Following a sold-out 2025 performance inside the Windsong Pavilion, The Necks return with their singular sound: hypnotic, expansive, and ever-unfolding. Masters of longform improvisation, they create sonic landscapes that are as unpredictable as they are mesmerising, drawing you into music that feels both intimate and infinite.
For nearly forty years, pianist Chris Abrahams, drummer Tony Buck, and bassist Lloyd Swanton have a reputation for performances that resist convention, weaving together threads of minimalism, improvisation, and textural soundscapes.
Their concerts are renowned for unfolding like living organisms: evolving structures, subtle shifts in momentum, and unexpected surges of intensity. The result is a listening experience that feels deeply personal yet continually surprising, reshaping itself in real time.
“They may teach us to listen in a new way, but they communicate a fierce energy and warmth at the same time. Their music is a thrilling, emotional journey into the unknown. Like seeing a world in a grain of sand, The Necks permit us to hear a whole new world of music in a sliver of sound.”
With the release of their monumental twentieth album Disquiet—a three-disc exploration of scale and sonic detail – the trio continues to expand boundaries. Expect an afternoon of adventurous music-making that challenges and rewards in equal measure, offering not just performance but discovery.
“The acoustics and sound were incredible, what a lovely introduction to the band for us! We very much enjoyed the food and drink in such a beautiful setting — an unforgettable experience.”
Artists
Chris Abrahams, keys
Lloyd Swanton, bass
Tony Buck, drums
Repertoire
The Necks – Disquiet improvised exploration
Tickets
This is a unique offering not redeemable on a Flexipass
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Food orders are now closed. A limited selection will be available on site – first come, first served.
Meet the Artists
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Chris Abrahams
Chris Abrahams is a New Zealand-born Australian-based musician and one of the most respected musicians in Australia, regularly featured on `Best Keyboard Player’ listings in Rolling Stone. He was voted Best Keyboard Player for 1990. Abrahams has spent time with The Benders, The Sparklers, Peter Blakeley and The Resurrection, Jackie Orszaczky and The Godmothers and Mephisto Waltz (with Ed Kuepper). He was a founding member of The Necks and has issued ten solo albums. Abrahams has appeared as a session player on records by Laughing Clowns, The Triffids, Ed Kuepper, The Lime Spiders and Stephen Cummings, plus the soundtrack albums to television shows Illusion and Dancing Daze (both 1986). In 1989 he formed a partnership with ex-Sparklers singer Melanie Oxley. In 1993, Abrahams toured as keyboard player for Midnight Oil on the Earth and Sun and Moon world tour. For his compositions with The Necks, Abrahams has won two APRA Awards for Most Performed Jazz Work for Drive By in 2005 and Mosquito in 2006.
Tony Buck
Tony Buck is an Australian drummer and percussionist. He graduated from the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music (now Sydney Conservatorium of Music), becoming involved in the Australian jazz scene. Buck played in Great White Noise with Michael Sheridan and Sandy Evans during 1983, then Women and Children First with Sandy Evans. He is a founding member of The Necks and leader of Peril, who he formed in Japan with Otomo Yoshihide and Kato Hideki, and astroPeril. He also formed the short lived L’Beato in the early 1990s, an industrial-oriented outfit reminiscent of Tackhead, which released one EP The Piston Song. In the early 1990s, Buck moved from Australia to Amsterdam and later moved to Berlin.
Lloyd Swanton
Lloyd Swanton is an Australian jazz double bassist, bass guitarist, and composer. Swanton was a member of Dynamic Hepnotics in 1986 and a founding member of The Necks. In 1991 he formed his own group, The Catholics. He has performed solo improvisation concerts on double bass. Swanton has performed with The Benders, Clarion Fracture Zone, Sydney Symphony, Vince Jones, Alpha Centauri Ensemble, the Mighty Reapers, the Seymour Group, Tim Finn, Stephen Cummings and Wendy Matthews. He was also a long-serving member of the Bernie McGann Trio and the Bernie McGann Quartet. As well as music for his own bands, Swanton has composed several film soundtracks. For many years Swanton hosted the radio show Mixed Marriage on Eastside Radio in Sydney, a weekly program looking at crossings of jazz with other musical styles.
The Necks
The Necks are one of the great cult bands of the world. Chris Abrahams (piano) Tony Buck (drums) and Lloyd Swanton (bass) conjure a chemistry together that defies description. They are revered internationally for their improvisational prowess and hypnotic live performances, featuring lengthy pieces which slowly unravel, shift and metamorphose. Their approach emphasizes real-time composition, where each performance is a spontaneous creation, making every live show a completely unique experience.
Formed in Sydney in 1987, The Necks have operated with the same line-up for more than thirty years. They have released over 20 live and studio produced albums to outstanding critical acclaim. The Necks studio albums are often intricately layered in the mixing process and can feature additional instrumentation. The deceptive simplicity of their music throws forth new charms on each hearing. The Necks have collaborated with Brian Eno, Underworld, Swans, and Back to Back Theatre, as well as composing the score to legendary Australian feature film The Boys. They have received multiple awards, including the 2019 Richard Gill Award for Distinguished Services to Australian Music.