Great news for Maniacs who love to tear up the dancefloor and feel safe while doing it, Melbourne's BONEZ Queer Party have announced that they are hitting the road for their first ever tour! Better yet, they're taking some of the best bands the community has to offer with them. Maniacs favourites The Last Martyr, Five Island Drive and Vilify will join the BONEZ crew for the tour which starts off in on Gadigal Land/Sydney on Saturday 13th August at Crowbar, hits Naarm/Melbourne at The Leadbeater Hotel on Saturday 20th August, and then finishes up in Meannjin/Brisbane at The Zoo on Thursday 25th August.



Each event will feature 4 bands + a Drag or Burlesque host for the evening and DJs to keep the party going after the bands are done! June is recognised as Pride Month, and BONEZ has become a staple part of the party scene in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and beyond. It only makes sense to announce the very first BONEZ Tour during Pride Month, celebrating Australian, Heavy, LGBTQI+ bands!

Created in 2017, BONEZ Alternative Queer Party was created to celebrate and bring together members of the LGBTQI+ community in a high energy event with a unique punk rock sensibility. Seeking a new space to support Queer identities and promote Alternative bands and performers, seasoned events producer Sunny Dial created BONEZ to bring heart, soul and a whole lotta eyeliner to Melbourne’s nightlife. BONEZ was created to foster a space that goes beyond ‘gay bar’ and aims for broader and more active inclusion, guests are offered free pronoun pins on arrival-safety and acceptance are number one on the agenda, and harassment of any kind is not tolerated! Back in March we spoke to Sunny Dial about BONEZ and got Sunny to build us a list of current favourite LGBTQI+ bands, which you can play below. 



Listen to Sunny Dial's Top 10 Aussie LGBTQI+ Artists 

About the bands appearing on BONEZ first-ever tour 

The Last Martyr 

 The Last Martyr are headlining each event! They returned with a vengeance in April 2021 with a new single, Hindsight, a fierce tune with a nu-metal bounce that led the four-piece to a multitude of milestones including Triple j rotation and Unearthed Feature Artist. They followed swiftly with, Afterglow; and a live performance on Metal Injection’s Slay At Home, YouTube series. Their blast-beat-led single Freaking Out was not only their heaviest to date, but the final piece prior to dropping their EP, Purgatory; produced by Chris Lalic (Windwaker) They kicked off 2022 playing one of Australia’s most loved Heavy music festivals, Unify Gathering!

Vilify

Vilify are hitting Brisbane and Sydney on the BONEZ  tour. They are a close group of friends who officially formed a heavy band together in late 2020 with the collective goal of using their art to discuss issues close to home and heart from both a personal and observational perspective. Being born during a pandemic has created hurdles for Vilify's extensive live touring ambitions and this has only created more of what is a the forefront of the art - being pissed off and speaking up and asking the audience to reflect on whatever it is that's being screamed in their face. They recently dropped absolute banger Futility! 

Five Island Drive

Five Island Drive are heading out on all dates on the BONEZ tour- they are a heavy wave trio consisting of trans vocalist Frankie Jean, German multi-instrumentalist Kim Quint, and drummer Bradley Michael de Leon. Essentially, if Denzel Curry met with Rammstein to write a Sega soundtrack, Five Island Drive might be the sonic afterbirth. Based in NSW, Australia and born out of lockdown, FID are entirely self-sufficient; they house their own studio and are composed of visual artists, producers and songwriters alike. A wavy genesis launched in Mega Drive fever dreams, expect colourful, trance-flavoured mosh when turning on Five Island Drive. Watch the video for The Record which we premiered in March, below.