One of Australia’s greatest rock bands was born in the Indigenous community of Papunya, a few hundred kilometres north-west of Alice Springs. Named for the honey-ant dreaming site and Country they loved, Warumpi Band toured the country and the world, and racked up a stack of successes: three studio albums (in 1983, they released the first rock song performed in Australian Aboriginal language), three Aria award nominations, and an entry in the National Film and Sound Archive’s Sounds of Australia collection.
Their contemporary rock songs were rinsed with a twist of country, telling stories that spoke to the soul of a broken nation. Performed in English, Luritja and Gumatj, their music is electric, connective, and kinetic. It’s also a remarkable heartbeat for a work of live theatre.
