The Ten Best Sydney Festival 2015 Gigs to Buy Tickets to Now

This post is sponsored by our partners, Sydney Festival.

Whether you want to throw shapes to beats more therapeutic than a life coach, hear operatic songs about death influenced by Jefferson Airplane, or celebrate the fact that triple j is ageing like a fine wine, Sydney Festival has the goods. Between January 8 and 26, you’ll be able to find music in places only SydFest time would allow: prison exercise yards, Hyde Park-turned-fairyland, the grounds of St Johns College and, of course, the Famous Spiegeltent.

We're aware that being overwhelmed with choice can make decision-making tough. Even James Baldwin wrote, "Too much freedom is unbearable." Extreme. But we also know that quite a few of Sydney Festival's gigs are likely to sell out well before Santa's planned his final route. So, we've done you a favour and picked out the ten shows that you should nab a ticket to, pronto.

ATOMIC BOMB! THE MUSIC OF WILLIAM ONYEABOR

William Onyeabor is perhaps the most mysterious man ever to have fused Afro-funk with space-age jams. After powering through the creation of eight albums over just as many years, he suddenly decided to stop talking — about himself or his music. However, it's a well-known fact that it takes an awful lot to 'stop the funk'. So, in what's certain to be one of the hands-down most epic musical events of Sydney Festival, an 18-strong band made up of artists from all over the world are getting together to jam through Atomic Bomb! The Music of William Onyeabor at the Enmore Theatre. Led by Sinkane, Money Mark, Luke Jenner (The Rapture), Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip) and Pat Mahoney (LCD Soundsystem), the performance will feature special guests in the form of Gotye and the legendary Mahotella Queens.

16 and 17 January, 8pm at Enmore Theatre. Tickets $85/77.

CORNELIUS PRESENTS SALYU X SALYU

All the way from Japan, this collaboration between noise pop guru Cornelius and enigmatic J-pop vocalist Salyu will make its Australian premiere at Sydney Festival. They're a potent match; while Cornelius has the beats finesse to keep any crowd on its feet until the wee hours, Salyu has the vocal skill and dynamic to keep him on his toes. She is, after all, the artist responsible for the haunting 'Kaifuku Suru Kizu', from Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill. Expect plenty of surprises.

23 January, 5.15pm at The Aurora, Hyde Park. Tickets $49.

SEU JORGE

There's not many a cover artist can teach David Bowie about music. But when the art-glam-rock king heard Seu Jorge perform his hits acoustically, in Portuguese, for The Life Aquatic, he said he heard a whole "new level of beauty". That's certainly no easily-earned praise. Jorge, who cut his deep yet irresistibly tender voice in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will make his debut Australian performance at Sydney Festival. He’ll be playing an array of his famous, unique interpretations, as well as a bunch of originals, accompanied by a delicious mix of Latin and Caribbean beats, in both live and electronic form.

10 January, 8pm in The Domain (free) and 11 January, 8pm at The Star Event Centre. Tickets $45-89.

ANNA VON HAUSSWOLFF

There are two reasons why this concert has made our list. First up, it involves the Town Hall's grand organ. That thing, which was the biggest organ on the planet when it was installed in 1890, can make 'Chopsticks' sound like Beethoven. Secondly, Anna von Hausswolff won’t be performing 'Chopsticks'; she’ll be playing and singing her dark, dramatic meditations on life and death. Genre-wise, they're tough to categorise, combining the influences of opera, film scores, black metal, the Cocteau Twins, Jefferson Airplane and her famous, avant-garde composing dad, Carl Michael Von Hausswolff. Plus she'll be supported by New Zealand's Aldous Harding, a 60s-influenced folk artist who dazzled Australian audiences earlier this year.

11 January, 8pm at Town Hall. Tickets $44-49.

BEN FROST AND TIM HECKER

For Australian and Canadian artists, it's difficult to escape the influence of isolation — along with the sense of natural abundance that comes from being part of a tiny population inhabiting a massive land area. Both Ben Frost, who was born here but now lives in Reykjavík, and Canadian Tim Hecker, whose calls Montreal home, create electronic music of epic proportions and striking contrasts. Where Frost combines classical minimalism with punk and metal, Hecker explores the crossroads of dissonance, melody and noise. Their getting together may well produce earthquakes.

11 January, 9.30pm at Joan Sutherland Theatre, Opera House. Tickets $49-$69.

KAROL CONKA

If there's one show at Sydney Festival that's going to boost your positive vibes and make dancing down the street irresistible for weeks afterward, it's Karol Conka's. In a recent Rolling Stone interview, she explained, "I situate myself in a position where I sing about joy; my protest is against sadness." Born in Brazil, Conka is one of the country's few female rappers to have risen out the underground, and her mixing of hip hop with Afro grooves promises to do more for your positive thinking than a sesh with Tony Robbins.

9 January, 11.45pm at The Aurora, Hyde Park. Tickets $30.

DAN DEACON

If you’re heading to Dan Deacon’s show, don’t forget your smartphone, whatever you do. Because it's your key to becoming an actual, live part of his gig. Before rocking up, audience members are asked to download an app, which will enable them to play an active role in his spectacular, synchronised sound and light extravaganza. Deacon, who hails from Baltimore, will be in rare solo form and is set to deliver one of his wildest, most chaotic and most fun performances yet. Last time Deacon visited our fair city for SydFest, there were dance races through the Hyde Park Barracks and the entire audience had to run through each other's raised-arm tunnels, one pair after the other. Expect everything.

22 January, 11.45pm at The Aurora, Hyde Park. Tickets $39.

BEAT THE DRUM: CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF TRIPLE J

It’s hard to believe that triple j was born in the same year that Gough Whitlam copped the old heave-ho as PM. The beloved radio station began its life as 2JJ back in 1975, with a broadcast that served the Sydney metropolitan area only. Four decades on, it's become the nation's chief music tastemaker, and (thankfully) hasn't wavered from its commitment to homegrown tunes. At Sydney Festival, triple j will celebrate its 40th birthday with a gargantuan, seven-hour long shindig, featuring performances from friends new and old, including Vance Joy, The Presets, Ball Park Music, The Preatures, Hilltop Hoods, Tkay Maidza, You Am I, The Cat Empire, Courtney Barnett, Remi, Nina Las Vegas, KLP, Adalita and more. If you're a never-fail triple j listener, you won't want to hear about this one from Matt and Alex the next day — get there.

16 January, 4pm at The Domain. Tickets $86.

BODY/HEAD

Drummers, who needs 'em? Sonic Youth co-founder Kim Gordon and genre-obliterating guitarist Bill Nace get together for an avant-noise session — that's absolutely percussion free. And mostly improvised. By confining themselves to two guitars and Gordon's vocals, the pair push themselves to the outer limits of minimalism. Pitchfork reviewer Marc Masters described their "dedication to a specific point of view" as "intoxicating". To add to this addictive effect, the live show is backdropped with mesmerising visuals.

22 January, 5.15pm at The Aurora, Hyde Park North. Tickets $49.

SO FRENCHY SO CHIC IN THE PARK

Prancing through fields laced with the charm of provincial France? Casual Saturdaying during SydFest time. So Frenchy So Chic in the Park is waltzing back to St John's College, an entire afternoon of French-inspired niceties — think gourmet picnic hampers, tortes and terrines, offensively good wine, quaint puppet shows, furious outdoor chess, casual bongo drum lessons — So Frenchy hinges around a solid lineup of some of France's best: Emile Simon, The Dø, La Femme and Francois and Atlas Mountains will crank out live sets on the lawn this year. Formidable. Don your best floral-headband-and-sundress-combo and gear up for un merveilleux après-midi.

January 17, 2.30pm at St John's College, University of Sydney. Tickets $89.

By the Concrete Playground team.