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photo by Julie Schuchard
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I turn the page in the Sydney indie music paper, The Brag, and break out into a cold sweat — it's another bloody festival! This particular offender calls itself the Playground Weekender. It's a three-day affair, with a stack of bands I love, and to top it off, the whole thing is going to be a big fancy dress party. To the naïve reader it might sound like a lot of fun. That's EXACTLY what THEY want you to think.
Sydney is in the grip of Festival Fever. Just when I think we can't possibly sustain yet another festival, two or three more spring up right under my nose. This onslaught is clearly a conspiracy by aliens to weaken the population of Sydney before they launch their attack. They thought we'd be too delirious to notice, but I know what's up, and I'm not about to keep quiet.
It started out innocently enough, with a few large-scale festivals scattered across the country throughout the year. There was Woodford Folk Festival, Byron Blues and Roots, Big Day Out, Homebake, the Falls Festival. Over time these festivals have grown into great big festival monsters. Overflowing with good music, chai tents, and scantily clad party people.
The Woodford Folk Festival was spawned when Maleny Folk Festival burst at the seams. Unable to comfortably contain a crowd that had grown to 60,000, it moved to Woodford in 1994. Since then, attendance has more than doubled. And as it gets bigger, its definition of folk becomes more and more generous. This year, bands including Youth Group, The Beautiful Girls, and Resin Dogs played alongside more traditional artists like Jeff Lang, The John Butler Trio, and Kaya.
The Big Day Out kicked off in Sydney in 1992 with Nirvana as the headliner. Wow, I guess that means I was at the first Big Day Out — I almost died in Nirvana's mosh pit! Well whaddya know? It seemed pretty big back then, but I guess it's a whole lot bigger now. From what I hear, it's pretty full-on these days. The 2007 line-up boasted Tool, Muse, Jet, Violent Femmes, the Streets, Spank Rock, Peaches, Diplo, and Hot Chip, with tons of amazing local goodies — the Presets, the Herd, Macromantics, Angus and Julia Stone — to fill in the gaps.
Splendour in the Grass started as a modest single-day event in Belongil Fields (Byron Bay) in 2001. Four years later, tickets became so prized that eBay scalpers were trying to squeeze $3,000 a ticket from festival-goers. After public outcry and an investigation by the Dept. of Fair Trading, Splendour now has an arduous ticketing system that aims to keep tickets out of the hands of scalpers.
Splendour lineups are pretty damn fabulous. Take a look at the line up that traumatised me last year — Sonic Youth, DJ Shadow, The Grates, Death Cab for Cutie, TV on the Radio, Augie March, Mogwai, Wolfmother, Scissor Sisters, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Decoder Ring, the Presets, Matisyahu, Clare Bowditch & The Feeding Set, and on and on it goes. It's too much good music for anyone to handle. And previous years tell the same story — a near-lethal dose of fabulousness.
Perhaps seeing these festivals spilling over, Sydney decided to have some festivals of its own. Who wants to go out and commune with nature anyway, right? So on top of well-established festivals like the Big Day Out and Homebake, we now have Earthdance, Good Vibrations, Peats Ridge, the Great Escape, St. Jerome's Laneway — oh, and the Playground Weekender.
Did I miss any? Most likely. My brain has already begun to melt under the pressure.
So here's a rough overview of the festival scene in Sydney:
Peats Ridge Sustainable Arts and Music Festival
Four-day camping event in the Glenworth Valley
Annual; around New Year's Eve
www.peatsridgefestival.com.au
Peats Ridge is a lovely four-day camping event, set in the lush green hills of Glenworth Valley (1.5hr hours from Sydney), with an eco-friendly theme. The event prides itself on its eco-friendly approach: biodegradable plates, cups and cutlery; taking a deposit to ensure recycling of cans; chemical-free cleaning, etc.
There's something about Peats Ridge that makes it a bit less intense than other festivals. Perhaps by keeping the acts more local you don't have the pressure to run around and catch all the bands that you won't see for another year or two. No need to obsess over the timetable or negotiate gnarly scheduling clashes. There's tons of great music, but if you miss a few faves, you can always catch them in a month or two at your local. So instead of slamming down energy drinks and running around like a headless chicken, you find yourself lazing under the trees, chilling out in the chai tent, or going to eco workshops.
Peats Ridge 2006 was timed to coincide with New Year's Eve. If I hadn't already agreed to go to Woodford for New Year's, I would have been stoked. The 2006 line-up included Angus and Julia Stone, bluejuice, Combat Wombat, Because of Ghosts, Pivot, Mashy P, Afro Moses, Bertie Blackman, Hermitude, Spoonbill - so much goodness! Woodford was great — those people know how to run a festival — but next year I'll be chilling at Peats Ridge.
The Great Escape
Three-day camping event at Newington Armoury
Annual; Easter long weekend
www.thegreatescape.net.au
I missed the Great Escape at Newington Armoury last year, but its debut on Cockatoo Island in 2005 was pure magic. There was a real buzz on the island, like we were all in on an amazing secret. We'd escaped the drudgery of the mainland and were marooned in indie-music paradise. Equipped with a colourful map of the historic island, I went hunting for musical treasures and found New Buffalo, Machine Translations, Andy Clockwise, the Bird, and Inga Liljestrom. So very lovely!
I look forward to seeing how it translates to the new location. Newington Armoury is quite similar to Cockatoo Island, with old buildings, ferry access, etc. And with a mix of Deerhoof, Lee Scratch Perry, Angus and Julia Stone, Blue King Brown, Gogol Bordello, Holly Throsby, Fat Freddy's Drop, and the Fumes, there's a good chance it's going to be pure magic all over again.
St. Jerome's Laneway Festival
One-day event in downtown Sydney
Annual; early March
www.lanewayfestival.com.au
Concerned that we didn't have enough music festivals of our own, our indie-loving cousins down in Melbourne decided to export their highly successful St. Jerome's Laneway Festival. I'm kicking myself for missing this one last year. Those who made it delight in mocking the rest of us. The stories and photos of Les Savvy Fav's front man going berserk rub salt in our wounds. Though one could argue that anyone silly enough to miss a show featuring Broken Social Scene, Les Savvy Fav, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Clare Bowditch, the Avalanches, the Drones, and Wolf and Cub are just getting what they deserve.
This year, St. Jerome's in Sydney is serving up Yo La Tengo, Peter Bjorn & John, the Sleepy Jackson, Camera Obscura, the Walkmen, Macromantics, and the Midnight Juggernauts. And this time, I'll be there!
Sydney Festival
Venues across Sydney
Annual; January
sydneyfestival.com.au
Good old Sydney Festival seems to have spawned its own array of mini-festivals. Sydney Festival's main events are an assortment of gourmet treats (musical/theatrical/cinematic) that sell out months in advance. The big one this year was Lou Reed's Berlin (Lou Reed revisiting his 1974 album, Berlin) at the State Theatre.
Beck's Bar Series
Though it's just one of many venues that take part in Sydney Festival, the Beck's Bar seemed to be a festival in itself. With acts like Leo, Gogol Bordello, Shape Shifter, Hot Chip, Macaco, Violent Femmes, and some brilliant local showcases thrown together by Sydney's Fbi radio, you could probably have found yourself there once or twice a week.
Unfortunately I got the shits with the way Beck's Bar was set up, so I couldn't bring myself to go to more than two shows there. Maybe next year they'll find a way to set up the tent that doesn't involve having to push past the crush at the front to get in and out. I felt like I had my cranky pants on every time I went there. So in the end I skipped the Fbi shows, which sounded fantastic.
The Famous Spiegeltent, Hyde Park
photo by Annette Loudon
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The Famous Spiegeltent
Just in case people have tired of venues such as Sydney Harbour, Hyde Park Barracks, the Domain, and Sydney Opera House, now they've gone and imported an entire venue.
Everyone was raving about the Sydney Festival scoring a season of the Famous Spiegeltent. This 1920s Belgian mirror tent tours the international festival circuit. Melbourne has been hogging it for ages, and it seems Sydney finally got to have a go. According to Wikipedia (and all the radio announcers who wouldn't shut up about the Famous Spiegeltent), Marlene Dietrich performed "Falling in Love Again" in the tent in the 1930s. Woot!
There was so much promo and blabbing about this tent. Blah, blah, Famous Spiegeltent, blah, blah, blah. I got a bit sick of hearing about it and decided to ignore the whole thing. I was doing a fabulous job of ignoring it until my friend Anna told me it was free to get in after 11. We had to walk past it anyway (on the way home after seeing Shapeshifter at the Beck's Bar), so I figured it couldn't hurt.
Inside The Famous Spiegeltent, photo by Annette Loudon
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The Famous Spiegeltent was completely enchanting! A vibrant carny mural decorating the facade. A huge stripy big top roof, wood panels inset with mirrors and stained glass, the stage glittering with a million pinpoints of light. Bar staff in period costume, DJs playing retro tunes to complement the ambiance. And everywhere I looked, there was one of my favourite Sydney artists: Mikelangelo doing the twist, Stav from bluejuice surrounded by girls, Luke from Hermitude (also fresh from the Shapeshifter show). So this is what talented Sydney musos do in their spare time!
They had some sweet acts in there — Kaki King, Clogs, M Ward, La Clique, Joanna Newsom, and so on. I guess if it comes back next year, I'll probably just move in and be done with it.
The Playground Weekender
Three-Day Camping Festival
Del Rio Resort, Wiseman's Ferry (1.5 hours from Sydney)
playgroundweekender.com.au
The press release says:
Inspired by visits to international events such as Glastonbury,
Bestival and the Big Chill, the Playground Team have plans for
a boutique festival like no other.
Nooooooo!
Please have mercy.
I don't want to go.
Please don't make me go.
Sure I've wanted to see !!! (chk, chk chk) for ages. And I missed the the Dears when they played at Rebel Rebel last year; my friend Steve (from Black Grass every since I heard about them about a couple of years ago. And Calexico are so lovely. And Dappled Cities Fly are so freaky cool. And the Presets kick serious dancefloor ass. And the posters are so cute. And there's going to be a fancy dress parade.
I guess I'm doomed to go to yet another bloody festival. Maybe I can have a big nap when winter comes...?
Posted February 2007
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