Narara Music Festival

The Narara Music Festival was an outdoor music festival held on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia in 1983 and 1984. Despite the name, it was actually held at Somersby, a short distance from Narara.Narara is the original clan name of the local Darkinjung people

1983

The 1983 concert ran over the Australia Day long weekend, from Friday 28th to Monday 31 January 1983. The event featured an all Australian music bill and comedian Austen Tayshus as M.C..[1]

Australian bands and artists that appeared at the event include:

Between 30,000 and 45,000 people are believed to have attended this concert. A significant portion of the concertgoers were stranded at Narara railway station, believing the concert was being held in Narara. Most of these people were forced to commute to Somersby via taxis.

A highlight of the event was The Angels playing with a blood red full moon rising over the stage behind them. They performed 11 songs at the concert, which were released as an album titled "Live at Narara".

The songs on this album are:

  1. Coming Down
  2. Eat City
  3. Mr Damage
  4. Stand Up
  5. No Secrets
  6. Take A Long Line
  7. After The Rain
  8. Shoot It Up
  9. Shadow Boxer
  10. Is That You
  11. Marseilles

This album was released on VHS in 1988, and has also been released on DVD.

INXS put on a show-stopping performance, and a fan presented Michael Hutchence with a baby lamb.

1984
Narara '84 badge. Small text reads "the celebaration continues!"

In 1984 the festival returned for a second year, and also ran over the Australia Day weekend, this time from Friday 27th to Monday 30 January. Peter Sjoquist AM was involved with the organisation of the festival. Austen Tayshus was once again the M.C., and comedians Rodney Rude and George Smillovici made guest appearances.

Due to poor weather, and a mismatched international bill of artists, the numbers were down on the previous concert. Tickets were $40 in advance or $50 at the gate, and $20 for children aged 7–12.

Some international artists that appeared at the event include:

Def Leppard played on the Sunday night, and were not well received by a crowd frustrated from the long delays and incessant rain. Many one litre plastic bottles, used to sell beer in but were filled with muddy water, were thrown onto the stage and at the band.

Friday 27 January

Saturday 28 January

From 11 am

Break from 5 pm

Sunday 29 January

From 11 am

Break from 5 pm

Monday 30 January

References
  1. Austen Tayshus
  2. "Michael Hutchence - Official Website - Just A Man - Chapter 1".
  3. Men at Work
  4. Cold Chisel Archived 30 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  5. The Angels
  6. The Angels
  7. The Choirboys
  8. "uncannyxmen.net - An X-Men Resource, for the fans, by the fans".
  9. The Church
  10. Australian Crawl
  11. "Australian Blues Music Festival".
  12. "How Green is my Valley", by Ben Cubby, The Sydney Morning Herald, 10 December 2004, retrieved 16 December 20
  13. Sydney Morning Herald 9/12/2004
  14. "Pretenders Performance Archive".
  15. Eurythmics
  16. Google Group
  17. Def Leppard
  18. Google Group
  19. Central Coast Express Weekender, Friday 20 January 1984

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