Gladys Knight, Ghostbusters and Mars explorers: Things to do in Brisbane this week
By Nick Dent
If there’s something strange in your neighbourhood, it’s probably The Damned. The UK punk oddballs are all pushing 70 but determined to grow old disgracefully playing thrashers like Neat Neat Neat and Smash It Up at the Tivoli on Wednesday.
Even older but also golder is Gladys Knight, who has been a hitmaker since the mid-1960s. Her farewell tour is also in town, while Pink is swinging back around for another stadium gig in the back of a tour that has been breaking all kinds of records despite taking place in the shadow of Tay Tay.
World Science Week events are happening all week and selling out fast, including a session about life on Mars and a screening of Metropolis. And Lego obsessives are assembling (and assembling) at Chandler on Sunday.
Monday, March 18
Birds of Passage at Queensland Art Gallery features work by Paul Jacoulet (1896-1960) including The Pearls, Manchukuo, a colour woodblock print from 1950 (detail).Credit: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Paul Jacoulet/ADAGP/Copyright Agency
Art: Birds of Passage
This free exhibition showcases two extraordinary European artists influenced by the Pacific. Scottish-born painter Ian Fairweather spent the last 20 years of his life on Bribie Island while Paul Jacoulet’s woodcuts display the twin influences of his French and Japanese upbringing.
Queensland Art Gallery, until Jan 26, 2026, free.
Food & Drink: Monday Knock Offs at Felons Barrell Hall
Whether you’re in hospo and Monday is your night off, or you simply want to go out on a Monday when it’s oh-so quiet in Brissie, Felons is the place to be, with ping-pong knock-out rounds, giant Jenga, coldies and $15 wings and dumplings.
Felons Barrell Hall, 5pm-late, free ($4 ping-pong sign-up). Register your ping-pong team.
Tuesday, March 19
Pink at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne in February.Credit: Richard Clifford
Music: Pink
She’s back! Pink returns on her Summer Carnival Tour to get the party re-started, playing all the hits from her 24 years in the pop spotlight, with Dance Monkey singer Tones and I in support.
Suncorp Stadium, 7pm, $178.50. Buy tickets.
Music: Maisie Peters
The acoustic pop singer’s album The Good Witch made her the youngest British female solo artist to reach number one on the UK charts in nearly a decade.
Fortitude Music Hall, 6pm, $74.90-$174.90. Buy tickets.
Wednesday, March 20
Damned if he does: Ian ‘Captain Sensible’ Burns performing in New Zealand last year.Credit: Dave Simpson/WireImage
Music: The Damned
The classic line-up of the punk greats – Dave Vanian, Captain Sensible, Rat Scabies and Paul Gray – has reassembled for one last time to rocket through highlights from albums Machine Gun Etiquette, The Black Album and Strawberries.
The Tivoli, 7.30pm, $94.90. Buy tickets.
Dance: Three
Australasian Dance Collective’s new triple bill has three dance works from three bold choreographic voices: Jenni Large, Alisdair Macindoe and Amber McCartney. Catch it as part of the OHM Festival.
Brisbane Powerhouse, Mar 20-23, $39-$59. Buy tickets.
Thursday, March 21
They ain’t afraid of no ghosts: Paul Rudd and company in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.Credit: Sony Pictures
Film: Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
The franchise lives on with this fourth movie (not counting the distaff 2016 reboot). Paul Rudd leads the cast that includes Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson, with the plot involving a spectral army in New York City.
In cinemas.
Exhibitions: Seen on the Screen at Brisbane Motor Museum
The museum has a new show featuring hot rods like the silver 1976 Datsun 260Z used in Netflix series Boys Swallows Universe and a red 1966 Sunbeam Tiger made famous by Get Smart! as well as a replica of Doctor Who’s jalopy Bessie.
Brisbane Motor Museum, 959 Nudgee Road, Banyo, Wed-Sun 8am-3pm, until Jun 2, $12.50-$25. Buy tickets.
Friday, March 22
Ting Lim is one of the acts in the GC Laughs Festival.
Comedy: Ting Lim: Well… This Is Awkward
Singapore-born Lim’s stand-up act covers lousy dating gambits, the real meaning of her name, and how she’s not a panda. Catch her during the GC Laughs Festival, or wait for her Brisbane Comedy Festival appearance in May.
HOTA, Studio One, 7pm, $30. Buy tickets.
Talks: Life on Mars
World Science Festival presents a chat about the Red Planet, with astrophysicist Graham Phillips chairing a distinguished panel of space experts.
Playhouse, QPAC, 7.30pm, $39. Buy tickets.
Saturday, March 23
Soul music legend Gladys Knight brings her farewell tour to Australia.
Music: Gladys Knight
The Empress of Soul is on her Farewell Tour and ready to deliver her iconic interpretations of great songs spanning Motown to Bond and beyond.
Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, 7.30pm, $129.90-$199.90. Buy tickets.
Shopping: Portside Wharf Easter Markets
The markets will feature more than 35 stalls covering beauty, handmade jewellery, ceramics, artworks, toys, craft, homewares and plants. For the kids, expect a petting zoo, an appearance from the Easter Bunny, Easter slime-making workshops and free gelato.
Portside Wharf, Hamilton, 10am-2pm, free.
Sunday, March 24
Fritz Lang’s 1927 film Metropolis still fascinates nearly 100 years later.Credit:
Film: Live Music and Film: Metropolis
Fritz Lang’s immortal 1927 silent sci-fi film is being screened for the World Science Festival with a new score performed live by a group led by acclaimed composer and bassist Robert Davidson.
GOMA, 11am, $16-$20. Buy tickets.
Kids: BrisBricks Chandler Lego Fan Event
Marvel at the construction projects of local Lego enthusiasts and buy the latest and rarest Lego sets and accessories at this event, ideal both for obsessed Lego collectors and casual family visitors.
Chandler Arena, Mar 23-24, 9am-4pm, $8-$12. Buy tickets.
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