Ocean Alley, Spacey Jane, Dear Seattle, Merci Mercy, and the CLEWS will perform at the NEXT EXIT festival at the Entertainment Grounds in Gosford, on May 23.
The Central Coast will be one of five regional towns across NSW to host the event.
NEXT EXIT was created to help performers and musicians restart following COVID-19 restrictions and ensure live music reaches fans outside capital cities during a challenging time for the country.
Kieran Lama is the co-manager and drummer of Spacey Jane, an indie rock garage band from Perth which became the highest-ranking Australian artist of the recent Hottest 100.
Lama said the four-piece band was excited to be back touring and sharing the joy of music with fans.
“There’s something about the energy of live shows that’s not like anything else to us,” Lama said.
“We really feed off the crowds and I think people generally love the opportunity to jump around and sing the words to songs that mean something to them – the fact that we get to be on the receiving end of that is a huge privilege and we appreciate it a great deal.
“Wouldn’t wanna be doing anything else with our time really.
“We definitely felt the pain in having to postpone and reschedule shows, but it was nice to keep in touch with our friends at home and spend some quality time together off the clock.
“By the end of the year we were completely rearing to go.
“It also weirdly enough worked out pretty well for us with the album coming out when it did, so hey, we’ll take the silver linings where we can.”
Lama said the festival allows band members to visit places they have not been to before.
“There’s a lot of places that we haven’t actually seen that we’re getting the chance to see which is easily one of the best parts of touring,” he said.
“A few of us have lived regionally most of our lives (Geraldton, Margaret River etc), so we know to be on the lookout for some hidden gems – god it’s good to be a tourist again.”
Over the fourth and fifth weekends of May, NEXT EXIT will visit Tamworth, Port Macquarie, Gosford, Batemans Bay, and Mudgee.
MJR Presents created the festival after receiving Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) funding from the Federal Government.
Head of Touring Australia, Scott Mesit, said the original concept for the NEXT EXIT Festival was to help bushfire-affected towns regenerate tourism and hire as many local suppliers as possible.
“We pass so many ‘Next Exit’ signs on the highway and often drive past with only our destination in sight,” Mesit said.
“So much has happened since then, but our aim remains the same.
“We have designed a safe festival that can be delivered under current restrictions and will employ many people from our industry who have sat on the sidelines for too long.”
Standing with dancing will be allowed at the event, but no moshing is allowed and control measures for social distancing will be in place.
Camp chairs and blankets will be allowed into the event and situated towards the back.
They are also encouraging friends who want to be together to arrive together.
The gates at the Entertainment showground will open at 3pm with the show finishing at 9pm.
Jacinta Counihan