Inaugural Panama Festival 2014 Lineup Expands

After announcing it would be gifting Tassie music lovers with a new boutique festival and introducing the first of its inaugural lineup in Charles Bradley, Husky, and The Frowning Clouds, the Panama Festival has announced more acts for its first-ever bill.

Launching on the weekend of Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th March, 2014, Panama Festival takes its namesake from the forest its located in, nestled in the picturesque Lone Star Valley, situated in Tasmania’s North-East.

Planned as a “unique arts and music experience”, the two-day festival comes with plenty of trimmings – including free camping, hot showers, food and drink stalls – as well as promising a brilliantly unique lineup of local and international bands to its lucky 1,000 ticket-holders.

Leading the second Panama Festival 2014 lineup announcement is Melbourne’s soul-certified outfit, the nine-piece Saskwatch. The well-honed outfit, fronted by the lung-bursting, hip-sashaying Nkechi Anele, will bring their electric live revue to the rolling Tasmanian hills, headlining the opening night of Panama with their highly acclaimed and energetic show.

Joining Saskwatch on the bill and hopping the Bite from Melbourne, are Super Wild Horses. The duo of Amy Franz and Hayley McKee will deliver their characteristic, minimal take on post-punk inspired garage pop, including selections from their second and latest album, Crosswords.

Holy Holy are also newcomers to the Panama Festival 2014 lineup, riding the success of their killer debut single ‘Impossible Like You’ and just completed a fan-earning set at this past weekend’s Queenscliff Music Festival (as a last-minute replacement for the flight-troubled The Trouble With Templeton). Comprising of songwriters from Brisbane and Melbourne and performing live as a five-piece, Holy Holy are certainly ones to watch with their refined brand of indie rock.

Also headed to the Panama forest are Queensland’s Rainbow Bay band, The Babe Rainbow, performing sunny-soaked, 60s-shaded pop, and fellow Brisbanite, enigmatic composer McKisko, who’s deft melodies and densely layered productions have earned her support slots with the likes of Bon Iver, Juana Molina, and José Gonzales,

Rounding out the new additions is Tasmanian heroes, the four-piece Tiger Choir, who mix sampled pop with wild guitars and falsetto choruses, along with natty drum machines and tangled sythns; as heard on their 2012 full length Unicycles, earning a steady following and support slots with Deerhunter, The Drums, and Regurgitator.

The new Panama Festival 2014 lineup additions – along with soul survivor Charles Bradley, the refined folk rock of Husky, and the wild and woolly Frowning Clouds – are part of a finished lineup that will tally 20 bands, along with a selection of DJs, circus performers, as as well as a “killer vinyl soul club.”

The vision for the boutique event is “small – a tiny festival, in a beautiful valley, with the best bands in the world,” Panama’s Artistic Director, Tim Carroll tells Tone Deaf, who adds “we couldn’t be more pleased with the lineup we have gathered with nods to soul, garage, new folk and hard swinging jazz.”

There are just 1,000 foundation tickets available to the inaugural Panama Festival, with weekend adult passes going for $160 (Children 4 and under are free to attend) and go on sale from 1st December.

Panama Festival joins Tasmania’s enviable roster of music events, including Falls Festival’s regular Marion Bay leg, Hobart’s MONA FOMA – which its 2014 lineup recently – its recently launched ‘sister winter festival’ DARK MOFO, as well as the annual Breath of Life Festival, which unveiled its impressive lineup in September.

Panama is also one of a number of new boutique events that’s sprung up in recent months, including Cronulla’s free entry Endless Summer Festival, headlined by The Preatures and Bluejuice and the FACT Weekender hitting Sydney’s Cockatoo Island next February, even as it faced troubles with losing two of its headliners.