Thornhill, Stand Atlantic & Alpha Wolf Lead New Melbourne Heavy Music Festival ‘Surf’s Up!’

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Nov 2, 2026 - 05:01

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Thornhill, Stand Atlantic & Alpha Wolf Lead New Melbourne Heavy Music Festival ‘Surf’s Up!’

SUN’S OUT, RIFFS OUT! Melbourne is copping a brand-new heavy music festival next summer, with Thornhill, Stand Atlantic and Alpha Wolf leading a stacked lineup of local and international acts set to unleash some serious beachside breakdowns.

Dubbed Surf’s Up! Festival, the one-day event will take over Riviera Beach Club in St Kilda on Saturday, 20th February 2027, transforming the waterfront party destination into a palm tree-lined paradise for Melbourne’s metalheads.

Thornhill – ‘TONGUES’

And in a particularly exciting twist, the entire lineup has been personally curated by Thornhill, who’ll also headline the inaugural event.

Joining them will be Sydney pop-punk heavyweights Stand Atlantic, metalcore bruisers Alpha Wolf, American acts Sace6 and Varials, and an impressive supporting cast of homegrown talent including Justice For The Damned, Headwreck, Bloom and Blinder.

That’s nine bands, one beach club and an absolutely unreasonable number of breakdowns.

“We’re bringing SURF’S UP! Festival to life,” Thornhill said in a statement.

“Personally curated by the 4 of us, we are stoked to be joined by some of the best names in Australian heavy music. Expect big riffs, good times and a whole lot of energy. Melbourne, we’ll see you in February!”

Presented by Destroy All Lines, the festival follows the success of this year’s Life’s A Beach event, which saw Sydney metalcore favourites Polaris curate the first artist-selected heavy music lineup at Riviera Beach Club.

Now, Thornhill are taking the reins for round two, bringing their own musical mates and influences together for what’s shaping up to be one of the most unique heavy music events on Melbourne’s summer calendar.

The announcement follows a particularly enormous chapter for the Melbourne four-piece.

Their third studio album BODIES debuted at #4 on the ARIA Albums Chart in 2025, subsequently taking home Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album at the ARIA Awards and Best Independent Heavy Album or EP at the AIR Awards.

The band have since continued their global ascent, sharing stages with the likes of Sleep Token, Bring Me The Horizon, Architects and Avenged Sevenfold, while also conquering some of the world’s biggest heavy music festivals.

Closer to home, their completely sold-out BODIES Australian Tour earlier this year marked their biggest headline shows to date.

And their hand-picked festival companions have been enjoying some serious success of their own.

Stand Atlantic are fresh off scoring their first-ever ARIA #1 album with their fifth studio record GODBREATH, cementing their status as one of Australia’s most successful modern alternative rock exports.

Meanwhile, Alpha Wolf will bring their signature brand of face-melting metalcore to the beachside festivities, following a massive few years of international touring and the success of their 2024 album, Half Living Things.

Representing the international contingent are Philadelphia hardcore outfit Varials, who recently unleashed their fourth studio album Where The Light Leaves, and genre-blurring American duo Sace6, whose sound fuses pop melodies, R&B intimacy and crushing metal intensity.

The Australian undercard is equally formidable.

Sydney heavy hitters Justice For The Damned will bring the brutality, while Brisbane nu-metal rising stars Headwreck are set to unleash their own brand of genre-bending chaos.

They’ll be joined by Sydney melodic hardcore favourites Bloom and Adelaide newcomers Blinder, whose atmospheric blend of shoegaze, grunge and nu-metal should provide the perfect soundtrack for a particularly heavy summer afternoon.

With everything from pop-punk and melodic hardcore to metalcore, nu-metal and atmospheric alternative rock represented, Surf’s Up! promises a gloriously diverse celebration of Australia’s thriving heavy music scene.

All against the backdrop of palm trees, sunshine and the sparkling waters of Port Phillip Bay.

Destroy All Lines and Oztix presale tickets go on sale at 10am AEDT on Thursday, 5th November, with fans able to register for early access beforehand.

General tickets go on sale at 11am AEDT on Friday, 6th November.

Check out the full lineup and event details below!