Avalon is getting its groove back

Big Bek Jensen energy, new music from Rick Melick and two days of live music by the beach - there are worse ways to spend the October long weekend.

There’s something about live music in Avalon that just makes sense. Maybe it’s the beach. Maybe it’s that slightly removed-from-the-rest-of-Sydney feeling we secretly love up here.

Or maybe it’s simply that the Northern Beaches has always had a pretty healthy relationship with good music and a long weekend.

Whatever it is, Avalon Groove Festival is taking over town on October 3 and 4, bringing two days of live music to the peninsula - and for two of the artists on the bill, it’s also something of a homecoming.

Bek Jensen doesn’t need much convincing to come back.

“I LOVE Avalon,” she tells YOU Mag. “It’s my home town, albeit I’ve not been back for a while.”

In fact, Bek’s relationship with performing and Avalon goes way back.

“My very first gig was at Bookoccino in about 1988.”

Which makes her return for Avalon Groove feel rather fitting.

And if you haven't seen Bek live before, don't expect anything particularly restrained.

Asked whether playing a smaller beachside festival changes the way she approaches a show, the answer is a fairly emphatic no.

“Anyone who comes to a festival is there to enjoy it, so I bring the same energy to all my performances,” she says.

Or, as Bek puts it far better herself: “BIG BEK JENSEN ENERGY.”

So what exactly does that involve?

“Cool grooves to make you dance with songs of positivity, sass and sexiness.”

Sold.

For someone who has spent years performing, Bek says the thing that still gives her the biggest buzz is actually the simplest part of the equation: the people standing in front of her.

“The audiences!”

And while life as an independent artist means not everybody walking into a gig necessarily knows her catalogue, that can make the reaction when a song lands even better.

“It always gives me a hype when I have exciting reactions to my songs like Energy and This Love,” she says.

Her own current playlist is suitably eclectic: Ella Feingold, Funkadelic and Jessie Ware are all getting airtime.

And should Bek find herself with a spare day while she's back home? There will be no complicated itinerary.

She'd stay in Avalon, eat her way through some of her favourite local spots, hit the beach and surf.

Frankly, fair enough.

Meanwhile, Rick Melick has something new up his sleeve

Fellow local Rick Melick also has a particularly good reason to be excited about Avalon Groove.

He has new music coming - and the home crowd is going to hear some of it first.

Rick has spent around three years working on his latest record, whittling an original list of about 20 songs down to the nine tracks he felt belonged together.

The album was recorded in Sydney and mixed in Nashville, and the credits come with some serious musical pedigree, with contributors whose careers include work alongside the likes of INXS, Elton John, Led Zeppelin and Bruce Springsteen.

His first single, Mean Hearted Woman, is due in early October, followed by the title track, Voodoo, in November, ahead of the album release in February 2027.

And yes, Avalon is getting a preview.

“They most definitely will hear some new songs,” Rick says. “I am so excited to be previewing them at this gig and I'm working hard with my five-piece band to get them into shape.”

There’ll be a handful of carefully chosen covers thrown in too.

Of the new material, Mean Hearted Woman is one he's particularly keen to finally get out into the world.

“It's got a beautiful relaxed feel and a killer brass section,” he says.

And then there's the film clip.

“The legendary Gretel Pinniger, aka Madam Lash, is in the film clip. She brought my song's character to life!”

Now there's a sentence we weren't expecting when we started talking about a music festival in Avalon.

Rick, like Bek, has that added connection of playing in front of his own community.

“Who doesn't love playing in their home town?” he says. “Family and friends make any gig another layer of special.”

And when we asked him for one reason people should clear the October long weekend for Avalon Groove, he promptly ignored our numerical restrictions.

“I can give you 15 good reasons and they are all on the bill over two big days.”

Fair call.

“There will be a lot of talent on this stage and it's so rare that we get to do festival gigs anywhere north of Manly,” he says.

“So not only do we get to welcome our home community, but we also get to share the festival with visitors to Avalon over the long weekend. If you are a music lover you're going to be in the right place.”

We think that pretty much covers it.

Avalon Groove Festival runs October 3–4 over the long weekend in Avalon Beach.

Come for the music. Stay for the beach.

And prepare yourself, apparently, for BIG BEK JENSEN ENERGY.