If you're thinking the most exciting thing to do down on Phillip Island is to see the penguin parade…well, think again!

The Pyramid Rock Festival, now in its fifth year, will transform the holiday destination into one giant place of celebration as we wave goodbye to 2008 and welcome in 2009. What better place to do so than at one of the most picturesque locations in Australia, out in the open air and under the summer sun.

With 30 or so acts still to be announced in the coming months, this assembled line-up is already looking ridiculously good with so many making the long trip down to the island.

Rocking out at the Pyramid farm on the Phillip Island cliff tops will be:

THE BLACK KEYS (USA)
Needing no introduction, Ohio based blues-rock duo THE BLACK KEYS return to Australia to headline Pyramid 2008 and bring in the New Years, southern hemisphere style. The Black Keys have graced our shores many times over the years, leaving rapturous and awe-inspired audiences in their wake. Still searching for that perfect New Years formula? Take one part Pyramid, one part Black Keys and combine. Voila.
THE LIVING END
Australia's best-loved and most respected rockers THE LIVING END have criss-crossed the nation this year in celebration of their highly acclaimed and gold record selling album White Noise. With many hit songs, gold and platinum albums, sold-out shows, festival-headlining appearances, world tours, award statuettes, magazine covers and legions of satisfied punters in between it's hard to believe it has been 10 years since the Melbourne trio released their legendary double A-side single, 'Second Solution'/ 'Prisoner of Society'. The Living End's live reputation is unquestioned - on a great night there's barely a band on the planet that can touch them, so don't miss them at Pyramid 2008!
MORCHEEBA (UK)
Over the last decade UK's MORCHEEBA have become the multi-million-selling darlings of downtempo with their soul and country-inflected, sampladelic mood music. Spear-headed by the creative minds of brothers Paul and Ross Godfrey, Morcheeba is a bit like Massive Attack, Portishead, Tricky, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Wu-Tang Clan, Sade, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Air, and Jefferson Airplane painted on one emotional canvas. In 2008 these maestros of groundbreaking trip pop will make their way to Australia on the back of their new sixth album Dive Deep to grace the Pyramid stage.
CUT COPY
These guys are set to break their Pyramid Rock Festival duck when they grace the Pyramid stage in 2008 for the first time. With a shimmering timelessness haunted with machines of the past and sounds of the future, Cut Copy inhabits the kind of space in time where trends are irrelevant and 1969 is just as relevant as 2020. At once both jacking and jangly, electronic and organic, Cut Copy are set to fill the Pyramid site with glorious sounds and moods that unashamedly snap, crackle and pop with hooks and melodies that will last for eons.
FAT FREDDY'S DROP (NZ)
From the underground to the higher-ground, FAT FREDDY'S DROP is the South Pacific soul monster doing it for the love of music and food! The Freddy's family of musicians evolved in Wellington through a multitude of musical incarnations, from funk jam bands, reggae sound systems and jazz improvisation cliques to live hi-tek dub-soul experiments. Freddy's unique boil up of bottom heavy beats, future funk and freaky sidesteps guarantee to fuse sonic unity between band and audience. Fat Freddy's Drop is first and foremost a live collective; no two Freddy's gigs are ever the same, so make sure you are at Pyramid to witness a once in a lifetime show with Fat Freddy's Drop!
MIDNIGHT JUGGERNAUTS
Having simultaneously set Australia's dance floors and hearts ablaze, MIDNIGHT JUGGERNAUTS are well on their way to world domination. Touring and gigging relentlessly, the Juggers have cemented huge fan bases across the globe in hotspots such as North America, Europe, UK and Japan. Be in the Pharaoh's Annex to bring in the New Year with Midnight Juggernauts. Wallflowers beware; the Midnight Juggernauts are guaranteed to drag you out onto the Pyramid dancefloor!
DIGITALISM LIVE (GER)
Germany's DIGITALISM LIVE began life as a DJ team and morphed into a dance project with the stage power of a full band. Signed to uber-chic French label Kitsune, they have remixed the likes of The Cure, Depeche Mode, Klaxons and The Futureheads. Sounding like Daft Punk with a real live drummer, Jens Moelle and Ismail Tufekci will bring their garage band attitude and pumping electro house show to Pyramid for the first time this year.
KARNIVOOL
More doctrine than rock band, more movement than metal, KARNIVOOL have been thrust into the nation's spotlight with their arresting command of contemporary heavy music. The flow has definitely become a flood with the Karnivool experience, so lose yourself in the surge at Pyramid!
GYROSCOPE
It's already been a huge year for Perth's home grown golden boys GYROSCOPE, and it's just getting bigger! Having burst onto the music scene over 10 years ago, Gyroscope have a gruelling gigging and touring record and have played with a myriad of local and international artists such as The Living End, Grinspoon, Blink 182, Brand New and Dashboard Confessional to name a prestigious few. Their latest album Breed Obsession, debuted at #1 on the ARIA charts and has since gone gold. Be there when Gyroscope take the stage at Pyramid this year!
THE TEENAGERS (FRA)
In a gust of pheromones and with a warm purr of guitars, so arrive the saviors of French indie pop, THE TEENAGERS. These three Parisian dreamboats are responsible for igniting indie hearts and imaginations across the globe with a winning curve ball of pervy wit, classic synth-work, and sunshine strumming. All this, combined withtheir candid commentary, both emotional and sincere has resonated in a way that's neither nostalgic nor trendy, but timeless. Hail the saviors of French indie pop at Pyramid!
MAMMAL 
Fuck the hype, MAMMAL are the real deal! A visceral alloy of prog, punk and raw rock, Mammal are forward-thinking and forward moving. The livewire four-piece are already taking Australian stages like a hot-blooded (r)evolution, and for all the right reasons. Independent, loud, proud and making a big noise via word-of mouth alone Mammal are converting a legion of dedicated fans overnight, in thrall to the band's infectious manifesto and unparalleled musical muscle. Don't miss Mammal when they bring the party to Pyramid in 2008!
THE HERD
Sydney band THE HERD aren't afraid to mix music with politics, or hip hop with live instruments. This fearless eight-piece comprises of three MCs, live guitars, bass, accordion, clarinet, multi-skilled beat masters, and the gorgeous female vocals of newest full-time member Jane Tyrrell. The Herd's kaleidoscope live show never fails to make a statement. Pyramid Rock Festival is ready to receive the message loud and clear.
DR. DOG (USA)
Philadelphia's DR. DOG are part of a long tradition of D.I.Y. pop oddballs that take their cues from the straightforward pop hooks and tape hiss of Guided by Voices and Pavement's fractured song structures. Morphing 60s pop worship with lo-fi recording techniques and a complete disregard of current trends their waiting list will be longer than a month of dole queue's so we suggest that you make an appointment to see Dr. Dog before it's too late.
BIRDS OF TOKYO
Marrying soaring vocal melodies with catchy rock based guitar hooks and a driving rhythm section, BIRDS OF TOKYO have already established themselves as one of Australia's premier rock bands. With eager punters lining up hours before doors open to ensure they score a front-row position, get in early to secure your front row spot when Birds Of Tokyo storm the stage at Pyramid!
THE GETAWAY PLAN
Renowned for their blistering live shows, Melbourne's own THE GETAWAY PLAN have been wowing audiences across the land and momentum is only building for this four piece. Combining pop melodies and screamo rock, their debut studio album Other Voices, Other Rooms, peaked at #1 on the Australian Independent Records (AIR) charts and #14 on the ARIA albums chart. Don't miss your chance to see Getaway Plan live at Pyramid 2008 in all their glory!
LITTLE RED
Melbourne's very own doo-wop darlings of indie rock LITTLE RED have made some serious waves this year. Having first appeared on the live circuit a year or so ago, Little Red have played their little hearts out and have established themselves as a force to be reckoned with on the local music landscape. Adopting a vintage meld of jangly guitars and sweet as pie harmonies, Little Red are guaranteed to have the boys rocking and the girls swooning. Little Red guarantees to get you rocking and swooning at Pyramid 2008! 
SALMONELLA DUB (NZ)
Formed in 1992, SALMONELLA DUB are New Zealand's masters of fusion combining Dub, Drum n Bass, Reggae and Roots to achieve their unique sound. No strangers to the touring circuit, the band have played countless shows across ten countries taking with them an armoury of their favourite up and coming Australasian acts. Pyramid says a big Kia Ora to Salmonella Dub this New Years!
THE BLACK SEEDS (NZ)
With four albums, platinum sales, and an elfish appearance in Peter Jackson's The Lord Of The Rings to their names, New Zealand reggae collective THE BLACK SEEDS fuse a range of funk, soul, and dub in their smooth party vibe. Pyramid revelers can relax, chill out, and groove along to their sun-soaked, soul-kissed sounds.
PLATINUM PIED PIPERS (USA)
Masters of soul PPP aka PLATINUM PIED PIPERS, also less tongue-twistingly known as PPP bring their unique mash-up of vintage & modern soul, house, funk, Detroit techno, and of course, hip-hop influences to Pyramid 2008. Never ones for staying stagnant, PPP take a new, more progressive direction on their latest album project that manages to stay true to Triple P's soul-based foundation, while broadening its sound and covering plenty of new sonic territory. PPP's soul-fused mash-ups will have you tearing up the Pyramid dance floor!

MUPH & PLUTONIC 
Signed to Obese Records, home to some of Australia's greatest hip hop artists, Melbourne's MUPH & PLUTONIC are set to bring their 'heaps good' show to Pyramid 2008. The duo, featuring lyrical genius MC Muphin (Dan Young) and revered hip hop DJ/producer Plutonic Lab (Leigh Ryan), will perform tracks from their acclaimed new album And Then Tomorrow Came, as featured on triple j in July this year, so stake out a spot in the front row and get them hands up in the air!

YO! MAJESTY (USA)
In a genre that has veered away from it's original message of peace, love and thought, YO! MAJESTY is an incomparable force that brings anyone with ears something to breathe (and pant) a sigh of relief over.  Hip hop has become overrun with lyrics that are anti-women, anti-gay, pro-bling and frankly, boring.  It's all about them, and none about you - Yo! Majesty ain't having it.  Shunda and Jwl. both embody the best elements of Chuck and Flav as an overtly sexual Public Enemy that draws you in with flash and then sets about realigning your dome.  The girls ain't wearing no clocks, but you best believe they know what time it is. Set your alarms, synchronize your watches, whatever you do, don't miss Yo! Majesty at Pyramid!
THE GALVATRONS
Melbourne mavericks THE GALVATRONS are four interstellar transformers from a future vortex where Gary Numan and Stan Bush are canonized and life is a euphoric synth-tracked montage of disco fist-pumping. Interpreted on Earth as an '80s retro synth-rock band who've taken Australia in a storm of hook-laden singles and wild on-stage dynamism. The Galvatrons' retrofitted spaceship is set to land at Pyramid in 2008.

 + more to be announced

The Pharaoh's Annex hosts a stellar cast of international DJ's and MC's including some of Australia's coolest hip hop and breaks crews.

Bars, foodcourts and markets spread across the site cater for all ages and tastes. Wristbanding at arrival will give the over 18's access to the bars, so you know the drill...don't forget your ID! The Pyramid Market will also be the place to grab band and festival merch before the trek back home.

When: Monday 29 December 2008 to Thursday 01 January 2009
Where it's at: Phillip Island – Victoria
Tickets go on sale 9am, Thursday 4 September

All online tickets will be available from www.thepyramidrockfestival.com

Limited tickets will be available at the following independent outlets: Corner Hotel Box Office - Richmond, Polyester Records - Fitzroy & City stores, Greville Records - Prahran, Island Surfboards - Cowes, Leading Edge Music - Pakenham & Wonthaggi, Serious Surf Stuff - Inverloch & Leongatha, Phillip Island Visitor Information Centre - Newhaven

General Festival Ticket (2 Day Pass)  $210 + booking fee

This gets you entry from 8am Tuesday 30th Dec - Thursday 1st Jan and includes camping for two nights! Early Arrival Camping Ticket (3 Day Pass) $240 + booking fee

For entry from 11am Monday 29th Dec - Thursday 1st Jan and includes camping for three nights!
 
Note: these tickets are strictly limited to half the venue's capacity so that patrons can settle in early and secure a great campsite. On Monday 29th all venue facilities will be open for early arrivals and movies will be shown on the big screen.
 
All patrons will need to check in with their vehicles through the main entry point located at Gate 1 on Back Beach Road.

Last year's event sold out in record time. 4 days to be exact.  And did you see that line-up? Get in quick!