Boss, Stones for rock feast
This year concerts are going to rock, with two of the biggest names in the history of rock 'n' roll coming to town.
Rated by US Rolling Stone magazine as the best live act in the world, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band play three sold-out shows at Perth Arena next month.
Remarkably, these are Springsteen's first gigs in WA in a career stretching five decades.
Then, the mighty Rolling Stones perform their first Perth concert in nearly 20 years at the 15,500-capacity Arena on March 19.
Despite seats commanding a hefty price tag of between $200 and $580, the Stones' Arena show sold out in minutes - with only VIP packages costing $875-$1275 each remaining.
Gigs don't get much bigger than Springsteen and the Stones concerts, with the legends setting a mature yet guitar-heavy tone for the year after a younger, more pop-leaning roster last year.
Last year, boy band One Direction and bad boy Justin Bieber played at the Arena while Perth was also visited by female superstars Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Rihanna, Alicia Keys and Pink.
Music industry veterans Neil Young, Black Sabbath, Bon Jovi, Kiss, Guns N' Roses and 79-year-old Leonard Cohen also hit P-town, proving that the strong Australian dollar and struggling US concert market had drawn the full spectrum of touring acts to our cashed-up shores.
The big names will continue to roll through Perth this year.
Big Day Out headliners Pearl Jam, English indie rockers Arctic Monkeys, a hard-rocking double bill starring Queens of the Stone Age and Nine Inch Nails, plus a reunited Australian favourite in Hunters & Collectors will also rock the next 12 months.
The biggest rock show of the year in terms of attendance will be the annual Soundwave festival, which will see the black T-shirt tribe descend on Claremont Showground on the Labour Day long weekend to catch the likes of Green Day, Megadeth, Avenged Sevenfold, Stone Temple Pilots and Rob Zombie.
For music lovers less keen on head-banging, there are also plenty of other concerts ranging from country queen Dolly Parton to Canadian crooner Michael Buble, from the massive dance festival Future Music to the laidback West Coast Blues 'N' Roots in Fremantle.
The biggest breakthrough artist of 2013 in New Zealand, teen sensation Lorde, headlines St Jerome's Laneway Festival, which has grown from a boutique festival to one of Perth's biggest events in a few years.
Next month it shifts from the Perth Cultural Centre to the Fremantle's Esplanade and West End to accommodate the significant increase in demand.
The Perth International Arts Festival also hosts 24 evenings of diverse musical offerings in the Festival Gardens, starting with Stax soul legend Booker T. Jones on February 6.
Other PIAF acts include hip-hop icons Public Enemy, post-punk pioneers Wire and jazz songstress Madeleine Peyroux.
Acclaimed Brooklyn alternative rockers The National perform a sold-out show at Belvoir Amphitheatre on February 14 as part of this year's Festival.
Canadian jazz-pop diva Diana Krall headlines the two annual Leeuwin Estate concerts next month.
