Reggae, Wizards & Rude Boy Logistics!

Blimey, what a couple of weeks it's been for the Sunny Coast Rude Boys.

First up was Reggae By The River at Distillery Road Market (Beenleigh, QLD) on Saturday 30 May. What a cracking day that was. We shared the bill with Black Bird Hum, Kulripa Reach, The Strides and Sub Tribe, with around a thousand people soaking up the sunshine, tunes and good vibes.

Now, we've played a few gigs over the years. We've seen stages held together by hope and extension cords. We've seen sound systems that looked like they'd been borrowed from a Year 6 disco.

This wasn't one of those.

Everything was spot on. Great production, fantastic crew, brilliant venue and one of the most professionally run events we've had the pleasure of playing. Massive thanks to everyone involved. We had an absolute ball.

Then, one week later, we headed off to Pranafest at the Woodford Folk Festival site.

Imagine if a medieval village, a yoga retreat and a Dungeons & Dragons convention all got together and decided to throw a party.

There were fairy wings.

There were wizard hats.

There were enough crystals to interfere with satellite communications.

At one point we weren't entirely sure if we were backstage at a festival or waiting to begin a quest.

And there we were... ten middle-aged geezers lugging ska and reggae tunes into a field full of enlightened humans discussing chakras and fermented vegetables.

We thought, "This could go either way."

Turns out they absolutely loved it.

The crowd were fantastic. Dancing, singing, smiling and throwing great energy back at us all afternoon. Fair play to them. The production was excellent, the organisers couldn't have been more welcoming, and we left with a newfound appreciation for people who own both a didgeridoo and a dragon costume!

We're not saying we're becoming hippies.

But if any of us suddenly start talking about moon cycles and organic lentils, please stage an intervention.

Looking ahead, we're very excited about our hometown show at Kings Beach Tavern on 27 June.

Joining us will be our good mates The Kittyhawks, who are flying up from Melbourne. They've just returned from touring both the UK and Japan and have released a brand-new single, The Devil's Offbeat, which is an absolute belter. Ska Punk livliness. Make sure you check it out. Tickets selling fast, early bird & first release are sold out already - so just a few left - It'll be a fantastic night of good vibes & party! Link for last tickets is HERE KINGS BEACH TAVERN / Sat 27 June (with The KittyHawks (Melbourne) Burleigh Town Hotel / Sat 25 July Royal Hotel, Nundah - Sat 22 Aug Gympie Muster - Sun 30 Aug Wallaby Creek Festival (Far North Queensland) Fri 25th & Sat 26th Sept TANKS Arts Centre - Cairns - Sun 27 Sept

Meanwhile, we've also been busy in the studio working on new material for later this year and into 2027.

People often think a band just turns up, plugs in and plays.

Not when you've got a band this size.

Organising a tour nowadays is like planning a military operation. You've got band members, partners, kids, work schedules, flights, accommodation and enough group chat messages to crash a small server.

By the time everyone's counted, we can easily be travelling with twenty-plus people.

The Rolling Stones have less admin.

Still, plans are coming together nicely, new songs are taking shape, and we've got plenty of shows lined up to keep us busy for the rest of 2026.

Thanks to everyone who's come along to a gig, bought a shirt, streamed a song or simply shouted "Play one more!" at the end of the night.

We'll see you down the front !!

— Sunny Coast Rude Boys