Your guide to This That and Scene & Heard 2019

One venue, two festivals, 17 hours of music, 43 acts and an estimated crowd of 20,000 people ranging from 18-year-old Millennials through to middle-aged punters.

It will be the second time that Saturday's youth-orientated This That and the more nostalgic Scene & Heard on Sunday have gone back-to-back at Wickham Park.

Following the success of last year, both festivals have bolstered their line-ups which will feature everything from the cutting-edge electronic beats of Golden Features and Peking Duk to the classic rock stylings of Wolfmother.

Here's eight acts not to be missed at This That and Scene & Heard.

NEWCASTLE loves Meg Mac. The last time the 29-year-old performed here back in May she sold out the Bar On The Hill weeks in advance. It followed another sold-out performance at the Cambridge Hotel in 2017.

So expect the crowd to be heaving when the soul-pop singer graces the main stage for her mid-afternoon set.

In June Mac released her second album Hope, which marked a swift towards a more modern electro-pop sound led by the single Give Me My Name Back. However, the old-school soul of Mac's debut album Low Blows contains her finest cuts like Maybe It's My First Time.

READ MORE: Meg Mac delivers Hope from a new songwriting place

IN the five-year history of This That, no headline artist has returned. Until now.

The career of Canberra electronic wizards Peking Duk has continued to soar since they last played This That in 2016 at the former Newcastle Foreshore site.

Tracks like Fire and Sugar, featuring the vocals of Sarah Aarons and Jack River respectively, have expanded their melodic talents and introduced fresh new pop sounds to assure they remain one of Australia's most commercial electronic acts.

Reuben Styles and Adam Hyde also expanded their show to live instruments, vocalists and dancers for their "Biggest Tour Ever" earlier this year, so expect a vastly different Peking Duk from 2016.

READ MORE: Peking Duk on following their biggest ever tour and releasing that long-awaited debut album

IT was difficult to find a better Australian indie-rock album last year than Middle Kids' debut Lost Friends.

The Sydney three-piece's mix of shiny '70s Californian-style rock and modern indie attracted famous admirers like Elton John and led to appearances on Conan and the Late Late Show.

After a hectic 2018 spent touring North America and Europe, Middle Kids released a mini album New Songs For Old Problems in May. This That will be Middle Kids' first Newcastle show since their singles Mistake and Edge Of Town broke them internationally.

READ MORE: Middle Kids on critical acclaim, breaking the US and album No.2

EMERGING electro-pop artist Anna Buckingham, aka BOI, and reggae rockers Rum Jungle will be flying the flag for Newcastle at This That, but the main local attraction will undoubtedly be Raave Tapes.

The dance-rock three-piece have built quite the festival resume with appearances at Mountain Sounds, This That, Yours and Owls and Festival Of The Sun.

Earlier this year Raave Tapes released the electronic-heavy singles Stabs and Dancing Because I'm Sad.

THERE was a time 13 years ago when Wolfmother were one of the hottest bands on the planet. Unfortunately Andrew Stockdale never delivered another album comparable with Wolfmother's classic self-titled debut featuring Joker and The Thief, Woman and Mind's Eye.

But anyone who witnessed Wolfmother's 2017 Cambridge Hotel show knows they remain a powerful live force and their music continues to be in high demand among festival promoters around the globe.

Stockdale has also gathered a red-hot band of ex-Vines members Brad Heald (bass) and Hamish Rosser (drums) and Lachy Doley (keys) for his latest incarnation of Wolfmother.

READ MORE: Wolfmother's Andrew Stockland on touring and the price of fame

US psych legends The Dandy Warhols are one of several foreign acts performing over the weekend and undoubtedly the most renown.

Wickham Park should be absolutely rocking for The Dandys' timeless classic Bohemian Like You.

This will be Courtney Taylor-Taylor and the gang's first Newcastle show since Fat As Butter in 2008 and part of their anniversary tour to mark 25 years since they emerged from Portland's eclectic music scene.

READ MORE: Dandy Warhols' Courtney Taylor-Taylor recalls the time Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler warned him that "Australia is a rough place"

THIS will be first time Magic Dirt have returned to Newcastle since reforming last summer after an eight-year break following the death of original bassist Dean Turner from cancer.

If reviews from their Gum Ball show at Dashville in April are any indication, Scene & Heard will be singing along with Adalita through Magic Dirt's many hits like Dirty Jeans, Plastic Loveless Letter and Watch Out Boys.

READ MORE: Adalita opens up about the grief buried deep in Magic Dirt

ANOTHER band that will be ending a long drought between gigs in Newcastle is Fremantle legends Eskimo Joe. The Black Fingernails, Red Wine hit-makers last performed in Newcastle at NEX in October 2013.

While there's been no new material since their last album Wastelands during that time, the three-piece remain a polished live act and have ample hits to call on like From The Sea, Sarah and Foreign Land.