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The Back On The Road WA regional tour will bring highly anticipated music to our ears

Headshot of Kellie Balaam
Kellie BalaamAlbany Advertiser
Rock band Spacey Jane are, from left, Ashton Le Cornu, Caleb Harper, Peppa Lane and Kieran Lama.
Camera IconRock band Spacey Jane are, from left, Ashton Le Cornu, Caleb Harper, Peppa Lane and Kieran Lama.

WA is getting the party started ... finally.

As the music industry enters a brave new world as COVID-19 restrictions ease, live music is set to return to the Great Southern region.

The Back On The Road regional tour is one of the first major tours to take place in WA as the music industry recovers.

Hip-hop artist Drapht, right, and Fremantle indie band Spacey Jane are two of the four names who will be rolling out to the regions for a series of shows.

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They will cover more than 24,000km to play separate shows in 10 regional towns including Albany, Geraldton, Dunsborough, Port Hedland, Broome and Kalgoorlie.

In about two weeks time, indie band Spacey Jane are set to jam out at Studio 146 on August 21.

Announcing they will be joining the WA road trip on Facebook, Spacey Jane said they were excited to get back on stage to play their first shows since March.

Since getting together in 2018, the Freo musos have already ticked off big-ticket events including spots at Splendour in the Grass and Laneway Festival.

They started 2020 with a bang, releasing their debut album Sunlight in January.

As for Drapht, Albany will play host to the two-time ARIA award winner the following week on August 28.

With six albums behind him, Drapht — real name Paul Reid — has a reputation as one of the best in Aussie hip-hop.

Hits like Jimmy Recard and Rapunzel will get things going when he too plays at Studio 146.

Drapht.
Camera IconDrapht.

Also proving that music was not immune to the coronavirus was the cancellation of many festivals WA and Australia-wide.

The Splendour In The Grass festival has been postponed until October, with all three headliners — Flume, The Strokes and Tyler, the Creator — confirming they will make it for the new dates.

The Drop festival — featuring Boy & Bear, The Presets, Ball Park Music — was called off altogether.

Groovin the Moo was also cancelled for this year but organisers have already released dates for the 2021 edition.

The Rubens postponed their tour, but thankfully have rescheduled their Albany gig to October 25, when they will play at The White Star Hotel.

And I can’t forget Albany’s own Carla Geneve, a rising star of the Australian music scene who was set to play at The White Star last Sunday.

There was plenty of hometown disappointment after the 21-year-old singer-songwriter announced she would be postponing her Albany gig until Sunday, December 20.

Bring it on.

While the What’s On section of Inspire might still be looking a little sparse, there should be more meat on the bones in the coming weeks.

The return of live shows has obviously been a welcome relief for venues. Unfortunately, we aren’t free of COVID-19’s grip just yet, but we already have a lot to look forward to — and dance to.

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