The Sydney Opera House honours our First Nations by fostering a shared sense of belonging for all Australians, and we acknowledge the Gadigal people, traditional custodians of Tubowgule, the land on which the Opera House stands.
Tuesday 19 October, 2021: The Sydney Opera House is exhilarated to host the return of Australia’s critically acclaimed improvisational trio The Necks. The award-winning band The New York Times called “the greatest trio on earth” will make their long-awaited return to the Sydney Opera House in February, performing their singular mix of avant rock, jazz and ambient music in the spectacular Utzon Room over four nights.
“After this city’s lockdown and the cancellation of their scheduled August Vivid LIVE performances, I’m overjoyed to be welcoming back these titans of sound to the Sydney Opera House. How they conjure such transportive, oceanic, sonic currents from just a piano, double bass and drums/percussion remains a lovely mystery to me, and being submerged in their concerts remains one of my all-time great music listening pleasures. This intimate Utzon Room residency by one of the best bands in the world, across four summer evenings overlooking Sydney Harbour, is the perfect way to experience live music in Sydney again.” Sydney Opera House Head of Contemporary Music, Ben Marshall.
“It’s been hard for us and our audiences to have to suddenly deal with having no opportunities to commune together, so these performances – our first substantial run of dates since March 2020 – are going to be imbued with something extra special.” The Necks.
Formed in 1987 in Sydney by Chris Abrahams on piano and Hammond organ, Tony Buck on drums, percussion and electric guitar, and Lloyd Swanton on bass guitar and double bass, The Necks have been mesmerising fans with their unique brand of slow-burn alchemy for over three decades. Masters of their own musical language of long-form improvisation, each night they step onto the stage not knowing what they will play. The audience will go on a sonic journey that is created in the moment and in that room.
The Necks have released 21 studio albums across their storied career, including the ARIA Award-winning Drive By (2003) and Chemist (2006), and their most recent, Three (2020), praised by Pitchfork as “perfecting a strange sense of locomotion”. The band also composed the ARIA-nominated soundtrack to the cult film The Boys. In recent times, The Necks have enjoyed a symphony orchestra improvising behind them in a concert hall down a Polish salt mine, performed a double bill with the Art Ensemble of Chicago, received the Richard Gill Award for Distinguished Services to Australian Music, opened for Nick Cave, played on album releases by Underworld and Swans, and performed in a Finnish church carved out of solid rock.
The band have delivered utterly spellbinding performances in the Joan Sutherland Theatre, the Studio, the Utzon Room, Playhouse and the Drama Theatre that have gone on to become the stuff of legend.
