Fitzroy finds High Ground with new winter festival featuring Midlife, Protomartyr, Violent Magic Orchestra, and more

It's a venue festival takeover across Fitzroy!

There’s a new kid on the block as High Ground hits Fitzroy’s vibrant venue scene. Announced today, High Ground is a multi-venue celebration from May to August across The Night Cat, The Evelyn and Punters Club in a full winter music takeover.

High Ground

When: May – August 2026

Where: The Night Cat, The Evelyn, The Punters Club

HIGH GROUND FIRST ANNOUNCE

Bridget Small
College Of Knowledge Presents: Soul Dynamite
Disco Mediterranea
DJ Assault (USA)
DJ Colette
DJ Luv You
Eden Burns (NZ)
Horatio Luna
horse
Intermood
Jenevieve (USA)
Lamestream
Love Sensation
MAAJELA
Mark Ernestus & Ndagga Rhythm Force (SEN)
Mildlife
Miles Nautu
Milly Strange
Milo Eastwood
Mulga Bore Hard Rock
New York & Cortisa Star (USA)
Nice Girl
No News
Orange Moon
People Taking Pictures
Pollen Art Club Presents: Rinse
Protomartyr (USA)
Public Figures
Rain Dogs
Setwun & The Soultranauts
Skeleten
Sleepazoid
Sports (USA)
Steady Weather
Stupid F*ck the Silly Clown
The Gnomes
Tony Armstrong: The Let Down
Violent Magic Orchestra (JPN)
Weaver Pres.
XIAO XIAO
YHWH Nailgun (USA)

HIGH GROUND: IN MOTION

THREE VENUES, ONE NIGHT. SATURDAY 18 JULY

Skeleten
Sleepazoid
XIAO XIAO
Orange Moon
No News
Rain Dogs
Horatio Luna
DJ LUV YOU
Public Figures
Setwun & The Soulstranauts
Miles Nautu
Bridget Small

Keep connected to your live music scene here.

 

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Set on Wurundjeri Country, High Ground draws inspiration from Fitzroy’s traditional name, Ngár-go—a place long associated with creative independence, resistance, and boundary-pushing artistry. This winter, the series transforms the northside’s iconic live music venues into a vibrant showcase of sound, running from May through August.

The inaugural program collides genres and geographies, featuring internationally acclaimed post-punk provocateurs Protomartyr, Senegalese rhythmic innovators Mark Ernestus & Ndagga Rhythm Force, Japanese audiovisual collective Violent Magic Orchestra, New York experimentalists YHWH Nailgun, Naarm’s own psychedelic-jazz favourites Mildlife, and Los Angeles R&B artist Jenevieve, alongside a curated mix of local artists, collectives, DJs and community-led programming.

At the heart of the series sits High Ground: In Motion, a multi-stage event on Saturday, 18 July. Across the Fitzroy Triangle—The Night Cat, The Evelyn and Punters Club—audiences can move between stages, experiencing a single night of live music, DJs, and late-night programming. Presented in partnership with CLBR, PBS 106.7FM and Leaps and Bounds Music Festival, the first In Motion lineup features Skeleten, Sleepazoid, XIAO XIAO, Orange Moon, No News, Rain Dogs, Horatio Luna, DJ LUV YOU, Public Figures, Setwun & The Soulstranauts and Miles Nautu.

Fitzroy has long stood as a crucible for Australia’s independent music culture. From the Punters Club’s 1990s heyday to the suburb’s underground raves and today’s eclectic scenes, it remains a meeting point for artists, communities and ideas. The streets have played host to cultural icons—Muhammad Ali on Gertrude Street in 1979, Keith Haring painting nearby walls in the 1980s, Kylie Minogue performing at a local fundraiser, and Jeff Buckley’s impromptu rooftop set above Triple R in 1996.

Its venues have shaped generations. The Punters Club launched Australian heavyweights such as Powderfinger, Spiderbait, Magic Dirt and You Am I. The Evelyn evolved from a historic pub to a crucial northside stage, hosting Dirty Three, Hiatus Kaiyote, and Muse’s first Australian gig. The Night Cat transformed Johnston Street into a late-night hub for jazz, funk, soul, hip-hop and marathon dance sessions, featuring The Cat Empire, The Bamboos, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Sampa The Great and Amyl & The Sniffers.

Complementing the music, High Ground will also host a free public gallery exhibition showcasing archival photography and memorabilia, capturing Fitzroy’s most iconic cultural moments.

“HIGH GROUND is our love letter to Fitzroy. We want to celebrate the creative and cultural history of this incredibly unique community,” says Nate Farrell, CLBR’s Co-Founder & Managing Director.

“I spend 95% of my time between Johnston St and Alexander Parade, and every night already feels like a festival to me, being about to bounce between our venues (aka The Fitzroy Triangle). We wanted to bottle that feeling, that excitement of seeing all these dots connect in these spaces with different crowds and scenes coming together, all with Fitzroy as the backdrop.”

Additional artists, exhibitions, and activations will be announced in the coming weeks. Follow High Ground here for updates.