One of the this region's most popular touring acts is Xavier Rudd and he returns to one of his spiritual homes the Kuranda Amphitheatre this Saturday night.

Xavier is touring on the back of his most recent album Dark Shades Of Blue after spending time overseas and other parts of Australia on the lucrative festival circuit.

Xavier filled the Amphitheatre last time he was here in early 2007 and he should do the same again this weekend.

Reporter Jesse Kuch caught up with Xavier last week and you can read his piece on page 4 and 5.

Xavier Rudd is supported by up-and-coming roots artist Dallas Frasca.

And you won’t have issues spotting Dallas Frasca on stage with her wild red dreadlocks.

Jesse Kuch also spoke to Dallas last week and you can read his report on page 6.

Another regular Cairns visitor is legendary Aussie comic Col Elliott and he is back in the tropics for a live show at Brothers Leagues Club this  Saturday.

The 59-year-old isn’t touring as hard these days, opting for only three to four months on the road instead of the nine to ten months he used to do during his prime years.

But he hasn’t lost that ochre sense of humour we all love him for and he promises to drag out all his favourite characters like Chooka, Slugger and Vinnie Vomit (plus a brand new one) at Brothers this Saturday.

I asked him a few questions about his characters and how they were developed, which you can read on page 12.

It seems Cairns loves bringing tribute bands up to Far North Queensland and we have another two on show over the next few days.

The Australian Bee Gees Show – Stayin’ Alive, returns to Cairns for three live shows at Vertigo Bar from Thursday to Saturday.

They pulled a big crowd last time, so you might want to get down before the 10am start time to find a spot to watch them.

If not, you’ll probably end up in the Reef Hotel Casino foyer with the rest of the punters.

For ABBA fans, ABBA’s Back is another high-quality tribute band playing around Australia at the moment and it heads to Cairns Civic Theatre on Monday night.

We just don’t get sick of ABBA do we?

So for those after a decent ABBA sing-a-long head down to the civic theatre on Monday night.

For the clubbers, two of the most popular Australian DJs make their annual sojourn to Velvet Underground this Saturday night.

Melbourne’s John Course and Sydney’s Goodwill will bring their favourite crates of records as part of the Ministry Of Sound Annual 2009 tour.

The extremely popular house and electro compilation has been out for a while now and you can guarantee the pair will be playing all the big dance floor anthems from this double CD.

These two are always great value on the decks, so if you need bit of boogie, head to Velvet Underground after 10.30pm on Saturday.

And don’t forget the new 007 film Quantum Of Solace at Birch Carroll & Coyle. Have a great week!

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