Due to ongoing commitments recording her fourth album, pop dynamo BERTIE BLACKMAN has unfortunately had to cancel her scheduled appearance at this year’s Pyramid Rock Festival. Bertie is very sorry to have to pull out of the festival, but says she simply isn’t ready to take her new band and songs to the live arena.

“I have been putting my soul into this new album furiously since the beginning of the year,” she says. “The little beast has taken us on a journey much further in/out of time than was firs thought. I want the first performance of this material to be startling, powerful and magical. Unfortunately, we are still in the depths of her heart and I feel it’s too early to reveal her thoughts, stories and howls.”

But every cloud has a silver lining and in this case the bright side comes in the form of Melbourne’s own powerhouse renegades BLUE KING BROWN. Taking time out of a busy recording schedule, the multi-membered urban roots outfit will grace the Pyramid Rock stage for a celebratory New Year’s Eve set. Hailed by many as a phenomenal live act, Blue King Brown are on fire after three international tours in 2011 and still riding high on the back of their standout, ARIA-nominated album Worldwize Part 1: North And South.

And that’s not all! We can also officially confirm that, thanks to triple j Unearthed, smoggy blues rock collective THE DELTA RIGGS will also be along for the Pyramid Rock ride in 2011. The Melbourne four-piece will be kicking off the fun in the Pharaoh’s Annex on December 30, so make sure you set yourself up nice and early.

But that’s still not all! You can’t have a party without dancing, and you can’t have dancing without dance music. That’s why we’ve also added to the bill some of the finest beat purveyors going around.

Be entranced by NICK THAYER as he mixes his own electro jams with the mesmerising aesthetics of visual artist sevenmilligram! Marvel at the colossal club beats of Bang Gang signatory LIGHT YEAR, endorsed by industry heavyweights like Soulwax, Erol Alkan and Tiga!

DJ CECILLE makes an always welcome return to Pyramid Rock in 2011, and will close out the festival with a juicy mix of fun, joyous and seriously tough techno beats. Then at the other end of the spectrum we’ve got the chilled electronica and break beats of globe-trotting Sydney producer WESTERNSYNTHETICS, who’ll be warming up the early birds late on December 29.

And finally what’s a 3-day camping festival without someone to host the whole shebang? On board to MC this year’s Pyramid Rock Festival will be funnymen MARCUS RYAN and MONTY FRANKLIN.

With everyone locked and loaded for Pyramid Rock 2011, now we play the waiting game. New Year’s is just five short weeks, so be on the lookout for set times and site maps, to be released in the coming weeks.

Tickets to the 2011 Pyramid Rock Festival will sell out before Christmas, so if you don’t have yours yet you’re out of excuses. 2- and 3-day camping passes are on sale now from www.thepyramidrockfestival.com.

THE PYRAMID ROCK FESTIVAL
Thursday 29 December 2011 to Sunday 1 January 2012
Presented by triple j, Channel [V] and Faster Louder

Featuring:
SCISSOR SISTERS THE LIVING END GOTYE GRANDMASTER FLASH YUKSEK (LIVE)
BOY & BEAR DRAPHT SPIDERBAIT CLOUD CONTROL THE GETAWAY PLAN
SPARKADIA BLUEJUICE MUSCLES SPANK ROCK THE PANICS LYRICS BORN
THE HERD DUM DUM GIRLS ILLY SALMONELLA DUB BLUE KING BROWN
THE ASTON SHUFFLE YACHT CLUB DJs JONATHAN BOULET ASH GRUNWALD
HANNI EL KHATIB THE BAMBOOS CALLING ALL CARS GRACE WOODROOFE
GRAVEYARD TRAIN TIM & JEAN JIM WARD THUNDAMENTALS THE VASCO ERA
HERMITUDE BALL PARK MUSIC MANTRA ABBE MAY BONJAH OWL EYES
KING CANNONS GOLD FIELDS LOON LAKE SAN CISCO HUNTING GROUNDS
KRASH SPLIT SECONDS FRENCH HORN REBELLION NANTES GEORGIA FAIR
NAYSAYER & GILSUN PURPLE SNEAKERS DJs THE DELTA RIGGS NICK THAYER
LIGHT YEAR DJ CECILLE MARCUS RYAN MONTY FRANKLIN WESTERNSYNTHETICS
ROCKWIZ (LIVE)

TICKETS ON SALE NOW
All online tickets available from www.thepyramidrockfestival.com