing the night away in song and dance as you snack on burgers, loaded fries, and more delicious diner classics. Broadway Diner is the brainchild of the same team behind the notorious Karen’s Diner. Not familiar with it? Read all about our first-hand experience at that famously rude dining experience here. But whereas the staff at Karen’s are all about bringing the sass, the servers at Broadway Diner are focused on creating nothing but good vibes. You can be sure that the waitstaff will be performing some golden oldies, so bring your best singing voice because patrons are more than welcome to sing along. Sit back, relax and enjoy the show! Early bird tickets ar

It’s summer and we’re ready to put out some picnic blankets, graze on some antipasto and bask in the good vibes of live music while the sun sets over Sydney Harbour.  Sunset Sessions is a series of family-friendly outdoor gigs on Cockatoo Island running from January 21 to April 1. Performers will be playing on the lawn of the Biloela House, where there will be grazing boxes and refreshments aplenty.  There's a broad range of talents to take in, with artists hailing from all over Australia, and many of them belonging to the First Nations and LGBTQIA+ communities. If you’re ready for a mellow evening, explore the heartfelt ballads of Carla Geneve, Lee Sullivan and Lucy Parle, or the R&B suave of Ashli and Kyoshi. If you’re after a funkier indie atmosphere, you can see Big Wheels, Huck Hastings, June Jones, Punko or Aodhan. For some rocker vibrations, come for Teddie or Ainsley Farrell.  You can catch Sunset Sessions on Saturdays from 5pm to 8pm. Tickets are $35 and children under 12 can attend for free. If you find yourself wanting more of Cockatoo Island’s out of this world views, you can turn your Sunset Session into a sunrise by booking a night at the island’s heritage listed lodgings or the waterfront campground.  Need some more bangin’ tunes? Check our list of the best live music venues in Sydney.

In news that’s got teens of the '90s giddy, some of hip-hop’s heavy-hitters are making their way Down Under in March 2023. American rapper and actor Ice Cube is celebrating the 30th anniversary of his famous 1993 Lethal Injection album, with Cypress Hill and The Game in tow. They’ll be performing at the Qudos Bank Arena, as well as in Melbourne, Adelaide and Brissy.  They’re big names, and the shows will be big, in-your-face productions. “I love performing in Australia. It’s been four long years since my last visit and I can’t wait to return for a couple of history-making shows in 2023,” says Mr Cube, who’s famous for politically-driven solo albums. He's also known for his lyrics on N.W.A’s 1988 album Straight Outta Compton, which were instrumental in the development of gangsta rap. Ice Cube’s musical mastery saw him and N.W.A. inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016. Californian rap group Cypress Hill of ‘Insane in the Brain’ fame earned fans around the world (as well as a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and three Grammy Award nominations) thanks to their genre-shifting sonic tapestry. The group introduced Latino sounds and rhymes to hip-hop. Cypress Hill also celebrates an anniversary next year – 2023 will be 30 years since they released Black Sunday, the album featuring songs like ‘Hits from the Bong’ and ‘I Ain’t Goin’ Out Like That’.  Then there’s double-platinum artist The Game, who emerged from the US’s West Coast hip-hop scene in the early 2000s with h

He’s a Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, one of the best-selling artists in the history of recording music and a two-time inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – and we’re betting your mum probably has one or two of his albums in her CD collection. There’s no doubt Sir Rod Stewart is a legend of the music industry, and next year he’s bringing his aptly titled The Hits! tour to Australia. Stewart will perform a string of headline tours across the country, kicking off in Perth on March 11 and then heading to Adelaide on March 21, Sydney's Qudos Bank Arena on March 29 and the Hunter Valley's Roche Estate on April 1. He’ll then be hitting up Melbourne on March 14 for a massive two-hour set at Rod Laver Arena. where he’ll play all the hits from his vast catalogue of tunes, including ‘Maggie May’, ‘Do Ya Think I’m Sexy’, ‘Sailing’ and ‘Hot Legs’. And for any adoring fans keen on a road trip, the tour will also hit Centennial Vineyards in Bowral on April 2 as part of A Day on the Green. But wait, that’s not all! Joining him is none other than Grammy, Emmy and Tony Award-winning artist and pop superstar, Cyndi Lauper. Best known for her ‘80s bangers ‘Time After Time’, ‘True Colours’ and ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’, Lauper also became the first solo woman to win Best Original Score (music and lyrics) for Kinky Boots at the 2013 Tony Awards. Opening for all shows on the tour is rock singer and Noiseworks frontman, Jon Stevens. Pre-sale tickets for Stewart’s Qudos Bank Aren

Chippendale’s intriguing 120-seat performance venue Phoenix Central Park is set to serve up a slice of all that jazz (and then some more) with the return of creative music festival Strata II for 2023. The program packs in three evenings of boundary-pushing jazz and new music curated in collaboration with Sydney artist Laurence Pike, running from March 29 to 31. As with each event at the philanthropic Phoenix Central Park, all tickets are completely free – but you need to enter a ballot for the opportunity to score some. The ballot is all about ensuring equality of access to the venue’s highly sought-after events; each individual artist has a discrete ballot, and successful entrants will be given the opportunity to claim their tickets (entries are open until March 19). This is your chance to peek inside Judith Neilson’s custom-built concert venue where “architecture and interior design crash together with visual and performing arts”. May the odds be ever in your favour. The event will feature a number of Sydney and world premieres from a new generation of musicians. Standout performances include UK Mercury Prize-nominated pianist, Kit Downes making his debut Australian performance alongside the festival’s curator and renowned local musician, Laurence Pike; Vietnamese-Australian electronic and synth musician, Fia Fiell; Vancouver-based composer Scott Gailey; Sydney sound artist, composer and viola player Mara Schwerdtfeger; and the Necks pianist Chris Abrahams delivering a deb