Concrete Playground

performing Stories From the 428

Wednesday, 24th March - Sunday, 4th April
@ Sidetrack Theatre

Whenever I jump on a bus, I stroll down to the back seat, pull out my old lenseless sunnies, and become privy to a moving stage of 43 licensed-to-sit actors (doesn't everybody?). Where else can you follow the story of Odysseus the drunk, on his way back home, admire the...

music Space Invadas + Fantine Pritoula

Thursday, 22nd April - 8PM
@ Oxford Art Factory

Long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away, a musical sound was projected across the galaxies in search of intelligent life. This sound was soul-fi, mixing equal parts space laser and soulful rhythms, merging future and past with galactic synths and organic soul.The musical creators are the Gnarls Barkley-esque...

performing Rough Draft #6

Saturday, 17th April - 5PM
@ Wharf 2, Wharf Theatre

Unless you are lucky enough to unearth a leaked draft of J.K. Rowling's 15th instalment, seldom do we, the public, have a chance to witness the work of the creative elite under construction. (Yes, even this article copped some re-working). Rarer still is to see a leaked draft of a contemporary...

music Mike Fielding (aka Naboo) DJ Set

Friday, 14th May - 8PM
@ Metro Theatre

You can't stop the Boosh! First it was Dixon Bainbridge closing down the Zooniverse, then it was the army of nannas plaguing the Nabootique, and were it not for a regrettable run in with the crack-fox, I too would have been bouncing on the Boosh castle with 'The Doctor and the Pencil' (Noel Fielding and Dave...

think fastBREAK

Friday, 30th April - 7AM - Friday, 29th October - 7AM
@ The Boiler Room Mezzanine

I love a versatile breakfast — one that can overflow into brunch or snuggle you in with a night-capping brinner. But have you heard of this recent brinnervation? Vibewire Youth Inc in conjunction with the Powerhouse Museum have poached five sharp, young industry leaders from their corporate and non-profit organisations...

performing The Tiny Top

Wednesday, 12th May - Saturday, 15th May
@ NIDA

I for one am sick of the pristine, elegant, squeaky-clean image of the circus these days. Cirque du yawne if you ask me. Where did the real performers go? In the olden days skills had to be mutated at birth, never learnt. Ogling was encouraged and the grotesque was some 'thing' in a jar....

free think TEDx

Saturday, 22nd May - 9AM
@ CarriageWorks

Cure for cancer? Stability for Africa? How about insight into the inner workings of your brain? These are the questions the invited scholars at TED are solving before their morning coffee. Some of the greatest thinkers, innovators and performers of our time have spent their 20 minutes solving problems and entertaining...

music Heavy Metal Work Orchestra

Friday, 28th May - Sunday, 30th May
@ Red Rattler

Electric drills and blenders are not often considered for the tender symphonies of song. Indeed OH&S police will advise ear protection in case of exposure. But for the curious among us who are lingering through Bunnings and drumming past construction sites, maybe it is time to embrace these daily noise...

art performing Secret Wars

Thursday, 3rd June - 8PM
@ Name This bar

The first two rules of fight club have long been respected by the Secret Wars community. An underground movement growing stronger every year, it has fostered some of the worlds greatest street artists and draws battle lines between rival artists competing for bragging rights. You won't hear about it on the TV...

music Eels

Saturday, 14th August - 11AM
@ Enmore Theatre

The reclusive E is sneaking back to our shores, bringing with him a new album and a new style. A bit more autobiographical than previous albums, [i] End Times [/i] gets back to basics and returns to good old-fashioned rock 'n' roll.

music Little Red

Saturday, 17th July - 8PM
@ Oxford Art Factory

Little Red remind us of a sweeter era - bopping to doo-wop, taking your gal to the milk bar, filling your cola with ice and kissing like it's 1965. Their pop, like the soda, is sparkling, sweet and utterly addictive.

free play The Rocks Aroma Festival

Sunday, 25th July - 10AM
@ The Rocks

For the hopeless coffee-obsessed among us or those just looking for an upgrade, head for The Rock's Aroma Festival, which is doing for coffee-lovers what speed dating did for singles. Now in its 12th year, for a whole day the finest baristas will be selling brews from around the world that are bound to please even the most fussy palates. Ask the right questions, try before you buy and don't come on too strong. Spend the day browsing the exotic Latin quarter, the 'Oasis' of Turkish delights, Continental Europe's smooth aromas, the Orient of spicy Indonesia and then end up with a nice brew-next-door from down under. There are also teas, hot chocolate and cakes of all shapes and sizes so nobody goes home empty handed.

art Secret Wars Final

Saturday, 7th August - 6PM
@ Church on Chalmers

In the underworld of street art, few events can match the adrenalin-charged battle that is Secret Wars. Drawing battle lines between rival artists, this once secret tournament has made a dash for the surface to host the upcoming final between two of Sydney's most skilled street artists.After a furious...

performing Woyzeck

Thursday, 5th August - Sunday, 29th August
@ Belvoir St Theatre Downstairs

This play has human suffering at its centre but is far from doom and gloom. Surrounding all this melancholy is a bold and dynamic take on Buchner's still relevant work, dealing with working class poverty, human suffering and our animal nature.

performing Intersection

Thursday, 26th August - Friday, 3rd September
@ Edward Eagar Lodge, 348A Bourke Street, Surry Hills

Surry Hills is a familiar terrain to many of us: late at night, wandering home in search of that soft, warm pillow. Yet to an unlucky few these lonely streets are their home, and they wander in circles with nowhere else to go. Imagine, if you just stopped for a...

art Pop Up Alphabet Co-Op

Friday, 3rd September - Sunday, 5th September
@ Object Gallery

If Willy Wonka were a typographer, this would be his chocolate factory. His waterfall would not be made of chocolate but of ampersands, his cups would be full of T's, not tea, and the oompa loompas would be handcrafting tildas, umlauts and interrobangs. Naturally, he would do all his shopping...

art free play PARK(ing) Day

Friday, 17th September - 9AM
@ Everywhere

What if you paid for the parking space within the city walls - renting, as it were, a tiny patch of land - and then invited some friends to bring lemonade and a frisbee, a tiny dog and a picnic basket?

film Buried

Thursday, 7th October - 12AM
@ Various cinemas

The question you will ask yourself going into this film is "can I watch a man in a box for 90 minutes?". But with the magical synergy of director, actor and camera that occurs between the confines of those wooden walls, my answer is, you wont be able to look away.

art play think Sydney Architecture Festival

Wednesday, 20th October - Sunday, 7th November
@ Various Sydney venues

Sadly, for many of us, the hustle and bustle of Sydney life means we rarely step back and smell the roses. Sadder still are the lack of roses within our concrete jungle. But spend a while getting to know the concrete, learning of the beautiful Romanesque revival and masonic Victorian free-Gothic buildings, with their colonnades, balustrades and cupolas, and perhaps the city will transform from a jungle into a garden. This Festival of steel and stone will open our eyes to all that is beautiful and hidden in Sydney next month and even the most hardcore functionalist-home dweller will find it hard to ignore.

music Emma Davis Album Launch

Friday, 29th October - 8PM
@ Red Rattler

Emma Davis is an enigma wrapped in candy. The Sydney-sider's sweet music will make even the most hardened Oscar-the-grouch want to hug everyone in sight. Her music is sure to bring people together.The London born singer-songwriter will be launching her self-titled debut album at the Red Rattler this Friday and it...

film Dalai Lama Renaissance

Monday, 29th November - Thursday, 2nd December
@ Chauvel Cinema

This poignant documentary reveals how 40 western thinkers plus the Dalia Lama come together to attempt to solve many of the problems the world faces today, but who must first address the troubles within themselves.

film Cinema Alley

Friday, 11th February - 7PM
@ 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art

Halfway through summer, Sydney's outdoor movie scene is in full swing, showcasing all your favourite blockbuster films at a number of locations. If, however, you think that's just one too many showings of Harry Potter to handle and you're looking for something a little different, take a look at Chinatown's pop-up...