Thanks to Guts Touring, two great rock bands go head-to-head, taking over The Rails as part of an extensive regional NT tour.

Pub-punk rock revivalists Bad //Dreems were born during an Adelaide heatwave in the summer of 2012, playing together in a whitegoods warehouse on the banks of the River Torrens. Musically the band play a rough and tumble brand of jangling rock and roll, that draws influence from Antipodean groups of the 70s and 80s, as well as US acts such as Wipers, DEVO and Television. To date the band have explored ideas of Australian dystopia and isolation, suburban ennui and male identity. Their latest album deals with the absurdity of the post truth world, via a dark psychedelic vision of the end of days.

Lively and proud, Black Rock Band from West Arnhem land have been entertaining audiences and inspiring communities around the country since their debut in 2015. The band from the small community of Jabiru in the Northern Territory draws on their deep musical family history and incorporates traditional and contemporary sounds with a steady rock style, singing in both Kunwinjku and English. Their songs are a celebration of culture, connection to country, the fight for social justice and the future they want to create for the next generation of children.

This double header features great music addressing important issues.

Guts Touring began in 2016 with the Up The Guts Tour, a regional and remote live music and workshop tour, which ran for two consecutive years. The main inspiration was Warumpi Band and Midnight Oil’s iconic and unique 1986 ‘Black Fella/White Fella’ tour through central Australia. More widely the tour connected with the plug-in-and-play ethos of the world-renowned Aussie pub rock scene of that era, with shows and workshops happening from Hobart to Darwin. Guts Touring is the culmination of Up The Guts and the follow up Small Town Big Sound tours. The NT leg will visit Jabiru, Gunbalanya, Maningrida, Ramingining, Katherine, Mataranka, Jilkminggan, Ngukurr, Numbulwar and Kalkarindji. Alongside the live shows is an epic songwriting workshop with the youth in each community or town. The artists on tour work with the kids to come up with lyrics, a chorus and a melody with the song to be crafted and released at the tours end.