This month, Sydney’s nightlife and music scene are turning things up majorly, which means you’ll want to clear your schedule, get set to stay out late and plot these epic gigs into your calendar.
On our must-see line-up are free music gigs in the CBD, a Client Liaison show and a climate change concert featuring Jamie XX and some frontier French house music.
Here are all of the best gigs to see in Sydney this March.
Folamour
Darlinghurst
London-based French DJ Folamour is hitting Sydney this month and if you haven’t already nabbed your tickets for this, you’ll want to get on that, stat. This guy is at the very front of the world’s French house scene and during his sets, you can expect a glorious combo of remixes, edits and original recordings. If his name sounds super familiar, that’s because you’ve most definitely seen his viral Boiler Room set featuring the most iconic ABBA moment of our generation.
When: Friday 6 March, 10pm Where: Universal, Darlinghurst
Fleetmac Wood Presents Sea Of Love
Darlinghurst
Kings of all things dance party (or as close as you could possibly get to raving with Stevie Nicks), Fleetmac Wood, is bringing Sea Of Love Disco to OAF, a single-use, plastic-free party with $1 from every ticket going towards Sea Shepherd Global (an international non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organisation). DJs Roxanne Roll and Smooth Sailing will be playing remixes and edits of the Mac, especially crafted for the dance floor and in true form, the dress code is “maritime marvels, submerged splendour within the wings of a storm”.
When: Saturday 7 March, 10pm Where: Oxford Art Factory, Sydney
Robinson With Special Guest Navvy
Chippendale
New Zealand-raised singer, songwriter and pop queen Robinson is kicking off her Australian tour at Sydney’s house of live music: The Lansdowne. Joining her across all Australian tour dates will be fellow Kiwi singer-songwriter, Navvy (also known as Phoebe Lee Jasper), whose take on synth-pop and vocals has been likened to Swedish singer Robyn.
When: Wednesday 11 March, 7:30pm Where: The Lansdowne, Chippendale
Lanks
Newtown
The year is 2020 and LANKS is officially back. In 2019 he took time off to release an album with his collaborative project, Ok Moon (featuring Dustin Tebbutt, Hayden Calnin and Xavier Dunn), as well as collaborating across other artists’ work, such as Ngaiire, Woodes, and Tia Gostelow. Yep, the fresh new era of LANKS and his electronic cross indie mash is here, so sit back and enjoy the ride.
When: Thursday 19 March Where: The Vanguard, Newtown
Client Liason
Terrigal
They’re arguably our nation’s most treasured pop duo and now, Client Liaison is back to perform right in your very own backyard. This March, Monte Morgan and Harvey Miller are heading into the Terrigal institution known as The Beery to send out their dance electric meets “new jack swing” meets pop ballad tunes. If you’ve never been to one of their gigs, their shows play out like a cruisy long lunch sealed with a round of cocktails and more often than not, Monte will pass you the mic during the epic song A Foreign Affair.
When: Saturday 21 March, 7pm - 11.30pm Where: The Beery, Terrigal
Boiler Room TEN
Kingsford
If you’re really stuck on sticking local, Boiler Room’s Sydney edition hits Sydney on the same weekend and it’s set to be bigger than ever because this famous blowout is turning the big one-zero. As for the line-up, you’ll catch Ayebatonye (in her first Boiler Room appearance), Bambounou, DJ Boring, ex-terrestrial, Merph and Nazira going hard on house and techno at UNSW’s famous Roundhouse space from 7pm.
When: Saturday 21 March Where: Roundhouse UNSW, Kingsford
No Coal Zone
Moore Park
Huge news Sydney, a mammoth one-night climate change concert is descending on the Hordern Pavilion this month and it’s very casually sporting one hell of a line-up.
The concert has been dubbed “No Coal Zone”, with all proceeds from tickets going towards ClientEarth (a leading environmental law charity that aims to stop the building of future coal-fired power stations) and Immersive Climate Education. And, if this sounds like something you’re passionate about supporting, just brace yourself for the insane list of artists locked to join the cause.
The pool of talent includes inimitable UK DJ and producer Jamie XX, The Avalanches (DJ set), Midnight Juggernauts (DJ set), Heaps Gay and Friends, Sydney’s very own Ptwiggs and Deep Faith. To top it off, there’ll also be a special screening of “The Four Worlds”, a mesmerising audiovisual and collab between Australian-based producer Mark Pritchard and visual artist Jonathan Zawada.
When: Saturday 14 March Where: Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park
Merivale’s CBD Music Programme
CBD
March is the official month of free gigs. Yep, you’ll want to dive deep into the CBD this Autumn because a bunch of Merivale venues are throwing music events where you won’t have to pay a cent. Kicking off the programme you’ll find World Champion and WAFIA takeover Palings, SACHI and Sneaky Sound System playing at The Ivy’s Pool Club and Hayden James at Marco Polo towards the end of the month. Head over here for all the details and dates.
When: Throughout March Where: The Ivy, Establishment and Will’s
See what else Sydney has to offer after dark in our Things To Do section.
Design credit: Dom Lonsdate