What's going on? +Live+, STP & 4 Non Blondes booked for '90s nostalgia party
by Josh Leeson · Newcastle HeraldA mid-1990s nostalgia fest is coming to the Hunter Valley next year, headlined by US post-grunge rockers +Live+, Stone Temple Pilots and 4 Non Blondes.
Lookout Festival will return to Pokolbin's Roche Estate on Saturday, March 20.
Australian alt-rock legends Magic Dirt round out the line-up.
It'll be a welcome announcement for long-suffering +Live+ fans in the Hunter, who were left disappointed when the Lightning Crashes and Selling The Drama hitmakers cancelled their appearance at the ill-fated Under The Southern Stars Festival in 2022.
The Ed Kowalczyk-fronted rock band has sold more than 23 million albums, largely because of their records Throwing Copper (1994) and Secret Samadhi (1997).
However, their recent years have been marred by internal conflict, which included Kowalczyk leaving the band from 2009 to 2016. Other original members Chad Taylor (lead guitar), Patrick Dahlheimer (bass) and Chad Gracey (drums) quit in 2022, leaving Kowalczyk as the sole founding member remaining.
Stone Temple Pilots has enjoyed a less turbulent run in Newcastle in recent years, despite the death of enigmatic frontman Scott Weiland in 2015.
Stone Temple Pilots played at Under The Southern Stars in Maitland with new singer Jeff Gutt and performed at Newcastle's NEX in March last year to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Purple, which spawned the hits Vasoline and Interstate Love Song.
The Lookout Festival will be 4 Non Blondes' first trip to Australia. The band enjoyed massive success with their 1993 single What's Up, which peaked at No.2 on the ARIA chart, but the band imploded in 1994 while making a second album.
Frontwoman Linda Perry went on to become a hit pop songwriter and producer in the early 2000s, penning Beautiful for Christina Aguilera and Get That Party Started for Pink, and she co-wrote What Are You Waiting For with Gwen Stefani.
Last year 4 Non Blondes reunited following the viral comeback of What's Up?, which generated more than 15 billion views and inspired over 5.4 million user-created videos on TikTok.
4 Non Blondes have since confirmed that they will release an album in 2027, their first new material since their acclaimed debut Bigger, Better, Faster, More! in 1993.