Rising 2025 brings Beth Gibbons, Suki Waterhouse and more to Melbourne

Melbourne's iconic winter arts festival, Rising, will return this June, bringing a two-week extravaganza of live music, performance, theater, and dance. Notably, Beth Gibbons, the lead singer of Portishead, will make her first Australian appearance since 2011, generating considerable anticipation.

Beth Gibbons will hold a special performance at Hamer Hall, singing songs from her debut solo album "Lives Outgrown" released last year. This Mercury Prize-nominated album was meticulously crafted over a decade, during which Gibbons also participated in several side projects, including an orchestral recording of Henryk Górecki's "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs," and a folk album in collaboration with Paul Webb of Talk Talk.

Another British singer-songwriter and actress, Suki Waterhouse, will also bring two exclusive performances: one intimate show at the Athenaeum Theatre and another at PICA in Melbourne's Port. Suki Waterhouse previously withdrew from the 2024 Laneway Festival lineup due to pregnancy, and these performances mark her first Australian shows since the release of her second album, "Memoir of a Sparklemuffin."

Brooklyn music icon Yasiin Bey (also known as Mos Def), after headlining the festival last year, will return this year as part of the Black Star duo, performing alongside Talib Kweli. Black Star is known for their 1998 debut album and released a follow-up album, "No Fear of Time," in 2022. This will be the duo's first performance in Melbourne.

The Rising festival also includes a one-day mini-festival called "Day Tripper," which will feature exciting performances from bands such as DIIV, a shoegaze band from Brooklyn, Annie and the Caldwells, a Mississippi family soul disco band, Mount Kimbie, a British electronic duo, and Ripple Effect, an all-female rock band from Arnhem Land.

In addition, the international musician lineup includes indie rock star Japanese Breakfast, jazz-folk artist Jessica Pratt (whose work was sampled on Troye Sivan's 2023 album), American band Soccer Mommy, and British grime duo Pete & Bas. On the Australian music front, there will be a party brought by Melbourne duo Shouse, the masterminds behind the 2021 viral song "Love Tonight," a celebration of independent label Chapter Music's 33rd anniversary, and an evening hosted by experimental musician Ned Colette.

The festival's art section includes international and local artists and performers, including Japanese media artist Shohei Fujimoto, whose first Melbourne installation will occupy the historic Capitol Theatre; and the Melbourne premiere of the Australian revival play "Hedwig and the Angry Inch." Fujimoto's installation is one of many works taking place in iconic Melbourne spaces, others including Moorina Bonini's Matha, to be projected on Hamer Hall; Sara Retallick transforming a city bathhouse into an underwater sound installation; and Korean artist Woopsyang's "Space Out Competition" at QV Square, challenging people to do nothing for 90 minutes.

Rising will also host a series of new dance works, including a piece by dancer Amrita Hepi in collaboration with sex worker and writer Tilly Lawless; Joel Bray's latest work; and Stephanie Lake's "Choreography"; as well as international artists such as Argentinian choreographer Marina Otero and Botis Seva's Olivier Award-winning hip-hop performance BLKDOG.

The dance focus complements Rising's theater section, which highlights include a cabaret show starring Sheridan Harbridge ("My Brilliant Career") celebrating Chrissy Amphlett of the Divinyls; and Speak Percussion's "Puncture," in which robotic trap machines will fire clay targets at a wall of percussion instruments (and their musicians).

In addition to local theater makers, international troupes visiting Rising to share their novel approaches to Shakespeare include Forced Entertainment, who turn the Bard's complete works into tabletop theater, and Peruvian troupe Teatro La Plaza, who reimagine Hamlet with eight performers with Down syndrome.

Rising 2025 will be held in Melbourne from June 4th to 15th.