BIGSOUND's Second Artist Announce Is A Freakin' Masterpiece

Sweet tap-dancing Christ, BIGSOUND has just knocked it out of the park this year, hasn't it?

We're not generally prone to hyperbole, but when you follow up a first artist announcement of more than 60 awesome acts with another 70 emerging and established artists par excellence, it gets a bit difficult to stay away from terms like "best BIGSOUND line-up ever" and "greatest event of all time", of which 2017's event is very seriously within reach.

Perhaps you scoff — "they say that every year" (and maybe we do) — but where else are you going to get diversity and depth of this calibre?

You like the expansive instrumental-rock soundscapes of sleepmakeswaves? They're there. Into the attitudinal rock vibes of WAAX? Sorted. Or the infectious energy of Good Boy? Count them in. Wondering what Washington's up to? Wonder no longer, she'll be playing. Rap fan? Thandi Phoenix, Manu Crook$ and Midas.Gold will help sate you.

Maybe you're into electronic music, whether beautiful (Braille Face), bold (Cub Sport) or buoyantly bubblegum (Confidence Man). Or you're a punk/grunge fan, in which case Amyl & The Sniffers, DARTS, Scalphunter, Dear Seattle and a smattering of others will keep you happy.

Dig your singer-songwriter types of all stripes? Hook into Tia Gostelow, Karl S Williams, Caiti Baker, Jess Ribeiro, Laura Jean or any of their ilk on offer. Or maybe you're an expert on all of this, and you want to cast your eyes abroad to the international offerings of Singapore's Vandetta or New Zealand's Yoko-Zuna.

And that's literally less than a third of the new names that have just joined the already-alluring line-up featuring Alex The Astronaut, Baker Boy, Clowns, Dream Rimmy, Fanny Lumsden, Hatchie, Hockey Dad, Jess Locke, Joyride, Kardajala Kirridarra, Lonelyspeck, Maddy Jane, Pandamic, Polaris, POW! Negro, Ruby Fields, The Cactus Channel, The Creases, Tigerilla, WHALEHOUSE, Winston Surfshirt and SO many more.

So, you see why we're leaning towards such lavish praise but, pretty clearly, programmer Maggie Collins and her team have simply outdone themselves here. Our hands hurt from applauding.

"The quality of new and Australian music is currently exemplified by how hard it was to choose these artists out of approximately 1070 applications," Collins said in a statement. "Every single artist on this line-up has something unique to showcase and to achieve. I’m frothing over these acts and can’t wait to show them off."

Of course, this doesn't even touch on the speaker side of things, the visual arts showcase or the $100,000 being offered to BIGSOUND newcomers and alumni. So, yeah, we're pretty confident that 2017 really will truly be the best event yet.

That will undoubtedly be aided by the return of triple j Unearthed as the stage curator at festival venue Oh Hello!, which this year is opening three spots to local Brisbane bands, who merely have to upload their music to the platform by the end of the month.

And, for the first time, sibling station Double J will be lending their refined tastes to a night of intimate showings at fellow event mainstay Black Bear Lodge, paying tribute to the talent who have helped line its airwaves during its first few years of operation. Plus, punters headed to The Flying Cock will be in for a treat from we here at theMusic.com.au!

The rest of the fest all happens within three blocks across Fortitude Valley, encompassing showings at 256 Wickham, the Alehouse and Mane stages at the Woolly Mammoth, Crowbar, Empire Hotel, Heya Bar, Laruche, Ric's Big Backyard, The Brightside and its car park, The Elephant Hotel, The Foundry, The TBC Club, The New Globe Theatre and The Zoo.

It all goes down from 5-8 September in Brisbane.

Tickets are still available, so check out the full line-up below and head to BIGSOUND's website for more information.

BIGSOUND Festival 2017 — Second Artist Line-up

• Amyl & The Sniffers
• Andy Golledge
• Annie Bass
• Ara Koufax
• Ariela Jacobs
• Belle Haven
• Big White
• Billy Davis & The Good Lords
• BLESSED
• Braille Face
• Caiti Baker
• Clea
• Confidence Man
• Cousin Tony's Brand New Firebird
• Cub Sport
• DARTS
• Deadlights
• Dear Seattle
• Didirri
• Donald Hugh
• Drown This City
• Easy Life
• Emerson Snowe
• Evan Klar
• Exhibitionist
• Fierce Mild
• friendships
• Golden Vessel
• Good Boy
• HAMJAM
• High-tails
• jade imagine
• Jess Ribeiro
• Karl S Williams
• Laura Jean
• Lupa J
• Machine Age
• Manu Crook$
• Midas.Gold
• MUTO
• Nick Hill
• Ocean Alley
• Odette
• OKENYO
• Osaka Punch
• Paddy McHugh
• PLTS
• Resin Moon
• RVG
• Scalphunter
• sleepmakeswaves
• Slow Dancer
• Stella Donnelly
• SUPER CRUEL
• Taj Ralph
• Teischa
• Thandi Phoenix
• The Beautiful Monument
• The Comfort
• The Harpoons
• Tia Gostelow
• Tom Stephens
• Two Steps On The Water
• Vandetta (SIN)
• WAAX
• Washington
• WEST THEBARTON
• WHARVES
• Wild Honey
• Yoko-Zuna (NZ)

bigsound festival 2017 — first artist line-up

• Alex The Astronaut
• Alexander Biggs
• ALTA
• Aurelia
• Baker Boy
• Bespin (NZ)
• Boat Show
• Body Type
• Brightness
• Clowns
• Daggy Man
• Dobby
• Donny Benét
• Dream Rimmy
• ELKI
• Endless Heights
• Fanny Lumsden
• Good Morning
• Haiku Hands
• Hatchie
• Hayden Calnin
• Hockey Dad
• Horace Bones
• Introvert
• Isabel
• IV League
• Jess Locke
• Jim Lawrie
• Joyride
• Kardajala Kirridarra (Sandhill Women)
• Kylie Auldist
• Lonelyspeck
• Maddy Jane
• mama kin spender
• Mammals
• Mansionair
• Maribelle
• Merk (NZ)
• MISS BLANKS
• nyck
• Obscura Hail
• OKBadlands
• Pagan
• Pandamic
• Party Dozen
• Peter Bibby
• Polaris
• Polographia
• POW! Negro
• Ruby Fields
• Seavera
• Sloan Peterson
• Spirit Bunny
• Splashh (UK)
• The Cactus Channel
• The Creases
• The Teskey Brothers
• Tigerilla
• Total Giovanni
• WHALEHOUSE
• Willaris. K
• Winston Surfshirt
• Yoste
• Ziggy Ramo