Melbourne's LuliePalooza Festival Returns For Its Biggest Event To Date

This month sees the return of the “wildest rock ‘n’ roll street party” in Naarm/Melbourne, with the Lulie Tavern’s LuliePalooza returning for another outing on November 23rd.

As always, the Lulie Tavern team have put together a lineup that is even stronger than everything that has come before. Now in its fourth year, the festival has expanded even further, this time welcoming its first international headliner.

Alongside local local icons such as Cash Savage & The Last Drinks, The Gooch Palms, Eagle & The Worm, Hana & Jessie Lee's Bad Habits, Battlesnake, and much more, LuliePalooza have scored a coup by way of bringing out US rockers Starcrawler for an exclusive show.

As venue owner Jon-Lee Farrell and booker Asia Kwin Taylor explain, the festival’s success is a continuation of the dream they had way back in the Lulie Tavern’s earliest days.

“LuliePalooza has been a dream of ours since we first opened Lulie Tavern back in 2015,” they explain. “We actually applied to put it on with the local council way back then and were swiftly denied. Good things take time as they say though…

“We learnt a lot about music and running a business over the next few years and when the lockdowns were set to lift in late 2021, we reapplied to the Council with a much better proposal and after jumping through a very long list of hoops we got approval and the festival was born.

“The idea was always to celebrate the local and beyond music scene; the artists that we love and that have supported us as a venue over the years,” they add.

“Something bigger than the venue that could happen one day a year where the growing music loving community around here can get together and celebrate. A tiny, community driven festival with all the trimmings of the travelling festivals we grew up with.”

Unlike all the travelling festivals that Farrell and Taylor grew up with, LuliePalooza does present some rather unique challenges. After all, it’s a smaller-scale affair that is designed to celebrate community and a love of music rather than break office records. 

“It takes a lot of deep concentration, number crunching, logistical nightmares balanced with a hell of a lot of fun,” they explain. “We are a close team at the bar, with a genuine love of music, which at the end of the day trumps the long days and nights of planning that go into the event. 

“It’s a marker of the year for us, the team and our community of music lovers to go large and appreciate all the good things going on around us.”

Launching its first event in 2021, even the first edition of LuliePalooza was ambitious. After all, holding a festival – large or small – just one year on from the dreaded debut of COVID was going to be a difficult process. However, with a lineup featuring Hayley Mary, Drunk Mums, Dr Sure's Unusual Practice, and Romero to name a few, its debut event was well-received and just a small indicator of what it was set to grow into in just a few short years.

“2024 is the fourth instalment of the festival and it has grown a little from year to year,” Farrell and Taylor explain. “Last year sold out a week from the event, which was incredible and whilst tempted to sell a few more tickets, we wanted to ensure the experience stayed at 110%. 

“Selling more would have meant less space, more infrastructure and a different overall vibe than what we’ve been building. Less is more sometimes?” they mused. “A little growth each year keeps the wheels turning, but ultimately we want to keep it as that boutique festival with big ambitions.”

The most notable aspect of this year’s event is of course the addition of Starcrawler as the festival’s first-ever international headliner. Their first visit to Australia since their debut tour in 2020, it’s undoubtedly a bit of a coup to get such a revered US outfit joining the lineup of a humble event such as this.

However, it does raise some questions about the future of LuliePalooza: Could we see more internationals joining the lineup going forward? Will things expand into a healthy mix of locals and internationals? Or are we putting the cart before the horse and should simply wait and see?

“If the music and timing feels right, then for sure [we’ll have more internationals],” explain Farrell and Taylor. “But the majority of the line up will always be local, there’s too many great bands to choose from on our doorstep. 

“We love Starcrawler and it just so happened they were flying overhead at the right time, so this year we feel lucky to have them.”

Nabbing an international is, of course, a bit of a testament to the success of the festival and helps to add a bit of credibility to LuliePalooza within the local music scene. But it hardly needed the additional credibility anyway. After all, its continued growth is an indicator of the hard work the team have put into making it a memorable event for everyone involved.

A sell out affair in 2023 is proof positive they’re doing something right, and the constant feedback from punters is plentiful and appreciated, but what does the success of an event like this mean for Lulie Tavern?

“It’s a celebration for our crowd, community, and team every year,” Farrell and Taylor note. “The success of the festival sees the awareness of the venue, its surroundings, and live music in general grow, we think. 

“It also helps the venue continue to push forward with free live music at the venue every week of the year, which is something we’re passionate about.”

Needless to say, this year will see the Lulie Tavern and its LuliePalooza festival once again proving their worth as one of the finest venues and small-scale festivals occurring within Victoria’s music scenes. Even with support from Always Live, there’s no signs of losing the spark that made LuliePalooza the success it has become in recent years.

With just a few weeks to go until the 2024 edition kicks off, excitement is definitely rising within Melbourne for the festival, but what about the first-timers? What can they expect? As Farrell and Taylor explain, it’s an all-encompassing atmosphere of joy in pursuit of the love of music.

“The crowd is the first thing we notice every year,” they explain. “There’s an energy of excitement and happiness. It’s big enough that there is a vibe and small enough to run into those friends that you never see enough. They’re all there. 

“The music is, of course, incredible. You don’t need to know all the bands on the line up. It’s better if you don’t, you’ll surely find a new favourite from the local, interstate or international scene. There’s skate demos from Fast Times, there’s a mechanical bull, there’s endless refreshments and food. Come early, stay late and get embraced!”

Tickets to LuliePalooza are on sale now.

LuliaPalooza 2024

Saturday, November 23rd

Starcrawler
Cash Savage & The Last Drinks
Battlesnake
The Gooch Palms
Eagle & The Worm
Batpiss
Skyscraper Stan
Platonic Sex
Hana & Jessie Lee's Bad Habits
The Miffs
Jaded
Milly Strange
Fast Times Skateboarding
Bronco The Bucking Bull
House Of Doom