Entertainment
17 October, 2026
Big chillout in Motown
THE sounds of Motown will take centre stage in Cairns this month, as ‘The Big Chillout: Motown Spectacular’ brings its national tour to the Cairns Performing Arts Centre on 24 October.
The live concert celebrates the soundtrack of the cult 1983 film The Big Chill and the Motown revival it helped spark, with The Voice Australia 2017 winner Judah Kelly and Chicago and Hairspray star Asabi Goodman leading the show.
Mr Kelly said the enduring appeal of Motown came partly from generations of listeners becoming deeply familiar with its music.
“I personally think the reason Motown hits so much now is the familiarity of the repetition,” he said.
“You were hearing songs like ‘Heard It Through the Grapevine’ not only on the radio but also on TV, and the repetition has just stuck with people, right?”
For Mr Kelly, the music also holds a personal connection. His mother is from New Zealand and he grew up regularly hearing Motown.
“Unfortunately, I grew up a lot of the time listening to it on Saturday morning, and I knew it was time to clean the house, you know, but what great music to do that to,” he said.
Mr Kelly stepped away from music for several years after winning The Voice Australia, describing himself as “a little bit burnt out”. During his hiatus, he travelled and appeared in ‘The Singers’, the 2026 Academy Award-winning short film.
When The Big Chillout was offered to him, Kelly saw it as an opportunity to return to performing.
“I thought, what a fantastic way to come back to music,” he said.
“One, it's a national tour that we're doing, and two, it's music I love. So really, it’s the perfect way to come back from a break.”
The show features songs including ‘My Girl’, ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’, ‘You Can’t Hurry Love’, ‘Signed, Sealed, Delivered’ and ‘I Heard It Through the Grapevine’.
Mr Kelly said his aim was simple: “My goal is always that people walk out feeling better than when they walked in.”
The Big Chillout: Motown Spectacular plays Cairns Performing Arts Centre at 7.30pm on 24 October.
