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.

1983

The 1983 concert ran over the Australia Day long weekend, from Friday 28th to Monday 31st of 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:

INXS^[2]

Men at Work^[3]

Cold Chisel^[4]

The Angels^[5]^[6]

The Choirboys^[7]

Uncanny X-Men^[8]

The Church^[9]

Australian Crawl^[10]

Margret Roadknight^[11]

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:

Coming Down
Eat City
Mr Damage
Stand Up
No Secrets
Take A Long Line
After The Rain
Shoot It Up
Shadow Boxer
Is That You
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

In 1984 the festival returned for a second year, and also ran over the Australia Day weekend, this time from Friday 27th to Monday 30th of 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:

Simple Minds^[12]

The Pretenders^[13]^[14]

Talking Heads^[13]^[15]

Annie Lennox / Eurythmics^[16]^[17]

Def Leppard^[18]^[19]

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.

Official Programme^[20]

Friday 27 January

Saturday 28 January

From 11 am

Break from 5 pm

Sunday 29 January