View News

Brisbane-based 4 piece, THE DECKCHAIRS, are hitting the Maleny Community Centre on Friday 19th November for the final Queensland gig of their HELLO FRIENDS East Coast Tour. Fingerstyle guitar and heavily effected lapsteel work with a rhythmic powerhouse to create their unique progressive folk sound that wowed audiences at Peregian Originals recently.

Joining them onstage will be Sunshine Coast favourites OKA, Maleny’s own ‘soulman with the funk’ Rob Longstaff and talented local youth band The Led Roses.

Both OKA and The Deckchairs spent the northern hemisphere summer touring West Coast Canada. Literally days back in the country The Deckchairs hit the road with ‘Hello Friends’, while OKA headed to the west coast and back. Having played together in Canada, they’re keen to reunite for Sunshine Coast audiences.

With their raw didgeridoo rhythm and unique dance driven grooves OKA’s energy is infectious. Their organic tapestry of phatt earth rhythms burst with uplifting melodies, tones and textures and need no introduction to Hinterland fans. 

Add to the mix Rob Longstaff, multi-instrumentalist and brilliant exponent of guitar, whose musical stylings sit within the little known sub-genre of acoustic soul/funk. It’s rare to meet such an earthy and engaging storyteller who can to light up a room with his wit and charm.

Opening the night will be Maleny High’s own The Led Roses with their classic rock, metal, grunge and blues. Not even out of school, they already have a following from Peachester to Noosa!

And The Deckchairs – as Sandy Powell said in his review of their recent Caloundra Music Festival performance:

“I’ve been spinning to The Deckchairs album UR for over a month now, but seeing (them) live brought whole new energy to already impressive tracks. On top of Loydell’s 12 string joy and over achieving vocal range, Josh Catt’s lap steel provides a Ben Harper-ish lead vibe, Alex Mitchell's tremolo bass work just makes you want to give him a six string and let him go to town on Eric Clapton, while Joe Brisick’s kit drum stylings will place you firmly in the centre of a djembe circle in deepest Africa… with snare rolls and crash cymbals.” 

“There is an inspired passion to the music of these four Brisbane lads, an obvious love of not just music, but of performance and of bleeding inspiration. With a cover of The Beatles ‘Blackbird’ that is so original it’s a shame to call it a cover, a host of tracks from UR including their self proclaimed favourite ‘City on Fire’ - a 10 minute instrumental with more open chords breakdown than you can poke a penguin at, I don’t envy any band following their performance.”

The ‘Hello Friends’ Tour is in support of the release of The Deckchairs’ second EP ‘UR’ and has taken them on a 23 gig adventure from Jindabyne to Cairns and back. They’re really excited to be teaming up with the boys from OKA for their last Queensland tour performance. 

‘Hello Friends’ has been supported by a Contemporary Music Touring Grant from the Australian Government. The Contemporary Music Touring Program aims to give all Australians, wherever they live, better access to some of the country's best live contemporary music.

Doors open at 6pm – entry is $15 adults, $12 under 18s, FREE under 10s. Bar and great food available, and loads of dancing.