Concrete Playground

music A Night at the Jazz Rooms

Sunday, 9th August - 2PM
@ The Basement

While the title might invoke images of men in pin-stripe suits tapping toes slowly to the beat of a double bass in a dingy smoke-filled bar, A Night at the Jazz Rooms has a bit more to offer. This incarnation of the series of jazz nights will be hosted by...

music Dappled Cities

Sunday, 23rd August - 1PM
@ Metro Theatre

Dappled Cities are one of Sydney’s ‘it’ bands in the best possible sense. They’re cool, they wear Ben Sherman, and they have an amazingly original sound that just makes you want to bop your head around like one of those dashboard doggies. They will be touring their new album Zounds...

music Aimee Mann w/ Ben Lee

Saturday, 5th September - 12PM
@ Enmore Theatre

Aimee Mann’s sweetly critical tones are on their way to the Enmore Theatre in September, with a very chuffed Ben Lee in tow as a special guest to the show. This tour will see Aimee bringing her new album (the beautiful Smilers, out last year), and most importantly her lovely self,...

free music Faker

Saturday, 8th August - 1PM
@ Metro Theatre

Another exciting gig to complete the August line-up at the Metro is Aussie band Faker who are touring with the JD Set throughout August. While Concrete Playground are always very excited to see successful Aussie bands, and Faker’s high rotation on Triple J is always a good sign of Australian...

free music play Oxford Art Factory 2nd Birthday Party

Saturday, 22nd August - 1PM
@ Oxford Art Factory

The Oxford Art Factory will be celebrating their second birthday this month in a fun-filled extravaganza of music and general partying on down with your pants down. The venue is looking back at its year of spectacular entertainment, which has included hundreds of amazing musicians, artists and performers every night...

music Stereosonic

Saturday, 28th November - 12PM
@ Hordern Pavilion

For the biggest dance event of the year, you can’t go past Stereosonic, which will be making its '09 appearance as the sun heats up, touring the nation with such a massive line-up of local and international guests that your blue suede shoes will need re-sole-ing.In no particular order as...

music Menahan Street Band

Friday, 25th September - 1PM
@ The Gaelic

All star bands may evoke images of bad-eighties-hair Bono,MJ and Sting getting together to heal the world and feed people at Christmasand all that, but sometimes it just ends up being a spectacular mix of talentedmusicians, all coming together to make beautiful music.You can soon hear the beautiful music of...

music Aterciopelados

Friday, 2nd October - 1PM
@ Metro Theatre

Forget the fact that you might find it hard to pronounce their name, when you hear their music you’ll be doing all your talking with your feet as you groove on down to their hip swaying beats.These Colombian natives are bringing their swinging soulful tunes to Sydney for the first...

music Red Bull Soundclash

Saturday, 3rd October - 1PM
@ UNSW Roundhouse

If you've ever seen an MC battle, you know the excitement in the air is absolutely palpable. Worse than seeing a comedian booed off stage is the sight of an Eminem wannabe desperately trying to keep up with a pro. The Red Bull Soundclash has lined up the battle of the...

art free Chris Town: The Daily Detritus

Friday, 13th November - Wednesday, 18th November
@ China Heights

Our local council recently announced their monthly collection. Duly, weput out the rotting backyard furniture and cupboard clogging mess thathas fuzzied up the feng shui of our house for too long. Before thetrucks even arrived, half of the trash we'd left on the curb haddisappeared, only to be treasured by...

art White Picket Fences In The Clear Light of Day Cast Black Lines

Saturday, 7th November - Saturday, 12th December
@ Gallery 4A

Wayang Kulit is a type of Indonesian shadow puppet theatre where, in its traditional form, the 'goodies' and the 'baddies' are easily identifiable by their shape. If only life were that easy. For artist Sangeeta Sandrasegar, shadows are just as revealing as they are in Wayang Kulit. In her own...

art film Rupert Bunny Film Series

Wednesday, 25th November - Sunday, 21st February
@ Art Gallery of NSW

While his name may sound more like a cartoon character thought up to teach you about the birds and the bees, Rupert Bunny was an incredible Australian artist celebrated for his series of Impressionist works created during his many years in France. His portraits portray a romantic vision of glamorous...

art Jesse Willesee Presents: The Thirsty Artists

Thursday, 3rd December - 6PM
@ The Darlo Bar

In most situations Concrete Playground would not advise heading back to an unknown person's hotel room that was going to be full of strangers. That way spells trouble, you would say. Especially when you know whipped cream is involved. But this Thursday, perhaps you should live on the edge a...

music Patrick Wolf

Wednesday, 9th December - 8PM
@ Metro Theatre

Patrick Wolf doesn't bite. Hard. When he does, you'll find it very hard to bring yourself away from the multi-talented muso, especially when at one of his shows gig you'll get more glitter, spandex and garishly glam costumes than at a Britney concert. In Sydney to play music from his...

art Small is The New Big

Tuesday, 8th December - Saturday, 19th December
@ Robin Gibson Gallery

Bringing together more than fifty artists in one exhibition might seem a little chaotic, especially when their backgrounds and practices are as diverse as the artists included here. Acrylics, oils, pastels, charcoal, sculpture, drawing, ceramics, metalsmithing - there are more disciplines here than in highschool art class. Yet Small is...

free play Addison Rd Summer Night Makers Markets

Friday, 18th December - 5PM
@ Addison Rd Centre

It's well known fact that the current image we have of Santa Claus, with a jolly red nose and big white beard, was invented by Coca Cola some time early in the 20th century. Rather than bemoaning the consumerisation of Christmas though, why not embrace the gift giving? Giving and...

music Sounds of Seduction New Years Eve

Thursday, 31st December - Friday, 1st January
@ The Annandale Hotel

Twas the night before the 1st of January and all over the place, every creature was stirring, preparing their face. They rose from their graves and wandered around, and headed to the Annandale to boogie on down. This New Year's Eve, be seduced by the rockin sounds of DJs Jay...

film Addison Rd Moonlight Cinema

Saturday, 16th January - Saturday, 6th March
@ Addison Rd Centre

Some things are set in stone. Like barbecues on Australia Day, or like Sydney's lust for cinema en plein air; summer sets in and we're just gasping to find a place to enjoy our favourite flicks in the great outdoors.If you missed out on tickets at the various established outdoor...

free play Australia Day Rocks

Tuesday, 26th January - 11AM
@ The Rocks

If you've ever seen Playing Beatie Bow you'll know that The Rocks is full of surprises. On Australia Day, this amazing historical location will once again offer a spectacular site for adventure, although this time in more of a feel-good-free-music-and-events way than a going-back-in-history-to-early-colonial-days-with-a-creepy-Irish-girl way.Among the alleys of The Rocks...

free music Oz If Oi***king Pay!!? - A Free Tiki Party

Monday, 25th January - 9PM
@ Oxford Arts Factory

Embrace your inner hula girl for The Tiki Two, a duo comprising old Sydney lads Con Tiki and Mr Mai Tai, (the delicious duo whose remix of Ella Fitzgerald's and Duke Ellington's 'Caravan' sold out in two weeks) who will be at OAF on Australia Day spinning more musical...

performing True Stories of Heroism and Adventure

Thursday, 18th February - Friday, 19th February
@ Cellar Theatre

Thanks to the drastically reduced cost of airline travel, more and more of us are venturing into the world than ever before. In fact, 12.3 million people left Aussie shores last year (according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics), which is a rather staggeringly large amount of Contiki travellers and...

free play Free Hip Hop Classes

Saturday, 27th February - 11AM - Saturday, 13th March - 11AM
@ CarriageWorks

A long time ago, one very white, suburban, middle-class girl wandered down to the Sydney Dance Company to give hip hop a go. Okay, maybe she had watched too many episodes of So You Think You Can Dance, and, fancying herself a bit of a mover, she thought she'd explore...

art Student Fashion at the Powerhouse

Saturday, 27th February - Sunday, 30th May
@ Powerhouse Museum

If fashion is your passion, as the great Henry Roth said (often) throughout the highly addictive Project Runway, then best get those obscure designer boots down to the Powerhouse Museum from February 27. As evidenced by the spectacular creation by Gabriel Lee (pictured), this exhibition will open eyes to the...

art film free music performing play Platform 3 Hip Hop Festival

Friday, 19th March - Saturday, 20th March
@ CarriageWorks

You could spend the weekend wondering where summer has gone, venturing a timid toe into the cold ocean, savouring the sun as it manages to still heat but not with the January boil that we all enjoyed, be dragged along to a picnic with the relos. OR, you could go...

film Accidents Happen

Thursday, 22nd April - Wednesday, 19th May
@ Various cinemas

No offence to anyone who may have been born with the surname Conway, but in the world of Andrew Lancaster's new film Accidents Happen, it is an unfortunate birthright. The film opens with Billy Conway witnessing the tragic demise of his elderly neighbour at the hand of a barbecue and...

performing King Lear

Wednesday, 10th March - Saturday, 10th April
@ Sydney Opera House

For many actors, it is playing Hamlet, Macbeth or Lear that marks their career success. Perhaps not playing them in the local church town hall, but certainly on a recognised stage and with a substantial audience these are Shakespeare's big 'uns. Which means there is a an awful lot of...

film The Last Station

Thursday, 1st April - Wednesday, 12th May
@ Various cinemas

While some people insist on reading the book before they see the movie and then espousing the benefits of the literary word over that of the cinematic creation, others prefer to just go and see the film. Well, in the case of Tolstoy, the books are fairly heavy going. Particularly...

film Shrek Forever After

Thursday, 17th June - Saturday, 31st July
@ Cinemas Everywhere

The creators of Shrek seem to have a thing against short dudes. The first film was dominated by the very small Lord Farquaad, the second saw the vertically challenged King as the devious deceptor, the third focused on Shrek's fears about the pitter patter of little ogre feet arriving and...

music performing Mikelangelo and the Black Sea Gentlemen

Thursday, 17th June - 8PM - Saturday, 19th June - 8PM
@ The Studio, Sydney Opera House

You can't help but picture skeletons dance gaily in graveyards and pirates with mugs of ale when you here this cabaret extravaganza of gypsy and balkan tunes.

free music play Sydney International FIFA Fan Fest

Friday, 11th June - Monday, 12th July
@ Darling Harbour

DON'T DESPAIR. These words should be printed in large, friendly letters across towels all over Sydney. There are more games to come, and faith is a grand thing.

film Racecourse Drive-in

Friday, 16th July - Sunday, 26th September
@ Randwick Racecourse

Feel like a night of cinema under the stars without having to brave the blistering cold? Pack a few sandwiches, a thermos of hot choccie and your favourite car-sized friends and head off to Randwick for an authentic American drive-in experience.

film Me and Orson Welles

Wednesday, 14th July - Wednesday, 1st September
@ Various cinemas

There's something to be said for High School Musical. Ok, so it's not one of the greatest films of the last decade, but it did bring us Zac Efron. This young man is a spectacular triple threat &#151 he can sing, he can dance and he truly can act. Thank...

music Children Collide

Friday, 17th September - 8PM
@ Metro Theatre

There's something a wee bit schadenfreude about the image of a bunch of little kids running around banging into each other. I don't know if that's actually what the kids from Children Collide intended with the name of their band, but that's what immediately comes to my mind.But seriously folks, the...

film Easy A

Thursday, 16th September - Wednesday, 27th October
@ Cinemas Everywhere

Loosely based on the classic novel [i]The Scarlet Letter[/i], this very funny high-school film explores the issues of puritanical public opinion judging the lives of others on the basis of rumours without ever asking for the truth.

free play Night Noodle Markets

Monday, 11th October - Friday, 22nd October
@ Hyde Park, Sydney

Find me a person who does not like noodles and I will show you someone who has hitherto not known the juicy pleasures contained in those lovely white boxes.

performing Our Town

Sunday, 19th September - Saturday, 30th October
@ Drama Theatre, Opera House

This play is up there with Shakespeare in the American theatrical canon and so has an epic history of performances, going back to when Thornton Wilder first wrote the thing back in the 1930s.

performing The Importance of Being Earnest

Wednesday, 13th October - Sunday, 7th November
@ Darlinghurst Theatre

It's been about an hour since I left the theatre and I still seem to be unable to stop talking in Oscar Wilde. There is something so endearingly intrusive about Oscar Wilde's prose.While the finer points of his comments on society are perhaps lost on those who are not surrounded...

performing Twelfth Night

Saturday, 30th October - Saturday, 27th November
@ Opera Theatre, Sydney Opera House

For a truly Australian take on a Shakespearean classic, without resorting to stereotypes, director Lee Lewis has produced a dynamic, inventive and completely enjoyable play.

performing The Bougainville Photoplay Project

Tuesday, 9th November - Sunday, 28th November
@ Belvoir St Theatre

With humour, drama and suspense, this myriad performance will offer a new insight into the lives of the Papua New Guineans of two generations, those affected by the Bougainvillean resistance and those in the midst of post-war reconstruction.

music The Oxford Art Factory Christmas Party

Friday, 17th December - 8PM
@ Oxford Art Factory

This Friday, the Oxford Art Factory is inviting us along to enjoy their own Christmas tradition, their 3rd annual Christmas Party. While we wouldn't expect too many carols to be sung, you'll instead enjoy the burly, passionate voices of The Preachers, the chilled out rock of Circle Pit, the psychedelic guitar riffs of Zeahorse, the old-school vocal punk stylings of Myth and Tropics and the kick back rock infused Cabins. For a mere $5 this stellar lineup is more than your money's worth, and they're just on one of the two stages. So if you feel like dispelling the stereotypes and actually enjoying your Christmas celebrations this year, why not do it with a cider in hand enjoying some of Sydney's most interesting up-and-coming bands at this iconic location? And we think we can promise that turkey will not be served.

film A Night In The Quad

Tuesday, 18th January - Monday, 24th January
@ University of Sydney

Recline under the stars for a bumper series of classic Aussie flicks shown on a giant, inflatable screen in Sydney University's iconic quad.

music performing My Bicycle Loves You

Tuesday, 11th January - Saturday, 15th January
@ Sydney Theatre

Combining music, acrobatics, multimedia and the spectacle of the theatrical, you will be transported to a magical world where the pictures on the screen come to life and the heroes you see flip and tumble their way into reality.

art free Your Name In Lights

Saturday, 8th January - Sunday, 30th January
@ Australian Museum

There are a lot of people who don't like being called up on stage when someone needs a volunteer. These are the people who never enjoy the limelight. They never wanted their fifteen minutes. These are the boring and unfortunate souls who will never see their name in lights.Unlike the...

music Cat Power

Sunday, 30th January - 8PM
@ Sydney Opera House

There are some people whose music feels like honey pouring through your ear, gradually dripping into your brain and warming up your insides. This American songstress is one of those people.

performing Good Cop Bad Cop

Wednesday, 26th January - Sunday, 30th January
@ Seymour Centre

Are you a reality television fan? Did you mourn the loss of Big Brother when it left the airwaves? Are you a sucker for a good home reno show? Then you know that the best reality television isn't necessarily based on reality, it is that which revolves around the most...

art film music performing play Chinese New Year Festival

Friday, 28th January - Sunday, 13th February
@ Chinatown and surrounds

Over a two week period in February, Sydney's Chinese population, along with everyone else who's decided that this year, the year of the rabbit, will be their lucky one, will be hitting Sydney's streets for a spectacular array of festival frivolity. Catch the dragon boat races down at Cockle Bay, watch the parade march from Town Hall to Chinatown, go on a Chinatown food tour, view a vast array of recent films from China in the Chinese Film Festival, and generally get in amongst the action as you usher in the lunar new year. So with your little nose twitching for some Chinese New Year action, hop along to the city during the festival for a thumping good time.

free music think Live at the Apple Store

Thursday, 17th February - 12PM
@ Apple Store

It's easy to see how companies try and get down with the kids. They sponsor music festivals, hand out free stuff at O-Weeks, and try every form of legitimate mind control and bribery to get us to get out our wallets. None have been more successful at that than Apple....

music Good Vibrations 2011

Saturday, 12th February - 12PM
@ Centennial Parklands

The lineup for this annual summer festival just keeps outdoing itself and this year is no exception with the likes of Kelis, Faithless, Erykah Badu and Phoenix to name a few.

performing Jane Austen's Guide to Pornography + Gorgeous Bastard

Tuesday, 15th February - Saturday, 12th March
@ Darlinghurst Theatre

Jane Austen meets a pornographic playwright, and a whimsical tale of three gay men at a straight man's wedding. All together a rollicking good night at the theatre.

think Circus Festival of Commercial Creativity

Wednesday, 23rd February - Friday, 25th February
@ CarriageWorks

H.G Wells says that "Human history is, in essence, a history of ideas." So if any of us are going to make history, it's going to be with our ideas. Get thinking kids.If you'd like an arena where you can hear what all the business thinkers of today have going...

play Taste Of Sydney

Thursday, 10th March - Sunday, 13th March
@ Centennial Park

Taste stands alone as the king of travelling food festivals, because not only can you taste a vast array of delicious food, it offers you the opportunity to get behind the scenes with some of Sydney's most illustrious chefs and try their more amazing creations.

art Belladonna

Tuesday, 5th April - Thursday, 21st April
@ Hardware Gallery

Visit Hardware Gallery for two new solo exhibitions by Sydney artists exploring themes as varied as the deathly beauty in nature and the effect the passage of time has on architectural creations.

performing Much Ado About Nothing

Friday, 8th April - Saturday, 14th May
@ Sydney Opera House

John Bell's latest incarnation of Much Ado About Nothing promises to be a youthful, exciting and entertaining production which should really be surrounded in plenty of ado.

film The Muppets

Thursday, 12th January - Wednesday, 15th February
@ Cinemas Everywhere

Grab your nieces and nephews and drag them to this movie so you too can find out if you are a man or a muppet.

music Strangelove Magazine Launch

Tuesday, 14th June - 2AM
@ Oxford Arts Factory

Get excited about the launch of a new free magazine, Strangelove, combined with a huge launch party at the Oxford Arts Factory.

art Bunyip and Printed Matter

Tuesday, 7th June - Saturday, 25th June
@ The Paper Mill

If you like bunyips and printing presses and you like them to come together in one night's worth of gallery visits, this is your place.

music Dolly Parton

Tuesday, 15th November - 8PM
@ Acer Arena

Get your cowgirl hat ready, and your favourite spangled dress and get your credit card ready to buy tickets to this one night only event.

performing A Little Room

Friday, 24th June - Saturday, 2nd July
@ CarriageWorks

Combining theatre, film and radio, this play will let you into the lives of three women, witnessing moments of their love and their love lost.

play Winter Alpine Festival

Thursday, 30th June - Sunday, 14th August
@ Bondi beach

Pretend that you're living in Europe just for one night this winter at the Winter Alpine Festival.

film Friends With Benefits

Thursday, 18th August - Friday, 30th September
@ Cinemas Everywhere

Can men and women have friends with benefits? Maybe. But not in Hollywood.

performing play Just For Laughs

Thursday, 1st September - Sunday, 4th September
@ Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House

The blockbuster comedy festival Just For Laughs that started in Montreal and has since become the world's largest comedy festival, is coming to Sydney. We get the big names flying in and out on tour but we're due for an internationally recognised festival of our own. So hold onto your seats, here it comes.This inaugural festival, hopefully the beginning of a long line of repeated festivals, will be hosted by none other than Mr Basil Fawlty himself, John Cleese. With that kind of pedigree, how can you go wrong? Also on the lineup is Martin Short, best known for his many movie appearances including Franck in Father of the Bride. He brings with him Demetri Martin, whose straight talking brand of comedy has seen him rise to Senior Youth Correspondent on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, and Dylan Moran, the loveable rogue from Black Books.Add to that Margaret Cho, Louis CK and Russell Howard and you have a pretty solid comic weekend ahead of you. If you want to be a part of history, and be at the first ever Australian Just For Laughs, check it out this weekend.

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