There is a bit of a name mix-up going around, so it is worth clearing up before you head out: the Friday Night Sounds series is actually hosted by Newcastle Art Gallery, not Wester Gallery. The two share the same Bolton Street address, which is where the confusion comes from, but the music, the workshops and the free entry all belong to the Art Gallery.
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The next session lands on Friday 30 October, 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm, and it is a strong one. Trumpeter Tom Avgenicos leads his quartet Delay 45, with pianist Roshan Kumarage, bassist Dave Quinn and drummer Ashley Stoneham. Avgenicos is a Sydney Conservatorium graduate who has picked up a Freedman Jazz Fellowship and an APRA Art Music Award nomination along the way, and he has put out seven albums as a leader or co-leader, including Ghosts Between Streams in 2025 and Bye For Now earlier this year. He also teaches jazz studies at the Conservatorium and co-directs Monday Night Confessions, so the pedigree is there.
As with the rest of the series, entry is free and you do not need to book a table, which makes it an easy one to drop into after work. The one exception is the Sketch Club drawing session, which runs from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm and does need a booking if you want to pick up a pencil. The night also doubles as a book launch, with Trevor Dickinson signing copies of The Book of Newcastle Extended Edition in the Gallery Shop and handing out a free A4 print with each purchase. Dickinson is well known for his line drawings of Australian cities, and this edition runs to 64 pages with more than 80 new drawings.
It is a good example of how the series is put together. Friday Night Sounds runs on the last Friday of the month, except in December, and it mixes local and national acts with creative workshops and activations. Earlier in the year the lineup has swung from DJ Mistah Dux, who built a three-hour live listening set from three turntables and a 25-year vinyl collection, to Rose White working a loop station and groove box in the Gallery atrium, to Steph Russell performing original music from her upcoming album with a six-piece ensemble. There has even been a pop-up gin bar from Earp Distillery on the quieter nights.
If you are still curious about Wester Gallery, it is a separate, independently run contemporary art space over in Newcastle West, set up in 2022 by Newcastle artist Justin Lees in a building that pairs old character with a clean, modern interior. It runs its own exhibition openings on the first Friday of every month, so it is worth keeping an eye on for a different kind of night out. But for the jazz, the workshops and the free entry, the place to be is Newcastle Art Gallery at 39 Bolton Street. With no booking required for the music, it is about as low-friction as a Friday night plan gets.
Published Date
19 October 2026
