Sydney Festival 2011

Beach House © Sydney Festival

My absolutely favourite time of the year is nearing and I thought it’d be nice to share with you my best-loved events for everyone staying in Sydney over summer.

Just like every January, Sydney Festival will light up our city with over 80 events across venues like the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Theatre, CarriageWorks and temporary venues like Beck’s Festival Bar and The Famous Spiegeltent. We will have the opportunity to see a very diverse and attractive mix of Australian and international artists covering dance, theatre, music, visual arts and more over three weeks of the festival.

Firstly, let me tell you how stoked I am about the Baltimore-based dream-pop duo Beach House hitting our shores this summer. With its atmospheric and dreamy marvel, the band’s third and highly acclaimed album Teen Dream has received outstanding reviews and won them a ‘band to watch in 2010’ tag from big industry guns. They are here for the sold-out St Jerome’s Laneway Festival in February and will do a few side gigs at the Sydney Festival. They play Beck’s Festival Bar with Parades on Wednesday 26 January and City Recital Hall Angel Place on Thursday 27 January.

Wire is a 70s English post-punk band whose live performances are said to be “full of urgency and vitality”. The band has been around for over 30 years and has over 10 studio albums, and has influenced the likes of Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party and REM. Wire will play with the Los Angeles four-piece HEALTH at the Beck’s Festival Bar on Thursday 20 January.

Catching Brooklyn-based Sufjan Stevens and Holly Miranda this time around would also be good. It’s their second visit to Sydney and both will be playing material from their new albums, The Age of Adz and The Magician’s Private Library, respectively. Set in the beautiful Sydney Opera House and backed by a large orchestra and video projections, Sufjan’s performance should be a treat for the senses. Dates to look out for are Thursday 27 and Friday 28 January. Holly Miranda will play at The Famous Spiegeltent on Saturday 15, Sunday 16 and Tuesday 18 January.

I am also very excited about seeing two of my favourite Australian acts, Paul Kelly and Gotye. Both will be on stage at the City Recital Hall Angel Place, Gotye with one show on Thursday 27 January, and Paul Kelly with a few from Thursday 20 to Sunday 23 January.

Live: An intimate video study of the art of performing is precisely that … a large-scale video installation showing a collection of performances of over 20 of the world’s best singers and musicians—Jarvis Cocker, Peaches, Róisín Murphy, Sarah Blasko, Warren Ellis, Rufus Wainwright to name a few. Its purposes is to create an intimate connection between the performer and their audience, and offer a profound, larger-than-life front row experience. Live will be showing from Friday 14 to Sunday 23 January at Sydney Town Hall.

Free Sydney Festival events are always great fun. For photography lovers like myself, Exposed will be a delight. It’s an engaging and diverse collection of images showing the role photography has played in capturing different interpretations of the classic nude. Works included are by some of the greatest photographers like Max Dupan, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Doisneau. Exposed will be on from Tuesday 4 January until Friday 11 March at The Nicholson Museum, University of Sydney.

And if you’re into large-scale picnics in the park with some form of music or entertainment in the background, then head to Festival in The Domain. Especially if you are fond of Latin beats and rhythms and don’t mind a bit of a dance to the late 80s hit La Bamba! Catch the East-LA Chicano rock legends Los Lobos and the Sydney-based mariachi band The Real Mexico for a true fiesta experience on Saturday 15 January, in the Domain.

If Latino isn’t quite your cup of tea, what about a Symphony in The Domain instead? Bring your picnic rug and set up camp early to get the best spot for a night of Sydney Symphony with Bell Shakespeare and Sydney Philharmonia Choirs under the stars. Relax to tunes from Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet. Then watch John Bell enact scenes from Shakespeare’s Henry V, accompanied by the mesmerizing Sydney Symphony and Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. Symphony in The Domain is happening on Saturday 22 January.

Well, so much to see and do and so little … Enjoy!

Splendour in the Grass festival sideshows

Band of Horses at the Enmore Theatre

I already miss the hot and long days of summer and its balmy nights. I can’t say I’m a big fan of winter, but I appreciate its charms. With some of the best international bands in town, courtesy of Splendour in the Grass Festival, winter 2010 might just not be too cold after all. The Strokes and Mumford and Sons sideshows sold out in minutes back in April, but try your luck with some of the following:

Band of Horses will play at the Enmore Theatre on Thursday 29 July. Tickets went on sale a few days ago, and at the time of writing this blog, there were still plenty available. Florence and the Machine is back in the country, and will be playing at the Enmore Theatre on Thursday 5, Friday 6 and Saturday 7 August. Tickets went on sale this morning. The beautiful Grizzly Bear will play on Sunday 25 July. Also at the Enmore Theatre will be Jonsi (of Sigur Ros), with a very special performance on Monday 2 August.

Florence and the Machine at the Enmore Theatre

Then there are all the Metro Theatre sideshows! New Yorkers Yeasayer will play on Wednesday 28 July; fresh from their third album tour Midlake are coming to Metro on Saturday 31 July; San Francisco rockers Black Rebel Motorcylce Club will take over the stage on Sunday 1 August; Laura Marling then follows with her own show on Monday 2 August, while the Canadian 8-piece Broken Social Scene will play on Wednesday 4 August. Check out the Metro Theatre site for heaps more bands playing in the 2 weeks around the Splendour weekend.

The Temper Trap at the Hordern Pavilion

And you can find even more superstars at the Hordern Pavilion: LCD Soundsystem and Hot Chip will be bringing down the house on Monday 26 July and our own Temper Trap‘s sold-out show is scheduled for Tuesday 27 July. So there you go. Two music action-packed weeks to bring back a bit of summer heat to your chilly winter nights.

The Strokes in Sydney

The Strokes

With a major winter music festival only months away, there’s a wave of really awesome bands already announcing sideshows around the end of July. Pencil in Thursday 29 July kids if you’re keen to see the NYC darlings, The Strokes. With the highly anticipated fourth album due to be released in September, the band is back and ready to rock the Hordern Pavilion. Pre-sale tickets already went on sale yesterday, while the general public ones go on sale Monday 12 April. The popular Londoners Mumford & Sons have already sold out their two Enmore Theatre shows on Tuesday 3 and Wednesday 4 August. So tough luck.

Surry Hills Festival

Surry Hills Festival

Any plans for next weekend? The annual Surry Hills Festival is on, where you can check out some live bands, savour delicious multi-culti foods, bump into familiar faces and enjoy the last of warm and sunny days (probably not). The festival has temporarily moved to its old location, Shannon Reserve on Crown Street, with the addition of a second entertainment stage and more stalls located in Ward Park on Devonshire Street. In live bands world, my highlights are Belles Will Ring and Jonathan Boulet in Ward Park, and The Paper Scissors and The Ray Mann Three in Shannon Reserve. Make sure you get there nice and early if you’re into dog shows and pick up poo races. The weather forecast for Saturday is not so great, maybe opt for a pair of gumboots and a brollie. More info and full entertainment lineup is right here.

Massive Attack at Sydney Opera House

Massive Attack

Bristol-based duo Massive Attack has finally confirmed their long-anticipated Australian tour. For us Sydney-siders, they chose no other than Sydney Opera House for their two shows on Monday 15 and Tuesday 16 March 2010. Tickets go on sale Friday 5 February, coinciding with their fifth studio album (Heligoland) release. If you purchase your tickets from the Sydney Opera House website, you’ll be treated to a free album download. Hurray to that!

Shoot the Player: Sydney and music on film

A great way to start the new year is by getting out and indulging in the goodies Sydney has on offer this summer. If you need a break from the beach or find the weather rather unappealing, get out there and see lots of international and local gigs at the Sydney Festival, catch a movie at one of the outdoor cinemas, or, for something a bit out of the ordinary, head down to Carriageworks in Newtown for a very interesting project from the Sydney-based Shoot the Player.

Together with Carriageworks, they are presenting an interactive showing of unique one-take music videos featuring local and international artists doing things like hanging out in their pyjamas, performing on the street and buying pastries. The aim of the exhibition is two-fold: to experience the musicians in a new light by seeing them in places one wouldn’t expect them to be normally; and the evolution of the spontaneous and unpredictable one-take music videos as an art form and the ‘do-it-yourself’ concept of filmmaking.

The installation runs until Saturday 30 January, and is free.

Shoot the Player

Big Day Out photo exhibition

Mart Gallery

Another really cool photo exhibition happening at the moment is the Tony Mott & Sophie Howarth. A Big Day Out Retrospective. Basically, it’s a collection of photographs from Australia’s favourite festival, Big Day Out, taken by two of Australia’s most renowned music photographers, Tony Mott and Sophie Howarth. The spectrum of musicians captured on camera is very impressive. From our own Magic Dirt, Silverchair, The Dirty Three to international superstars like The Ramones, Nirvana, Rage Against The Machine, Bjork, Iggy Pop, PJ Harvey and the list goes on and on.

The exhibition runs until Saturday 30 January and is free. Mart Gallery is at 156 Commonwealth Street in Surry Hills.

Sydney Festival freebies

Circa 1979: Signal to Noise -- Photo © Sydney Festival

There are quite a few free events to catch at Sydney Festival this January—think great little bands in the Famous Spiegeltent with Late at the Garden, Festival First Night starring the gospel legend Al Green, or something a little different like Symphony in The Domain—but my favourite is Circa 1979: Signal to Noise.

Circa 1979: Signal to Noise is a celebration of one of the most creative periods in Australia’s music history that spanned from 1979 to 1985. A period which saw avant garde, post-punk, new wave and early electronic styles of music become a thriving underground scene.

Presented by Sydney Festival and  Modular, this event consists of two parts. Signal to Noise Sessions is a day of free talks exploring early experimentation in music, film and video and the cultural influences surrounding this period, and is happening at the Seymour Centre on Saturday 16 January. Then there is Signal to Noise at the Sound Lounge, an exhibition of fanzines, photography and album artwork collected in an attempt to revive and recreate the Sydney underground music scene of 1979–1985. The exhibition will run over a couple of weeks in January at the Seymour Centre’s Sound Lounge. Coupled with unreleased music and a previously unseen video archive, this exhibition is the first of its kind. A must see for any music appreciator.

NME’s top 100 greatest albums of the decade

The Strokes

What a day! Not that this is relevant to what to do in Sydney, but I just can’t resist not publishing NME’s hot-off-the-press top 100 albums of the decade list. The list, which is made of albums released between January 2000 and December 2009, was voted for by NME staff, and a selection of musicians and industry figures. Here are the first 50, but for the full list and more detail, head to NME. While I love the fact that two amazing ladies, Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs are playing at Hordern Pavilion on Friday 8 January) and Polly Jean Harvey, are in the top 10, I’m a little disappointed only two Australian albums have made it in. At number 45 are the Avalanches with their 2000 debut Since I Left You and at number 92 sits Sleepy Jackson with the beautiful 2003 album Lovers. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds anyone?

1. The Strokes – Is This It
2. The Libertines – Up The Bracket
3. Primal Scream – XTRMNTR
4. Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever To Tell
6. PJ Harvey – Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea
7. Arcade Fire – Funeral
8. Interpol – Turn On The Bright Lights
9. The Streets – Original Pirate Material
10. Radiohead – In Rainbows
11. At The Drive In – Relationship Of Command
12. LCD Soundsystem – Sound Of Silver
13. The Shins – Wincing The Night Away
14. Radiohead – Kid A
15. Queens Of The Stone Age – Songs For The Deaf
16. The Streets – A Grand Don’t Come For Free
17. Sufjan Stevens – Illinois
18. The White Stripes – Elephant
19. The White Stripes – White Blood Cells
20. Blur – Think Tank
21. The Coral – The Coral
22. Jay-Z – The Blueprint
23. Klaxons – Myths Of The Near Future
24. The Libertines – The Libertines
25. The Rapture – Echoes
26. Dizzee Rascal – Boy in Da Corner
27. Amy Winehouse – Back To Black
28. Johnny Cash – The Man Comes Around
29. Super Furry Animals – Rings Around The World
30. Elbow – Asleep In The Back
31. Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
32. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Show Your Bones
33. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
34. Grandaddy – The Sophtware Slump
35. Babyshambles – Down In Albion
36. Spirtualized – Let it Come Down
37. The Knife – Silent Shout
38. Bloc Party – Silent Alarm
39. Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles
40. Ryan Adams – Gold
41. Wild Beasts – Two Dancers
42. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend
43. Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
44. Outkast – Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
45. Avalanches – Since I Left You
46. The Delgados – The Great Eastern
47. Brendan Benson – Lapalco
48. The Walkmen – Bows and Arrows
49. Muse – Absolution
50. MIA – Arular

My picks for Sydney Festival 2010

Camera Obscura

I always get so excited about the Sydney Festival. This time it was no different. Rumours had it the Scottish indie pop-rockers Camera Obscura were going to hit the town this January, and to my extreme delight, yes they are! Often compared to one of my absolute favourite bands Belle & Sebastian, this fine quintet came to my attention only a couple of years ago with Let’s Get Out of This Country. I fell in love with their memorable intimate bedroom pop melodies instantly. This is one band you will absolutely adore in the outdoor settings of the Beck’s Festival Bar.

It won’t be as epic as this year’s All Tomorrow’s Parties, but anything staring the brilliant Warren Ellis assures a spellbinding experience. Dirty Three and Laughing Clowns will perform Ocean Songs and History of Rock ‘n’ Roll Vol. 1 albums in their entirety at the Enmore Theatre on Australia Day. Dirty Three formed in Melbourne in 1991 and are Warren Ellis (Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds and Grinderman), Mick Turner  and Jim White. Sydney-based Laughing Clowns formed in 1979, after Ed Kuepper left The Saints. Alongside Kuepper and Jeffrey Wegener, the Sydney Festival version of Laughing Clowns will also feature Louise Elliott, Les ‘Biff’ Millar and Alister Spence.

In my opinion, festivals are just as much about seeing your favourite artists, as discovering new ones. I am quite keen to check out the Chicago-formed alternative country husband and wife duo The Handsome Family, especially since I’ve never seen anyone perform in The Famous Spiegeltent before. The Handsome Family have an impressive musical career of 14 years and nine albums! I say bring on some surreal, poetic American folk.

A new addition to Beck’s Festival Bar are the wonderful folk-rockers The Decemberists. This is an unmissable gig people!