Australian metalcore band Thornhill will headline and curate the 2027 edition of Surf’s Up! Festival, a one-day heavy music event scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 20, at Melbourne’s Riviera Beach Club. Promoter Destroy All Lines announced the lineup on Nov. 2.
The bill selected by Thornhill includes Stand Atlantic, Alpha Wolf, SACE6, Justice for the Damned, Varials, Headwreck, Bloom and Blinder. The event is restricted to attendees aged 18 and over. Presale tickets will be available from Thursday, Nov. 5, at 10 a.m. AEDT, followed by general sales on Friday, Nov. 6, at 11 a.m.
Thornhill said the lineup was personally chosen by the band’s four members and promised a day built around heavy riffs and high energy. The festival will be the second artist-curated heavy music event held at the St Kilda venue, following a Polaris-programmed edition staged there in February as part of the Life’s A Beach series.
The festival comes after a major period for Thornhill. Their third album, Bodies, reached No. 4 on the ARIA albums chart in 2025 and won the ARIA Award for best hard rock or heavy metal album, as well as best independent heavy album or EP at the AIR Awards. It also received a nomination for Australian album of the year at the J Awards.
The band’s previous album, 2022’s Heroine, peaked at No. 3 on the ARIA chart and topped the Australian albums chart, while their 2019 debut, The Dark Pool, reached No. 20. Thornhill have also toured with Sleep Token, Bring Me the Horizon, Architects and Avenged Sevenfold, and appeared at Download, Welcome to Rockville, Hellfest and Graspop Metal Meeting.
Stand Atlantic will arrive with their fifth album, GODBREATH, which was released on Oct. 23 through Virgin Music Group. The record debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA albums chart, giving the Sydney band its first chart-topper after 2024’s Was Here peaked at No. 3. The group has toured with Sum 41, A Day to Remember and ONE OK ROCK, and has also been associated with a 2026 Warped Tour run and a UK support slot with Simple Plan.
Alpha Wolf received an ARIA nomination for best hard rock or heavy metal album for 2020’s A Quiet Place to Die and a Grammy nomination for best boxed or special limited edition package for 2024’s Half Living Things. US duo SACE6 released its debut album, Brutalist, in 2026 and has toured with Dayseeker, Don Broco and Northlane. Philadelphia band Varials released its fourth album, Where the Light Leaves, in 2026 and is currently touring North America in support of Wage War.
Sources: Billboard.