The AFL is pleased to announce the 2020 Toyota AFL Grand Final entertainment artists,featuring an All-Australian and quintessential Queensland line-up set to perform under lights at the Gabba, Saturday October 24, 2020.
The line-up features one of Australia’s hottest bands DMA’S, Brisbane’s own worldwide success story and pop sensations Sheppard, local indie band Cub Sport, the unmistakable sound of Wolfmother’s lead vocalist and guitarist Andrew Stockdale, and Electric Fields featuring Thelma Plum and Busby Marou.
The acclaimed Queensland Symphony Orchestra will also perform, delivering a memorable musical experience as a first in Australian sport. In another Australian Grand Final first, Chong Lim, famed musical director, will oversee the unique blend of artists and orchestra.
A special welcome to country will be performed by Brisbane group Tribal Experiences, from Yuggera-Toorabul Country.
The AFL has previously announced Mike Brady will perform his iconic song Up There Cazaly from the MCG in a special performance accompanied by the QSO live in the Gabba. The national anthem will be sung by Brisbane local Tim McCallum, rounding out an incredible group of diverse performers for fans across Australia and around the globe to experience.
AFL General Manager of Commercial Kylie Rogers said this year provided an incredible opportunity for the Queensland music and arts community, which the AFL has welcomed. “On the back of an All-Australian line-up at last year’s Grand Final, we know there is incredible support to bring together local talent again this year.
“We have some of the best of Australia’s musical talent performing, with a unique sound and collection of voices – from the Torres Strait down to the south-coast – we’re proud to be delivering another All-Australian billing for the 2020 Toyota AFL Grand Final,” Ms Rogers said. 2020 continues to be a year of firsts for the AFL, with the historic move to the Gabba, a new night-time slot for the match, and now a brand-new entertainment format featuring both pre-game and half-time performances, she said.
“The half-time performance will give our fans an incredible new experience, with Brisbane’s own Sheppard to perform under lights during the main break.”
2020 Toyota AFL Grand Final Creative Director and Producer of the entertainment showcase Thea Jeanes-Cochrane said: “The 2020 Grand Final will feature the best of Australian and local artists, being a unique and historic year for the AFL and for Queensland. Working closely with the AFL, we have completely reimagined the Grand Final entertainment this year creating multiple “firsts”, such as featuring an orchestra and creating both a pre-game and half time show for stadium and broadcast audiences across Australia and the globe. The historic night-time setting t the Gabba allows the Cochrane Entertainment team to showcase state of the art production values.”
Mushroom Chairman Michael Gudinski said: “It’s been a long time coming to have a night Grand Final – a great achievement for the Queensland Government, Commission Chairman Richard Goyder and Chief Executive Gillon McLachlan. This year really showcases an incredible variety of different styles of music. This will take the entertainment to new heights in the future and I look forward to it continuing when it comes back to the hallowed turf at the MCG.”
The 2020 Toyota AFL Grand Final will be played on Saturday October 24 at the Gabba and will be broadcast nationally on the Seven Network.
For more information, head to afl.com.au or the AFL Live App with thanks to Telstra.
About the Artists:
DMA’S
DMA’S exploded onto the scene in 2014 with their debut single ‘Delete’. They have since released three critically acclaimed albums – Hills End (2016) and For Now (2018) which both debuted in the top 10 in the ARIA charts and resulted in ARIA nominations for Best Group, Best Rock Album, Best Independent Release, Breakthrough Artist Award. And THE GLOW (2020) which debuted at #2 in Australia, #4 in the UK and took out the #1 spot in Scotland. Forging their reputation abroad, the band have played festival slots at Coachella, Lollapalooza, Glastonbury & Reading and Leeds festivals.
2019 saw the Sydney natives play sold out shows across the UK and Ireland, support Liam Gallagher’s UK arena tour and sell 8 thousand tickets to their July Manchester show in a matter of hours. Back home they scored a Platinum records for ‘Delete’ & ‘Believe’ plus Gold discs for ‘In The Air, ‘Lay Down’ and ‘Step Up The Morphine’.
THE GLOW’s lead single ‘Silver’ is the band’s fastest streaming song to date, with more than 12 million streams in less than a year and peaking at #34 on Spotify UK’s Viral 50 Chart and #50 on Australia’s Viral 50. The track has seen BBC Radio1 plays, was named Record of the Week at Radio X and was added to the Radio X & Absolute Radio Daytime Playlist, and Evening List at Virgin Radio UK. Locally, the track was the #1 most played on triple j over the summer, coming in at #20 in the Hottest 100 of 2019 (the band’s sixth consecutive year in the countdown). DMA’S also had two songs in the triple j Hottest 100 of the Decade (‘Delete’ #21 & ‘Believe’ #41).
Sheppard
Sheppard is an Australian indie pop band from Brisbane. The five-piece band features siblings George, Amy and Emma Sheppard, alongside Jason Bovino and Dean Gordon, and boasts more than three million listeners per month on Spotify, over 740 million streams across all platforms and a handful of #1 and Top Ten hits in countries around the world.
Brisbane’s Sheppard have already achieved more than most bands could dream of in their lifetime. Crazy experiences followed the release of the song Geronimo lifted from their #2 charting album Bombs Away, from a slew of nominations and awards (including an ARIAs win) to touring with Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift, appearing on Ellen and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Second album, Watching the Sky, which debuted at no. 1 on the ARIA charts in 2018, collected more ARIA nominations and spawned the hit “Coming Home”, while Sheppard’s overseas fan base remains as passionate as ever; 2019’s “Die Young” was #1 on the Netherlands airplay charts for weeks.
Cub Sport
Cub Sport has undergone a transformation from local indie band to global pop powerhouse. With sell out dates across four continents, and a community and message that is impacting lives worldwide, the prolific independent Brisbane group are forging their own path to global acclaim.
2020 has seen the self-managed group reach new heights, with over 150 million streams, their current single ‘Be Your Man’ on rotation on triple j, two gold singles, one platinum single and their newly released record LIKE NIRVANA debuting at #2 on the ARIA Album Chart, #1 on the Australian Album Chart and #1 on the Vinyl Chart.
The energy around Cub Sport is fearless and captures the uniquely vulnerable writing and vocal delivery that has seen the group win praise everywhere from Billboard, i-D, Rolling Stone, NME, The Guardian, Nylon, PAPER Magazine, Gay Times, Attitude, The Fader and Line of Best Fit to DUMMY, Monocle, Music Week, and many more.
Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother
Led by vocalist/guitarist Andrew Stockdale, Wolfmother has amassed a global fanbase, played to packed-house crowds around the world and delivered show-stealing sets at star-studded festivals like Coachella, Isle of Wight, Lollapalooza, Splendour in the Grass, Rock en Seine and Fuji Rock to name a few. They’ve been invited to share stages with rock icons AC/DC and Guns’n’Roses and for Led Zeppelin’s induction into the UK Music Hall of Fame, Wolfmother was personally invited as their guest performers.
Wolfmother was certified Gold in the States, Germany, Canada and five-times Platinum in the band’s Australian homeland. Lead single “Woman” hit top ten on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks Chart and won a Grammy for “Best Hard Rock Performance.” Their songs became ubiquitous, appearing in films (Ironman 3, Spiderman 3, Zoolander 2, Jackass, TheHangover 1 & 2, 500 Days of Summer), video games (Guitar Hero, Gran Turismo, Tony Hawk’s P8, Shaun White’s Skateboarding, LEGO DC Superheroes, DiRT) and a variety of television commercials (Apple, Mitsubishi, Honda, Peugeot). After the colossal success of the their debut record, Stockdale wrote and released another four records under the moniker of Wolfmother: Cosmic Egg, New Crown, Victorious and more recently Rock’n’Roll Baby, as well as two solo records Keep Moving and Slipstream. Stockdale has also collaborated on Slash’s first solo effort, By The Sword and last year with Chris Cester of Jet on Chase The Feeling.
Electric Fields
Multi-award-winning Electric Fields create a striking and haunting merging of living traditional culture with electronic music, bringing moments of breathtaking beauty and power to the stage. Featuring the rare and beautiful voice of Zaachariaha Fielding-who often sings in his traditional languages of the Anangu people–with the brilliance of producer Michael Ross-Electric Fields music ranges from soulful pop, to epic-scale electronic works, through to intensely intimate storysong.
Thelma Plum
Thelma Plum has had a massive twelve months. The young Gamilaraay singer songwriter debut album ‘Better in Blak’ to much acclaim, reaching #4 in the ARIA charts, placing second in the Triple J album of the year listeners poll and garnering nominations for the Australian Music Prize Album of the Year, six ARIA’s nominations, APRA Song of the Year and, with three songs in the Hottest 100 including the album’s title track at #9, she became the highest fan voted indigenous artist in the history of the poll. Eighty million streams, a national sold out tour and a debut London show that sold out two months in advance–it was, truly, a monumental twelve months.
Busby Marou
Tom Busby (hailing from Queensland, Australia) and Jeremy Marou (from the beautiful Torres Strait Islands) have been playing music together for over a decade since their initial music connection at a pub in Rockhampton.
Busby Marou’s success includes millions of global streams, top 20 airplay & four ARIA Charting albums. Busby Marou’s self-titled album is certified ARIA Gold, while their most recent album The Great Divide and Farewell Fitzroy debuted in the Top 5 on and Postcards From The Shell House was Busby Marou’s first ARIA #1 album.
Queensland Symphony Orchestra
As an arts leader and great Australian orchestra, Queensland Symphony Orchestra is renowned for its high quality, breathtaking performances of both classical and modern compositions that engage audiences of diverse musical tastes, interests and ages. As one of the largest performing arts company in Queensland and the state’s only professional symphony orchestra, Queensland Symphony Orchestra plays a vital role in Queensland’s cultural community, educating; mentoring aspiring performers; touring regional centres; broadcasting and performing with state, national and international ballet and opera companies. Each year the Orchestra attracts the world’s best conductors and soloists as part of its acclaimed concert season, in addition to presenting unique blockbuster events. Queensland Symphony Orchestra is passionate about commissioning innovative new programs and Australian works and continues to invest in collaborations, recordings and digital initiatives.
Quotes from each artist:
DMA’S
“We are so excited to be playing the AFL grand final this year at the Gabba. Covid19 has hit our nation hard but the footy has given many of us a great source of joy and excitement over these last months, so it’s a real honour to be playing the final. We also wanted to send our love especially to those in Melbourne and greater Victoria who have been doing it tough. Looking forward to seeing you all on October 24!”
Sheppard
“We are so humbled and honoured to announce that Sheppard have been confirmed for the AFL Grand Final Halftime Entertainment Show. Obviously, this is an absolute dream gig for any band in any year and we are pinching ourselves that we’ve been given such an incredible opportunity. The importance and sheer scope of this event isn’t lost on us – the AFL Grand Final is the event of the year for so many Australians, we’re certainly going to put everything we have into delivering the most entertaining show we possibly can. Over the past ten years of making music together, we’ve strived to perfect the art of writing and performing these massive, anthemic, uplifting tunes that bring people together and we can’t think of a more perfect stage or setting for our music. We’ve got a euphoric, energetic and colourful show planned that we hope you’ll all enjoy.”
Cub Sport
“We’re so stoked to be playing the AFL Grand Final – still waiting for it to sink in! It’s an honour and for it to be on home soil at the Gabba will be extra special!”
Andrew Stockdale
“I am very much looking forward to playing the 2020 AFL Grand Final at the Gabba. It’s a huge honour as so many amazing artists have graced the stage in the past and set the tone for some fantastic football. We intend to kick it off in our own special riff laden way. It shall be a no holds barred rock extravaganza. It’s the Grand Final so we’ll be bringing our grandiose riffs, rock posturing and every other symphonic trick in the book to make it a night to remember. P.S. Our new record came out last year “Rock’n’Roll Baby”.
Electric Fields
“We are thrilled to have been invited to perform at the AFL Grand Final. We are very excited to be sharing the stage with some exceptional Australian artists for this performance – and we are beyond excited that the audience will hear both the Pitjantjatjara language of the Anangu people, and the proud and powerful voice of Vincent Lingiari of the Gurindji people – a man whose spirit and legacy lives on in the hearts of every Australian who believes in justice for all people.”
Thelma Plum
“Can’t wait to perform at the AFL final in Brissie! Last time I was going to play we got rained out, this time I get to sing a special song with some special friends! The game being held in my hometown Brissi makes me feel so proud!”
Tom Busby – BUSBY MAROU
‘We are absolutely pumped to be part of the 2020 AFL Grand Final. It will be our most exciting moment and no doubt our career highlight so far.’
Mike Brady
“It’s always an honour to be a part of the AFL Grand Final entertainment and I still get a thrill performing my song after all these years. I’m delighted to be included in this extraordinary year’s Grand Final and I’m looking forward to it immensely”
Tim McCallum
“It’s my dream to sing the national anthem at the Toyota AFL Grand Final, and the fact I can do this in front of my home crowd at the GABBA just makes the occasion even more special.
“I want my performance at the Toyota AFL Grand Final to show people out there – no matter what obstacles life throws at you – that you too can be centre-stage. I’d like to thank the AFL and Queensland Government for the honour this year.”
Queensland Symphony Orchestra
“This is incredibly exciting news for the Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO), and for Queensland. The AFL Grand Final is one of the great international sporting events and the QSO is delighted that its world class musicians will be a featured performer. It is also fitting that Queensland’s orchestra participates in what will be a line-in-the-sand event for Queensland; this is a moment for the state to shine, and for the mighty sound of our orchestra to resound around the ‘Gabba and to the millions that watch this event live!” said Queensland Symphony Orchestra Chair, Chris Freeman.
