Don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime experience featuring 4 absolute icons of Australian music, playing 5 amazing sunset concerts over 5 nights at picturesque Hayman Island Resort.

Join The Church for 2 incredibly intimate sunset concerts, The Jane Barnes band (featuring Jimmy) play 1 concert, Mark Seymour plays 1 concert, and Mahalia Barnes and The Soul Mates also play 1 show.

This specially curated Music in Paradise event adjacent to The Great Barrier Reef in the warm Whitsunday Islands, is both a music experience and tropical winter escape not to be missed!

August 12-17, 2026

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The Church

Few bands in their fifth decade of making music with all the fierce creative energy of their early years.

Even fewer bands are like The Church. Experiencing a renaissance of sorts with their critically hailed 26th album The Hypnogogue and a world tour that took them through North America, the UK, Europe and Australia, The Church was met with fervent audiences who embraced not only their early catalog but their new material as well.

Starting in 1980, The Church continued expanding their highly cinematic and atmospheric blend of indie rock, shimmering post-punk, icy dreampop and psychedelic post-rock without retreading their steps.

Beginning with classic early albums Of Skins and Heart, The Blurred Crusade, Heyday and Starfish. Starfish was the 1988 album that broke into the mainstream and gave The Church the international hit “Under the Milky Way.” The hit single has been regarded as one of the most influential and recognizable Australian rock anthems of all time.

The renowned five-piece line-up is made up of bassist, vocalist and founder Steve Kilbey along with long-time collaborator, drummer and producer Tim Powles, who’s remained a staple across 17 albums since 1994. Joining them is guitarist Ian Haug, who has been with the band since 2013 and formerly of Australian rock icons Powderfinger. Touring multi-instrumentalist Jeffrey Cain is now a full-time member since the departure of Peter Koppes in early 2020. Rounding out the members is the newly recruited Ashley Naylor, one of Australia’s finest guitarists and a long-time member of Paul Kelly’s touring band.

UNCUT encapsulated this idea when they wrote in their 8 out of 10 review that “The Hypnogogue is like every other Church album, and nothing quite like any of them; both statements are intended as compliments.”

A monumental concept album, The Hypnogogue found The Church honing in on their bespoke sound without retreading creative steps, unveiling a cinematic record that couples their trademark psychedelic-splashed indie rock with a dystopian narrative – a first for the band.

Featuring pre-album release singles “The Hypnogogue,” “C’est La Vie” and “No Other You,” the album offers a pool of melancholy tones and psychedelic swells, transporting listeners to another realm, guided by its striking science fiction narrative. Reading like a short story from visionary science fiction author Philip K. Dick (“A Scanner Darkly,” “Electric Dreams”), The Hypnogogue is a retro-futuristic, dystopian tale that revolves around a fictional machine (the “Hypnogogue”) that extracts music directly from subconscious dreams. As fans’ love of the band grew with the advent of the new record and its new direction, critics embraced them too.

Rolling Stone quipped, “In full flight, Kilbey plays the bass with a power and intent once reserved for ascending Lancaster bomber pilots in WWII.” Vive Le Rock rated it a 9 out of 10 and called the album “a great leap forward, thanks to the incredible melting pot of talent that Kilbey is now stirring.” American Songwriter praised, “On The Hypnogogue, the quintet creates fluid moods, moving in idiosyncratic directions while maintaining the shadowy gaze that has defined The Church’s style.” Classic Rock hailed, “The Hypnogogue finds [Steve Kilbey] close to the top of his game…”

The best bands have the capacity to surprise even after decades at the coal face.

That The Church remain so vigorous and vibrant is a delightful surprise indeed. To continue the excitement that the music world at large was experiencing, Steve Kilbey and band decided to further the storyline of The Hypnogogue by returning to the studio to add additional tracks for a deluxe edition, which was released in late 2023. While the digital companion to the album was available worldwide on DSPs, a special physical deluxe edition was made available to purchase as a standalone format at merch on the U.S. dates.

In their fifth decade as a band, The Church continue to remain a treasured creative force.

The Jane Barnes Band

The Jane Barnes Band got its start as a family project back in 2020 when the Covid lockdown began.

The Barneses wanted to reach out to people who were struggling with isolation, and let them know they were not alone.

Rather than just doing songs Jimmy wrote or sang every night, they concentrated on doing songs they felt might touch people in a different way.

The ensemble grew as time went on, and some nights there would be special guest musicians and family members involved.

Before they knew it, The Jane Barnes Band had taken flight.

Jane and Jimmy thought Stranded in the Whitsundays was the perfect style event to bring The Jane Barnes Band back out.

The Hayman line-up already featured friends and family with The Church, Mark Seymour and Mahalia Barnes and The Soul Mates already playing, so it proved logical that Stranded in the Whitsundays was the perfect place to unleash Jane, Jimmy and band for this special appearance.

The Jane Barnes Band repertoire is varied and soulful.

Jane, Jimmy and band cover everything from Cold Chisel to The Beatles, John Denver, Glen Campbell, Leonard Cohen, Otis Redding to Doris Day and Dolly Parton.

Jane’s song choices have touched people far and wide—each song bringing memories of childhood and growing up streaming back at you. Many a joyful tear was shed throughout these sessions and we’re sure many more will fall as the band takes to the stage at Stranded in the Whitsundays.

The Jane Barnes Band is about sharing the love of music. No big productions here, but there’s a good chance you can catch a glimpse of the hope and love Jane and Jimmy feel for their family.

Mark Seymour

Mark Seymour wrote his first song in the summer of 1980 about a space invader machine.

He was broke at the time, living in a Carlton share house with no power and no running water. Shortly after the pop band he was in, ‘The Jetsonnes’, morphed into something slightly more apocalyptic, changed its name to ‘Hunters and Collectors’ and Seymour went on to compose the dance floor hell-scape single ‘Talking to a Stranger’ which secured several international record deals.

Three years later, with the departure of Greg Perano on industrial percussion, the demonic groove was lost. Hunters and Collectors morphed again and Seymour wrote the pop ballad ‘Throw Your Arms Around Me’. To say that Seymour’s trajectory has been ‘inconsistent’ would be an understatement! And yet, 45 years later, he’ll tell you that the process hasn’t changed that much. The only thing that has is the subject matter. There’s always been an acoustic guitar, a recording device, mumbled words and some vague description of where he was or who he was with, the rooms he’s lived in, roads travelled, either surrounded by musicians or alone in the back shed. Many songs have disappeared while others have endured beyond the circumstances that spawned them. For Seymour songwriting has been as much about emotional survival as anything else.

Despite mixed fortune, Seymour’s songs have become pivotal in the musical story of the nation but Seymour is as mystified by their relative success as anyone.

“Some just seem to have hit the mark more than others.” ‘Talking to a Stranger,’ ‘The Slab,’ ‘Throw Your Arms Around Me,’ ‘The Holy Grail,’ ‘Ballad of the One Eyed Man,’ ‘Westgate,’ ‘The Whole World is Dreaming,’ ‘The Dogs of Williamstown,’ ‘The Boxer,’ ‘Cherry Red,’ ‘Waiting on the Kid.’

He has spent 18 years in front of Hunters and Collectors whose stylistic direction often changed abruptly from one album to the next and a subsequent 27 years as a ‘solo’ artist, acoustically and with four-piece rock band ‘The Undertow’, performing pretty much everywhere from the Olympic Games to wine bars in central Queensland. When asked how performance has changed him he says, “It’s all the same. Songs are about making a connection through story with real people standing directly in front of you in a room. It doesn’t matter where it is, I just get behind the songs. They’re all that matters really.” Even now the fundamentals haven’t shifted.

In 2023 Seymour released The Boxer, his 11th collection of original songs (and fifth with The Undertow). He has recently collaborated with singers Vika and Linda Bull, contributing to their forthcoming album.

He will also appear on the Red Hot Summer Tour later this year and is currently preparing for a new album slated for release in 2026.

Mahalia Barnes and The Soul Mates

Mahalia Barnes and The Soul Mates formed in 2005. Originally featuring a floating line-up of Sydney’s foremost soul/blues/rock musicians, including brothers Clayton and Lachlan Doley, Jonathon Pease, Stu Hunter and a selection of special guests.

The Soul Mates toured Australia extensively for years, playing supports for the likes of U.S. hip hop greats The Roots, Lionel Richie, James Morrison and gospel/soul legend Mavis Staples, as well as playing festivals and headline shows. Over this time, the band really started to hone their sound and The Soul Mates became a more permanent line-up, featuring Rob Woolf and Lachlan Doley on keys, Franco Raggatt on guitar, plus original members, Dave Hibbard on drums and Ben Rodgers on bass.

Mahalia Barnes and The Soul Mates have been regular performers and supporters of Music in Paradise for which we are all extremely grateful.

“Relax all day, share in great music, dance long into the evening!”

 

Experiences

Enter into a world of destination-inspired activities during your stay on Hayman Island. Each experience – on water, on island, and by air delivers meaningful connection to Australia’s most picturesque surrounds; where diving the Great Barrier Reef, venturing out on tropical hikes, and sailing the Coral Sea are only the beginning.

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Ocean

InterContinental Hayman Great Barrier Reef gifts unique access to on-water experiences in collaboration with our expert local partners. Explore a bespoke collection of experiences in the heart of the Great Barrier Reef including snorkelling, fishing, escapades to nearby islands and more.

Island

The resort’s on-island experiences range from nature-bound walking trails, immersive wildlife tours, fish feeding, cultural weaving classes and a curated collection of sports and fitness activities including yoga, tennis lessons, state-of-the-art golf simulator and more.

Air

Elevate your stay with mesmerising helicopter tours and private seaplane charters provided by our partner Helireef. Soar above Whitehaven Beach’s iconic turquoise swirls, touch down at Reefworld and gaze over the world-famous Heart Reef.

See the Experiences Brochure