Get out your best mosh shorts, because the 2019 edition of Unify Festival is here and it’s pretty much a massive flashback to your prime emo years – filled to the brim with a heap of nostalgia, reunions, and iconic albums played cover to cover.
Next year’s edition of the big bash in the Victorian bush is happening on January 11 & 12 and is headlined by Christian metalcore outfit Underøath, taking up the final act mantle of Day One, with Aussie greats Karnivool serving up their first live set in a good couple of years.
Day Two sees Taking Back Sunday closing out the day with a full set of their 2002 seminal album Tell All Your Friends, you know that album with all the songs you’d quote in your MSN name in an attempt to sounds ~deep~ and truly ~connected with your emotions~.
Anyway get ready for Adam Lazzara to come in red-hot, swinging his mic around like it’s a god damned lasso.
The festival also has a good serving of Aussie acts, ranging from WAAX to Trophy Eyes, Pagan, and Clowns, and the Tarwin Meadows/Gippsland region is set to play host to a couple of huge reunions from I Killed The Prom Queen (with the lineup from the When Goodbye Means Forever-era) and Hand Of Mercy.
Despite conversation around representation on festival lineups, the blacklash seen toward Unify for previous events failing to accurately reflect the number of talented women and non-male artists within the punk/hardcore/heavy music scene, and the festival’s organisers publicly admitting to be more conscious of diversity when booking the festival, Unify’s 2019 announcement holds seven acts out of 29 that include women, at time of writing.
A stark difference here to the Meredith Music Festival lineup which also dropped today and features a much more evenly balanced lineup, with 53% of the artists announced including at least one non-male member.
Obviously, this means that this particular issue is going to be a point of discussion through into the new year, as fans and critics of festivals and bookers continue to make noise about representation on lineups.
Instagram accounts like @lineupswithoutmales and @lineupswithoutwhites give a good sense check of every festival lineup as they’re announced, highlighting the need for equal representation within the Aussie live music scene.
PEDESTRIAN.TV has reached out to Unified Music Group and the Unify team for comment.
Peep the lineup for Unify below, tickets are on sale from 12pm on Thursday August 9 (today!) over on the official website.
FRIDAY
UNDERØATH (exclusive set)
KARNIVOOL
IN HEARTS WAKE
OCEAN GROVE
WHILE SHE SLEEPS (exclusive set)
CROSSFAITH (exclusive set)
DREAM ON DREAMER
THE PLOT IN YOU (exclusive set)
HAND OF MERCY (exclusive reunion set)
DREAM STATE (exclusive set)
OCEAN SLEEPER
BETTER HALF
SATURDAY
TAKING BACK SUNDAY (playing Tell All Your Friends in full)
I KILLED THE PROM QUEEN (When Goodbye Means Forever lineup reunion)
TROPHY EYES
STATE CHAMPS (exclusive set)
TURNSTILE
CITIZEN
WAAX
CLOWNS
ENDLESS HEIGHTS
HARMS WAY
STAND ATLANTIC
THORNHILL
PAGAN
GRAVEMIND
AFTER TOUCH
YOURS TRULY
