Eight Stellar Vivid Sydney Gigs You Can Catch for Under $50 If You're a Last-Minute Planner
From massive hip hop showcases and free outdoor gigs to late-night dance parties and full-venue takeovers, here's your guide to catching live music on a budget.
Eight Stellar Vivid Sydney Gigs You Can Catch for Under $50 If You're a Last-Minute Planner
From massive hip hop showcases and free outdoor gigs to late-night dance parties and full-venue takeovers, here's your guide to catching live music on a budget.
Vivid Sydney has returned after multiple postponements and cancellations. This year, the annual festival of lights, music and ideas isn't holding back when it comes to its sizeable lineup. To start, there are stunning light installations stretching across all parts of the city and at Taronga Zoo. There's also a heap of interactive activities, insightful talks and the festival's first-ever dinner with beloved chefs Mike Eggert and Dan Hong.
As for the music, there are some huge international acts bracing our shores following two years of closed borders (Spiritualized, Cakes Da Killa, Chai and Perfume Genius to name a few). There's local favourites making much-hyped returns to the stage like Sampa the Great and Tkay Maidza. But there's also plenty of top-notch sets you can catch on a budget if the bank account has been squeezed a little too hard lately.
From free outdoor festivals and expansive hip hop showcases to late-night dance parties and whole-venue takeovers, these are our picks for some of the best gigs under $50 happening during Vivid.
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For the first time, Darling Harbour’s Tumbalong Park is getting in on the Vivid Sydney action with the introduction of Tumbalong Nights. From Wednesday to Saturday throughout the festival, you can enjoy free performances from the very heart of the Light Walk. From rising Aussie starlets like Stevan and Elsy Wameyo to established acts like Haiku Hands and Hayley Mary of The Jezabels — and long-time festival favourites like Caitlin Harnett & the Pony Boys — the lineup stretches far and wide. There’s a night dedicated to local soul and RnB with Ngaiire, Maina Doe, Becca Hatch and Ms Thandi. And, legendary South Sudanese musician Gordon Koang will be performing with electronic maestro Sampology, reimagining the songs from Koang’s acclaimed album Unity.
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During Vivid, three local party-starting collectives are pulling together killer dance music lineups for a series of studio parties. Local independent record label Future Classic has helped foster some of the country’s most beloved dance music acts and some of our biggest musical exports. Acts like Flume, Flight Facilities, Ta-ku, G Flip and Methyl Ethel have all come through with support from the label. The label’s studio party is kicking off Vivid with music headed up by resident bass-loving Pizza Guy Touch Sensitive, alongside appearances from Tseba, Ayebatonye and Deepa. Inner West DJ crew Mad Racket will also be jumping in on the action, while the final two parties are courtesy of Astral People — with an all-night-long set from Barcelona’s John Talbot — and Picnic, who have enlisted Wax’O Paradiso, Adi Toohey, Kali, Evie and Hyfe. Each event kicks off around 9pm and will stretch until the early hours of the morning, with music blaring until past 2am.
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A home to sticky floors and debaucherous nights, Club 77 (or Sevs as it’s often affectionately referred to) is now 25-years-old. The long-standing nightclub has been a go-to for packed dance floors throughout the last three decades. Just in time for its half-decade celebrations, the Sydney institution was given a revamp, with a new look, a new drinks menu from the Odd Culture crew and a new set of opening hours which will see it open 5pm–4am seven days a week. To celebrate, it’s hosting a heap of big late-night parties including two blockbuster shows as part of Vivid’s live music program. The two club nights have been coined 77 Live and will feature lineups curated by two renowned party collectives with accompanying lights and three-dimensional visual displays from artist Tom Vanderzeil under their Passive Kneeling moniker. The first night has been pulled together with the help of events organisation UNDR ctrl and will be headlined by a five-hour back-to-back set from beloved indie-pop producer Golden Vessel and electronic duo Close Counters. Night two’s music is in the hands of local collective Heavenly.
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Throughout June, Circular Quay gig haven Mary’s Underground will be hosting a series of three boundary-pushing and immersive music experiences. The Going Under series will see lineups curated by GLO, Deepa and Ayebatonye deconstruct their experiences of Sydney through music and performance. Each event will take over the underground venue for one Thursday in June. The series kicks off on Thursday, June 2 with Planet Abundance, a night celebrating afro-futurism and Black joy from Ayebatonye and friends. Expect sets void of genre that celebrate the Black history of dance music. On Thursday, June 9, GLO will lead the charge with Cultural Re-Set. Across the night’s four performances, the lineup featuring Pookie, Temgazi and Sevy, exploring black diasporic experiences through storytelling and music. Closing out the series, FBi Radio favourite and Honey Point member Deepa will be heading up a night that celebrates South Asian communities and musicians with a huge lineup of local party starters featuring Uncle Kal, Ramashon, Cinnamonkween, Gayatrigger and two back-to-back sets from Nausheen and Randev, as well as DJ Mistry and Rakish, Scalymoth.
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One of the most influential artists on the Australian hip hop scene of the last five years, BLESSED is taking to the Sydney Opera House for a night of genre-blending performance that he’s titled Aussie Blackstar. The Ghanaian-born Sydney-based artist has worked with the likes of Milan Ring, Manu Crooks, Amaarae and Maina Doe. He even produced now-global superstar The Kid Laroi’s breakout EP 14 With a Dream when Laroi was still in his early teen years. Along with performing cuts from his debut album Aussie Blackstar — which is set to be released via Matt Corby’s Rainbow Valley Records on Friday, June 3 — BLESSED has pulled together an all-star roster of hip hop and RnB favourites. He’ll be joined on the night by Baby Prince, Chirine, Maina Doe, Manu Crooks, Matt Black and the mysterious hip hop collective BBGB who will be making their Australian debut at the show.
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In the dying days of 2019, Camp Cope’s valiant leader Georgia Maq released the raw and vulnerable solo album Pleaser. The album continues the deeply personal lyrics of many of Camp Cope’s best songs, but trades shredding guitars and plucky bass lines for more synthesisers. Since its release, Maq has been booked to perform the album at Vivid for its past two iterations, before the festival was ultimately cancelled both times. Finally, at Vivid’s grand return in 2022, she’ll be taking to the Sydney Opera House’s Utzon Room to perform tracks from Pleaser as well as her biting new single ‘Joe Rogan’ about a toxic guy she dated. The show will mark Georgia Maq’s return to the Sydney Opera House for the first time since Camp Cope’s headline show in 2019 and their back-to-back sold out shows as part of Vivid 2017.
Image: Jo Duck
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Sydney community radio station FBi Radio has been uplifting and celebrating Sydney music and the arts for nearly 20 years. A leading voice in the local music scene, the independent radio station puts on the SMAC (Sydney Music, Arts and Culture) Awards each year, and this year, the FBi team is taking things IRL to put on the SMACS Fest as part of Vivid. The longstanding community radio station is running a full venue takeover of the Oxford Art Factory for the festival with a huge lineup filled with more than 15 of the city’s best bands, solo artists and DJs across two stages. Heading up the lineup is rapper Tasman Keith in the lead up to his new album A Colour Undone, acclaimed singer-songwriter and producer Rainbow Chan, energetic punk and hip-hop trio Shady Nasty and multi-talented rapper and creative Jamaica Moana. Elsewhere on the lineup you’ll find live performances from the likes of Moody Beach, 700 Feel and Wytchings alongside DJ sets from Spin the Bottle, Outer Shores, Radar Sounds, Club Boyfriend and Credcendoll just to name a few. Tickets are $35 plus booking fees, however all FBi Radio Supporters can nab $10 off their ticket.
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On 26 January of this year, Yuin rapper and host of Triple J’s Blak Out launched We Are Warriors, a platform dedicated to inspiring and empowering Indigenous youth through a system of role models. “After experiencing racism as a kid, my Mum spoke to me three of the most powerful words I have ever heard – We Are Warriors. It instilled a fire inside of me, a sense of pride and this unimaginable desire to be successful and show the world that WE ARE WARRIORS,” said Nooky. “This journey has led me to launch a platform to highlight prolific Indigenous excellence across music, fashion, sports and everything in between; a celebration of Blak excellence to empower young people in our community.” As part of Vivid Sydney, Nooky is taking over the Oxford Art Factory with a huge roster of talent who share the We Are Warriors vision. On the lineup, there are local favourites like Triple One, Ziggy Ramo and The Terrys alongside the likes of Dallas Woods, Akala Newman, Jade Le Flay, Jayvy, Muggera, Roman Jody and Scraps. All profits from the tickets to the We Are Warriors enterprise will go towards supporting workshops, mentoring programs and support for Indigenous youth and young Indigenous creatives.
Top image: Jordan Munns
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