Sydney's weather's not the nicest right now, and forecasts reckon it's going to keep on. Time will tell. In the meantime, in Kazuyoshi Miyoshi's photos the weather is beautiful, the water still and the sky is clear. In 1985 Miyoshi won the Kimura Iehi award, and in 1998 he was commissioned to photograph Japan's world heritage sites by UNESCO. Though it may have taken a while to get here, that collection is touching down near one of our own World Heritage sites to settle in for a month of viewing at the Japan Foundation. As will Miyoshi, who talks at the exhibition Thursday evening. The show touches on the serene. Covered in gold, the Kinkakuji Temple which has been the subject of a Hiroshige woodblock, took ten years to build, and while it was originally put together for Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's retirement, it became a temple after his death. Ashikaga's life itself was somewhat less peaceful than his temple. The water-footed Miyajima Torii Gate also features, as does Hiroshima's Genbaku Dome — the only building still standing where the atomic bomb dropped, a reminder of its human cost. Miyoshi's photography should help you keep it, and the other sites, fresh in your mind.
Respected science writer, and former Economist correspodent, Matt Ridley was chairman of UK bank Northern Rock in 2007, having resigned near the start of its spectacular Global Financial Crisis journey from apparent private wealth into government hands. Now, years after that experience, he’s written a book on the future of humanity, flush with optimism called The Rational Optimist. Which takes balls, or blithe single-mindedness, depending on your point of view. He's talking about his optimism live on stage at the Sydney Opera House, spilling over from his keynote at the Melbourne Festival of Ideas. He won't be talking about his time at the Rock on stage (his employment contract apparently forbade it), but he will be talking about his thesis which suggests that despite the problems facing the world, modern tech and systems have made life better. To say that Ridley likes the free market is a bit of an understatement. If you're a fellow free market fan, then his opinions on the need for optimism will be a refreshing change of pace; if — more likely these days — you're not, then his intelligent pro-market belligerence might get you thinking angry thoughts, but hopefully interesting ones to boot. Image by John Watson.
If you’re planning on heading to Oxford Art Factory to see The Paper Scissors play on Friday night, one thing you probably won’t find being emitted from the stage is the homely twang of an Australian accent. Jai Pynes seems to be making a conscious attempt to progressively neutralise his vowel sounds with every album the band releases, and we’re loathe to admit that its making their music sound really, really good. Granted the guys spent a few months travelling around the US writing songs before returning to our shores to play them, so the spacey vibes and ambiguous vocal origins could maybe be put down to lingering jetlag. If that is indeed the cause, bands should deprive themselves of sleep more often — it’s not like extensive travel has ever been known to dampen the ability of Jai Pyne, Xavier Naughton and Ivan Lisyak to invest their live shows with seizure-like movements and the occasional vein-swelling howl. As long as they don’t drop that penchant for pretending they all have ADHD in the process of delivering more controlled, long-form epic rock soundscapes, then we don’t really care if they sound like Americans.
When I was young, and my parents would visit Myer to buy, like, an iron, or a food processor to aid the making of vegan hedgehog slice (true story), I used to head straight to the toy department and wonder what would happen if I got locked in there overnight. I was pretty sure it would be terrifying, but as a reward for my bravery I would get to keep all the toys I opened. Late Night Library is the slightly more grown up Lucinda’s version of that dream. Since April this year, Surry Hills Library has played host to a series of after-hours talks, workshops and film screenings, a fair number of them on the naughty side. This Thursday, that repertoire will be expanded as singer/songwriters take the LNL stage. Performers include Jai Payne (The Paper Scissors), Camilla Hill and Cody Dillon in what has been termed (by whom no-one knows) ‘a 4 headed 8 armed singing-songwriting chimera of death’. I guess my younger self was right about this kind of thing being terrifying. Entry is free, but it’s recommended you book ahead by calling the library: 02 8374 6230
It's totally okay to go and spend your money at August's Big Fashion Sale. Not only will you be virtuously supporting the Australian fashion industry, you'll get the chance to try on and possibly go home with some very clever and attractive pieces of work. The usual story of samples and seconds, these events are also a good way to hone your overall shopping fitness. Identifying items in sizes and styles relevant to you and evaluating them according to the 'amount you want them' x 'condition they're in' x 'actual saving' x 'how much money you have' formula, requires mental agility, budgeting and prioritising, which reinforces your 'responsible adult' powers. Not only that, the change rooms at these things are a yoga experience if solo and a lesson in how-to-not-elbow-people-while-not-meeting-their-eyes when communal. This particular sale, in the new location of Darlinghurst's District 01, has pieces from Asuza Women's, Maurie & Eve, Shakuhachi, Lonely Hearts, Laurence Pasquier, Carly Hunter, Nathan Smith, Birthday Suit, Rittenhouse, Deadly Ponies, Ruby Smallbone, Elke Kramer, Nicola Finetti, myPetsQuare, Emma Jube, Seventh Wonderland, We Are Handsome, Story by Tang, Secret Squirrel, Shona Joy and Strummer. Options will run from denim to sparkles.
Well, I think my enduring memory of Ballet Revolucion may be my friend, who is in a long-term relationship, exclaiming at the top of her voice, just as the audience went quiet, "seeing all those chiselled bodies is making me want to be promiscuous again!", followed by a fit of giggles from both of us. The fact that we laughed out loud, though, not only made it more fun but also is testament to how out of the mould this ballet experience is, and her comment describes just how mesmerising it was to watch these lithe bodies cut breathtaking shapes across the stage. Instead of the usual respectful silence, it was liberating to be able to whoop and cheer whenever a dancer performed a particularly stunning feat of technical brilliance, as some of the dancers' infectious enthusiasm and Latin exuberance spilt over into the audience. The show, which features some of Cuba's most talented ballet dancers, hits the State Theatre in Sydney after making its world premiere in Perth. Producers John Lee and Mark Brady enlisted the help of acclaimed choreographers, Roclan Gonzalez Chavez (Cuba) and Aaron Cash (Australia), to create a work which captures Cuba's joie de vivre, and its people's passion for music and dance. Borrowing as it does from influences as diverse as R&B and hip hop, acrobatics and martial arts, Ballet Revolucion fuses these elements expertly with both traditional ballet and Cuban folklore dance to create an eclectic medley individual of dance pieces. The entire performance is accompanied by a full band, who belt out a diverse mix of music with skill and panache. The sounds span from flamenco and Cuban Jazz to hits by artists such as Enrique Iglesis, Shakira, Santana, Ricky Martin, Usher, Beyonce, Gotan Project and, one of the highlights of the show, Prince. 'Purple Rain' is surely a song meant for interpretive modern ballet? The performance certainly was revolutionary in terms of its wonderful juxtapositions of music and dance culture, though perhaps the gaps between Cuban beats and urban pop were just a little too large to allow it to be truly coherent. Nevertheless, the choreography was superb, the dancing extraordinary, most of the music infectious (R&B aside) and the atmosphere absolutely electric. A dazzling performance that will leave you reeling.
Renowned actor and playwright Ningali Lawford (Rabbit Proof Fence) grew up on a cattle station, daughter of the head stockman and hearing her grandparents' stories of the 1950s. Aboriginal cattle-station workers of the fifties worked in what their own government's 'Chief Protector' had described as "semi-slavery" not too long before. When the stockmen won the right to equal wages in 1968, a lot of station owners reacted to their new obligations by firing most of their workers. Belvoir are about to restage Windmill Baby, a show steeped in the era, and starring Sapphires alumnus Roxanne McDonald. Windmill Baby was the first script by indigenous authors to win the Patrick White award. Lawford worked with playwright David Milroy to bring the era to life, humour and horror intact. Its protagonist returns to the cattle station where she'd worked as a domestic in the fifties, half a century before. In the intimate space of the downstairs theatre, McDonald will bring that distant era to life with stories of what had happened, who was loved and what went wrong. The lives in this play were harsh, the conditions equally so. But listening to Roxanne McDonald tell stories for an evening will be anything but a chore.
If you were at last year's Underbelly Arts festival you probably wandered in and around FraserStudios' brick halls. If you went this year, you saw some of the alumni from Fraser's sister space Queen Street Studio performing or showing off their art. The studios support local Sydneysiders with residencies, as they struggle to find a way to afford studio space on an artist's almost-zero budget. In return, they participate in an open day at the end of their residency. At the July Open Day, you can check out some of the people you might be seeing around the artistic traps this time next year. As the public is invited in to get a good look in at where they work and what they've been up to, you can get closer to artists' studios, watch the results of the performing artist residencies, or just relax with some nibbles or a beer. Current residents include photographer Cherine Fahd, sculpturer Marilyn Schneider, and real-life artistic alter-ego of FBi riddler Renny Kodgers, Mark Shorter. Their work will be on show in the Studio gallery, along with works from former studio residents like JD Reforma. Photo by Arunas Klupsas.
In Japan the stars Altair and Vega lean across the flowing Milky Way to kiss each other once a year. To celebrate the kiss there's a festival on earth called Tanabata. Wishes are written out on coloured papers and hung off a bamboo tree. Impro Melbourne's Rama Nicholas discovered the tradition in Osaka, and turned it into the core of an improv show she developed and toured around the world. Impro Australia are bringing her show to life here in Sydney for one night at the Bondi Pavilion, and you're invited to come and add your wishes to the night's bill. In the lobby before the show, the audience will be invited to write their wishes anonymously on bits of paper and pin them to the wishing tree. When the show starts, the performers pluck random wishes from the tree and make a show out of it. Some wishes are funny, some are sincere. Sometimes they're even heartbreaking: "I wish my husband would stop drinking and love me again" was a wish one night when creator Nicholas ran the show. If you have a wish inside, a need, desire or profound whim, bring it along and commit it to paper. Original image by Chao Jikazu.
Secret Wars may not be quite as secret as it was when it started in 2006 in London, but the name still seems appropriate. After all, there’s always going to be something weirdly personal about watching two artists trying to outdo each other in a 90 minute race/battle. Perhaps it’s because the pursuit of art seems so solitary even when it’s an onstage competition. Perhaps it’s just that the contestants usually spend their time illustrating elaborate puns on their opponent’s names. In any case, it always makes for a great evening. This Wednesday, Oxford Art Factory will host the semi-finals of Sydney’s 3rd Secret Wars ‘Season’. HEESCO and VARS ONE will be trading ink in a fierce battle for a spot in the Grand Finals later this year. Remember to cheer extra loud for the artist you think deserves the top spot — the crowd vote is decided using a decibel reader.
John Kaldor's long running Public Art Project lit up your name in lights as part of this year's Sydney Festival. It's been producing odd things in public for quite some time now. In 1976, it brought pioneering video artist Nam June Paik to Sydney from Korea, who shocked the city with the variety of ways he could get Charlotte Moorman to play the cello. Drawing inspiration from this earlier Korean-Australian art exchange, the MCA is hosting a show of local and Korean art in conjunction with the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul, called Tell Me Tell Me. Using the National Art School's sandstone digs as venue, the MCA is sending artists from the exhibition in to talk about their art in situ. In the gallery itself, you'll hear from spectacle-making artists the Brown Council, triple-cultured Newell Harry, and get a rare chance to get close to Ken Unsworth's words and work at the same time. Piggybacking on the Art School's ongoing Artforum series, environmentally-themed artist and COFA lecturer Bonita Ely will explain the importance of the Fluxus movement — a latter-day Dada-like art movement from the sixties which had adherents like Yoko Ono and Nam June Paik himself. Like the movement, Ely's talk will shun the gallery and take place in the School's Cell Block Theatre. Bonita Ely's talk is on July 20 at 1pm; Brown Council, Harry and Unsworth talk in the Gallery on July 23 at 2pm. Image: Yeesookyung, While Our Tryst Has Been Delayed, 2010
There's a lot of creativity bubbling up in the Sydney ether that you don't ordinarily get to see. But the suspicion that it's out there, and happening, can feel so strong you can almost come up with an address. One of the points of the creatively broad Creative Sydney is to find out what interesting stuff is going down. Usually you glean it from motes of compelling sidelines that shake loose from higher-minded discussions of how to get funded, where to put stuff on and enthusiastic objections from the floor. In a sense, the whole of Creative Sydney is like a giant show and tell. And at its Show and Tell sessions, the sidelined travelogue thread goes from intriguing aside to centre stage. Visual Enchantment brings designers and Semi-Permanent supervisors Design is Kinky to the podium alongside moving-imagers Snakes & Ladders, while the Digital Sydney evening focuses on Thor-making Sydney FX studio fuelvfx. There are five sessions in all, and though you might not yet know too much about the latest creative things on the boil around town, check out the Show and Tell sessions and you'll be able to tell me a thing or two. *Creative Sydney's main round of (free) tickets is full up. But space has tended to turn up in previous years, and you can hop on the waitlist for each event.
Spirituality in cinema is a double-edged sword. From the works of Andrei Tarkovsky to the more recent A Prophet, films that delve into the unseen gears of faith and another world tend to laden themselves with a weight that will welcome dedicated viewers and drive the rest away. Of Gods and Men, directed by Xavier Beauvois, carries on the tradition with a piece that is beautiful, deeply meditative and, for those with the endurance, long drawn. The film takes place in and around a monastery in Algeria, during the mid-90s. A picturesque opening details the daily lives of the eight French Trappist monks who make their home here, and lays out their close relationship with the Muslim inhabitants of the neighbouring village. This is an image of pure, pastoral bliss, with the monks tending to their honey-making, their vegetable patches and their communal prayers. There is mutual respect and a genuine love between the two groups - monks and villagers - displayed both through the dedicated work of the doctor, Brother Luc (Michael Lonsdale), and through the monks celebrating birthdays with local families. Of course, such a peaceful opening begs to be overturned, and when Of Gods and Men's second act opens with the arrival of extremist Mujahideen soldiers, the violence of the outside world makes its presence felt. Like other films dealing with religion and spirituality, the arrival of the soldiers is the crucible of the monks' faith. Charged by their vows and their love to stand by the local villagers, sandwiched between the extremists and an increasingly paranoid government, the monks are faced with the question of whether they should leave or remain at the monastery where they will surely die. Often in spiritual films, the question of faith and the presence of a higher power is seen through the eyes of a sole believer. Not so in Of Gods and Men. Beauvois has worked with the ensemble cast to create a strong sense of communal faith, and this film renders a very human approach to an otherwise lofty genre. Supporting the cast and direction is Caroline Champetier's cinematography and Michel Barthélémy's production design. Both of these elements create a world that beguiles with its simplicity. Aside from questions of spirituality, these two elements gently place the idea of a slow, grassroots life, filled with bespoke knitwear and the comforts of tilled soil. Make sure that you're in the mood for reflection when you come to see Of Gods and Men. It will reward an unrushed viewing and subsequent pondering, but otherwise you will feel as if the film is half an hour too long.
It's a good moment for Asian Art in Sydney right now. The Art Gallery of New South Wales cottoned on to its magnificence a while back, with their now no-longer new Asian Galleries. The White Rabbit Gallery continues to offer an enormous private Asian art foundation near the city's centre. And just across the tram-tracks from the back of the Capitol Theatre is Gallery 4a, the Asian Australian Artists' Association's gallery of rotating contemporary Asian art. This month they bring together artworks built from stranger fabrics with the show Three Emerging Projects. Emerging from contemplations of the self and its surrounding social web of expectations, Cyrus Tang, Shalini Jardin and Tracy Luff are using cardboard constructions, hair and single-celled organisms to get their artistic muse expressed. Tang's work tends to focus on dislocation, while Luff has hewn a strange forest with mangroves hips from corrugated cardboard, which greets you by the door. (Using similar techniques to a Camper store's odd furniture, but with more ambition.) 4a is eager to lure you in amongst the weird substance these artists have unleashed, and it won't release you from them unsatisfied. Original image by Soggydan.
You've had the Chaser's visit you in your lounge room on TV, print and radio. Now, as part of FBi's Social experiment, the Chaser invite you to come hang around in their lounge room as part of a weekly discussion series laced with comedy, or comedy series laced with discussion, called the Chaser's Empty Vessel. A rotating Chaser cast will host the evening, with invited guests and FBi's DJ Jack Shit running soundtrack to the words. Last time around, Goodies scientifico Graeme Garden condescended to ascend the stage. This month they're joined by Fiona McGregor, novelist and artist, who once had herself thrown out of the Art Gallery of NSW for joining in with the art, and then had the cojones to invoice them for it afterwards. Also talking is UTS' Craig Allchin, who put the mojo into Melbourne's small bar scene and is looking to do the same for Sydney if given the chance. Come and run your ear over what they have to say, in a small bar of your own choosing. Image by Mushroom and Rooster.
A passing glance at Chunky Move's latest work, Connected, might conjure up images of medieval torture devices. For what other reason would someone be connected by strings from their back that run into what appears to be a Catherine Wheel? However, it is a closer look that reveals the sane, less bloodthirsty answer. Suspended above the performers is a complex web of paper, wire and string: a geometric net frozen in the air. Constructed by Californian artist, Reuben Margolin, this device echoes the movements of the connected dancers in real-time to produce temporary sculptures. While the principles behind the device's construction appear to be simple — a criss-cross of joints and bars — there is a wealth of mathematical brain-crunching driving their fluid articulation. As a result, Margolin's device becomes a major performer in Connected, working alongside the human dancers — directed and choreographed by Gideon Obarzanek — to create a series of clean, physical sequences that grow increasingly complex throughout the piece. Connected is a fantastic conceptual follow-up to Chunky Move's other works, Mortal Engine and Glow. Both of these earlier works explored the role of a human interface in manipulating audiovisual technologies. But, rather than hyperjumping to the far regions of digital performance forever more, Obarzanek has turned the clock back to old-school mechanics. The device at the heart of Connected does not run on electricity. Its movement is stimulated only by the dancer it is coupled to, and it is in this that the show presents a timely reminder. Technology may provide us with flashy new frontiers but, ultimately, what drives any application is still very much grounded in our humanity. Catch this living wave-form sculpture in Sydney before Connected jumps the oceans to South Korea and the USA. Image by Jeff Busby
One of the best film festivals in Sydney flies gently under the radar. And (except for its opening night gala) it's all free. The Message Sticks film festival is back at the Opera House for four days in May, bringing you indigenous film from around the world. Beck Cole's opening night feature offers a story of redemption in Here I Am, while Shifting Shelter 4 presents the latest instalment in a Seven-up like series that has tracked four indigenous Australians in rural NSW since 1995. On the Ice has been screened at the Sundance and Berlin film festivals, and tells a story of two teenagers, a seal hunt and an accident. The Australian premiere of Mexican And the River Flows On follows the push to build a hydroelectric dam near Acapulco, threatening local indigenous communities, while the festival's shorts program offers you a visit to pre-colonial Hawaii and some urban Australian drama. You don't need to be an expert on first cultures to check out this festival. You just need to be interested, intrigued or turn up. Tickets to the free films can be collected at the Playhouse foyer from an hour before the event, limit two per person.
An observant and sometimes handsome Englishman named G.K Chesterton once wrote that "Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions". What he might have meant is that popularity or acceptance does not necessarily determine something to be true or accurate; in fact the opposite is often the case. This opinion seems to work particularly well when considering the history of film and cinema, where narratives, roles, and stereotypes often find themselves in formulaic, fashionable loops (have you seen this one? Man loses girl so man does something, overcoming various obstacles, to get girl back). Think of all the remakes and sequels we witness each year in popular contemporary cinema that reinforce aged principles and tired behaviour. And, although we might consider ourselves astute viewers, we should probably admit that cinema is somewhat of a charismatic medium, often making it even more difficult to determine fallacy from fashion, social stereotype from social reality. Taking place at the always-rewarding Red Rattler, Seen & Heard is a free festival celebrating women filmmakers. And while this festival attempts to address and critique gender roles commonly occurring in both the production and exhibition of contemporary cinema, the festival organisers would contend with anyone wanting to pigeonhole women filmmakers with solely presenting and dealing with 'women's themes'. In fact the festival promises to "battle the celluloid ceiling" and deal with questions on "class, race, ability/disability, gender and sexuality". What seems promising here is that this festival looks as though it will be less about attacking gender restrictions in cinema and more about looking and listening at films that deserve attention, despite what the fashion may be. The schedule: Thursday January 14th - Stranger than Fiction: exhibiting both fiction and documentary shorts featuring guest speaker, filmmaker Sunny Grace. Friday January 15th - Scarlet, White and Blue: causing controversy over race relations in Australia. Saturday January 16th - Festival Gala night: featuring special guests Gurleseque and a live performance by Fag Panic. Sunday January 17th - She's So Unusual: experimental shorts with guest speaker, filmmaker Gillian Leahy.
The big haired, skinny jeaned UK outfit The Horrors are all pomp and dark romance. From the scuzzy thrash punk beginnings of their debut Strange House, they exploded in the UK with some serious NME cover time and have built a solid following around the world. They released Primary Colours last year, which saw them leaning more towards the sounds of post-punk/new romantics like Nick Cave and Joy Division, and shoe-gazers like My Bloody Valentine. The album was lauded by critics as phenomenal and it is really a fantastically moody yet poppy gem with aggressive but catchy hooks left right and centre. If you want to avoid the sweaty masses at the BDO then catch The Horrors' side show at the OAF.
Billed as "a unique collective of experimental pop, indie and electronic" The Sister Cities Music Festival would be graded as small on the festival-ometer, but still packs punch with some great bands and solo acts from Melbourne and Sydney. It's nice that they are trying to bring some unity to the table between these competitive sisters, and with acts like Sydney's Megastick Fanfare and Melbourne's The Emergency topping the bill we'll all learn there's nothing like percussive freak outs and dancing to bring cities and people together. It's a truly eclectic lineup with the folky/pop stylings of Shady Lane, and then Bon Chat Bon Rat - who win the obscure band name competition. The are a few unknowns on the bill also worth checking out: TST from Melbourne who do moody post-punk with Bloc Party-esque dueling guitars and disco beats, and Tantrums adding some more electronic tinges to the Fest with their glitchey melodies and beats. It should be interesting to see if it all comes together into something cohesive, though it probably won't and that could well be the charm of it.
Bernard Herrmann agreed to compose music for Alfred Hitchcock's films on the condition that he would be given total control over of his arrangements. A meticulous and progressive composer, Mr. Herrmann felt that any interference with his own vision would result in taxidermy music: it would look alive but actually be dead. Although this made him a difficult man to work with, his contribution to Hitchcock's 1960 thriller Psycho is probably one of the most recognisable scores in the history of cinema (in close competition is of course the alternating E and F notes from Jaws). It's one of those scores that's impossible (once you have seen Marion Crane get theatrically stabbed in the shower) to imagine anything other than those piercing, repetitive, high-pitched jolts of sound when thinking of the film. Now, for one night only, the score will be performed live alongside a screening of the film to celebrate its 50th anniversary - an all strings Sydney Lyric Orchestra providing the chills. And, since Mr. Herrmann thought that film scores should have legs of their own, this performance may even have pleased the man behind the notes.
If you were to collect all the symbolism, totemistic allegory and florid metaphor fashioned throughout the history of art into something tangible, and, say with careful precision you placed it on a scale next to Mathew Barney's five-part feature length drama the Cremaster Cycle, it would be a difficult task to measure which one weighed heavier than the other. This is a body of work that rivals Wagner's most ostentatious orchestration, advertising's most glossy and coordinated arrangement, or even pornography's most obscure genital fixation. Meaning becomes a slippery spectacle, the body becomes ritualized, and we find ourselves in an imagination that is relentlessly mythological and acrobatic. Matthew Barney's Cremaster Cycle - named after the muscle of the spermatic cord which allows the testicles to be partially raised or lowered - is a little like discovering an alternative version of Darwin's Origin of the Species in a precise parallel world. Here we watch as Busby-Berkeley style chorus girls display a choreographed rendition of the reproductive organs inside a sports stadium, a videogame-like ascent in the Guggenheim (featuring sculptor Richard Serra as the 'big boss' melting and splashing fat as Barney climbs each spiraling level of the museum), animals and humans in their embryonic or transitional stage, as well as objects that are both magnificently odd and disturbing for that very reason. This Cremaster Cycle season at the Chauvel is worthy of some attention since its bound to produce some questions. Cremaster 1 and 2 Friday 15 Jan 2010 8:30pm Cremaster 3 Friday 22 Jan 2010 8:30pm Cremaster 4 and 5 Friday 29 Jan 2010 8:30pm Drawing Restraint 9 Friday 5 Feb 2010 8:30pm
Rejoice with beaded tambourine, clap with cooing castanets, follow the pie-in-the-skied piper to the Metro Theatre this January, for he, leader of the weirdie beardies doth return. It's been a while between kombuchas that Devendra Banhart came to town, and that's a shame because his show at the Petersham RSL way back when was pretty damn dreamy. Still, absence does make the heart grow fonder, and the hair grow longer, both things working in Banhart's favour. Banhart is a native Californian, and this and his half Venezualan ethnicity are telltale marks in his folk music, often sheltered under the (uncomfortable) umbrella terms "New Weird America" and "Freak Folk". After his nine solo albums, however, it's clear there's more to his poetic musings than potshot kombucha jokes (but they're just so easy!). His most recent, What Will We Be forays more into the soft-rock and glitterglam sounds that his last couple of records have been hinting at, but there are still touches of ashram ethereality harking back to Cripple Crow and, very faintly, the simple beauty of Rejoicing in the Hands. Before, we get into the show details, two things from the DB FAQ: 1. Yes, his voice is a dead-ringer for a young Marc Bolan in Tyrannosaurus Rex' Our People Were Fair and Wore Flowers In Their Hair days. 2. Yes, he dated Natalie Portman. Past tense. Beard-lovers and Portman-lovers alike can now breathe out a sigh of relief. If you're a fan of Banhart, and suspect you might like his own taste in music, Rio en Medio who is signed to Gnomonsong (the record label he runs) plays in Sydney with Brightblack Morning Light on January 14, details here. Tickets for Devendra Banhart's show are available now.
What on Earth has Jim Cameron been doing for the past 12 years? Well, not much - technically - for he has gone virtual, turning that closely guarded world of gaming geeks into pure cinematic spectacle. And that is exactly what Avatar is: absolute spectacle â€" a big, bright and sweeping epic that demands to be seen on the silver screen, behind 3D glasses. The story itself is pretty basic, essentially Pocahontas meets Fern Gully, and considering Sigourney Weaver's presence, it has a few lashings of Aliens (by way of Gorillas in the Mist) as well. Of course none of these references make for a particularly pretty post-colonial reading of the film. Your world is on the brink of utter destruction? Ok, but be sure to waste precious time trying to save the white woman. Not to mention the classic white warrior "going native" and rescuing the noble savages from themselves. Then again, Avatar probably wasn't meant to stand up to such discourse, rather it exists in the world of fairytale; one not so far removed from its gaming brethren or Cameron's Terminator and Aliens shoot-em-ups. And then comes the heart, where, mercifully, Cameron dials back on the stultifying declarations rampant in Titanic, instead presenting the burgeoning love of Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) as one born of the respect of warriors. And in keeping with the fairytale tropes, every character slots into their allotted caricature very well. Weaver is the impassioned scientist, Giovanni Ribisi the corporate stakeholder protecting his bottom line and, most amusingly, Stephen Lang is Colonel Quaritch the mercenary muscle as well as the source of much comic relief (be it intentional or not). So though you won’t get anything new narratively, Avatar is a visual feast, bountifully colourful with enough glowing UV colours to make a raver jealous. It’s clear Cameron and those talented Kiwis at WETA have absolutely gone to town creating Pandora, as well as the painstaking performance capture required to bring life to the inhabitants themselves. It’s just a shame that some of the brilliant action is sullied by exposition that caters to the lowest common denominator; in 12 years it seems Cameron still hasn’t grasped subtlety, though perhaps it’s better that way. https://youtube.com/watch?v=dyDQoXEBkGw
Touted as the dance event of the Sydney Festival, Bale de Rua is coming to town with a whole lot of sweet dance action that smacks of Brazil. Using original music, traditional melodies, dynamic percussion and ridiculously-impressive production design, the company has created a mini break-beat carnivale, big on energy and athleticism. With a cast of fourteen men and one woman who specialise in hip hop, breakdance, capoiera and congado, Bale de Rua (literally 'street ballet') traces the history of Brazil, from its African roots to contemporary times. It was a sell-out in Paris and massive in Edinburgh and London - sending the critics into praise spasms anywhere it goes. Founded by two street-taught dancers, Marco Antonio Garcia (apparently we'll be hard pressed to find a more sculpted human body), an ex petrol pump/supermarket attendant and Jose Marcel Silva, an ex coffee bean picker/bricklayer, Bale de Rua is both an internationally acclaimed company and a dance school. Most of the dancers are graduates and many of them now also teach Bale de Rua dance classes in the poor neighbourhoods of central Brazil. Photo by Eric Deniset https://youtube.com/watch?v=jlVWj6PdUbE
People jump up and down a lot in Nancy Meyers movies. Her heightened, playful worlds of wealthy white characters may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but Meyers has established herself as a bit of a champion for the Baby boomers. Egad! They still have sex, get drunk and make bad decisions! Meyers’ latest offering almost feels like a remake of Something’s Gotta Give, but the Alec Baldwin/Meryl Streep/Steve Martin love triangle is much more successful than her previous attempt with Jack Nicholson/Diane Keaton/Keanu Reeves. Let’s face it, many would pay to see Streep recite the alphabet, let alone delight in her reapplying her Julie & Julia cooking skills to mouthwatering effect, whilst playing Jane, a confused divorcee rekindling the relationship with her ex some 10 years after the nasty split. She and Baldwin spark off each other nicely, and Martin does well playing the straight man and her besotted architect. Though sugary sweet, there’s a lot to giggle about in this film, as well as a few home truths. Meyers strikes a much better balance this time around, so while having “an ex with benefits†leads to much hilarity, she also shows that a divorced family isn’t anything to jump up and down about. https://youtube.com/watch?v=FtbsGSzTOyI
With summer now getting into full swing, is it not the perfect time of year to enjoy some of Australia's best underground gypsy-folk-rock-storytelling artists in the lazy, setting sun of a Sunday afternoon under the shady trees of Victoria Park? There'll be sausage sandwiches and cold soft drinks for sale too. Each of these acts have been tearing it up in their own way all through 2009, so a bit about each:Mr Fibby are a truly unique mix of theatre, music, and storytelling. In a howling dervish of despair, they wander through faux fairy tales most lamentable, past monstrous trees, men once dead, jealous lovers, lost gypsies, shattered hearts and moons as red as blood. The genre of what it is they does doesn't even have a name yet. Based out of Canberra, they've been absolutely smashing the festival circuit in 2009 and creating for themselves a strong band of dedicated followers. Catch them now in their finest light – the outdoors definitely suit them best.If ‘Bloke Folk’ were a genre, The Ellis Collective would be all over it. Simple and gritty tales of an Aussie male hiding a broken heart behind big talk, a tinnie and a smoke. The past twelve months have seen them play at Australia’s largest and smallest festivals. They have been compared to seminal influences including John Schumann, Paul Kelly, and Tim Rogers.Owen Campbell, an Aussie born to Irish mother and Scottish father, was introduced to a diverse range of music at a very young age. Playing guitar since age ten, his style has developed over fifteen years into a gravelly blend of blues, roots, soul and country, with a voice that belies both his young years and his virtuosity on the slide guitar.
Master of the implied jazz hands, Rufus Wainright returns to Sydney in October to play an intimate man-and-piano show at the the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall. Son of the equally famed Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainright III, and brother to Martha Wainright, Rufus has a daunting musical pedigree, which he seems to have all but pushed aside to forge his own (intense) fanbase with his poetic, bare-all lyrics. His debut album, Poses, led to wide acclaim, as has every single thing he's been involved in since (except that drug addiction that led to temporary blindness, perhaps). Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall, his take on Judy Garland's 1961 concert, a song-for-song show in 2006, has become something of an iconic moment in pop performance. After his cancelled shows earlier in the year, this is one event not to miss. Tickets go on sale on Friday, June 4, at 9am. https://youtube.com/watch?v=J_TxPQKcG7w
Andy Warhol is one of those paradoxical figures. While providing a wealth of worthwhile material to consider he simultaneously fertilized followers to produce an array of boring and derivative art. In this way Warhol is both a king and a curse for art history. And yet there is something appropriate about staging a concert around Warhol's infamous Screen Tests (filmed between 1964-1966), if only to admit the entertainment value of this artist's legacy. Warhol's Screen Tests, which were originally silent four-minute films of celebrities and socialites (e.g. Lou Read, Denis Hopper, Edie Sedgwick), were a way of accessing the character of the subject through the image they presented to the camera. In this live performances Dean & Britta (originally from emotively-slow bands like Galaxie 500 and Luna) have written musical scores to accompany these moving portraits. It's difficult to predict if this addition avoids easy nostalgia and actually moves Warhol's films to a new space, but that of course is the risk of any return to the past. Interested ears should go here. To win a double pass to see 13 Most Beautiful Songs...just subscribe to Concrete Playground on our homepage then email your details through to hello@concreteplayground.com.au https://youtube.com/watch?v=EzOtZg_Zrow
Bleached perms. Feathered earrings and feathered hair. Acid-wash. Ra-ra skirts. Rayban Wayfarers. Swatch watch envy. Eyeliner for all. Crop tops over leotards. Bangles, tons of bangles. They may be 80s cultural cliches (or a list of what's actually in stores right now), but they're cliches for a reason: fun. The Powerhouse Museum is turning back the clock for it's new 80s exhibition, just like how Cameron turned back the mileage on his dad's Ferrari in Ferris Beuller. Kinda. Breaking up that greedy post-disco decade into themes, the curators have examined what really did define the 1980s, and whether anything more serious than Scott and Charlene's wedding had any major impact, especially in Australia. The categories they look at are: screen, subcultures, partying, the AIDS crisis (the bowling grim reaper still gives me the heebie jeebies), fashion, music, fads & toys, design, neo-80s, video games and the big events. The exhibition is bigger than Cyndi Lauper's fringe. Of course, the 80s weren't all about material girls in culture clubs, there were bands like ESG and the Pixies making waves back then too, and it's nice to know they've not been forgotten in the music section. Before you dress up like Duckie in Pretty in Pink (you know you always wanted to) and head down to the Powerhouse, be sure to have a look at the exhibtion's own exhaustive website, which changes weekly. https://youtube.com/watch?v=E-2BLRg9dCU
The words, "The Beatles" are never uttered in Sam Taylor-Wood's debut feature film Nowhere Boy, and, for the most part, neither are the screaming girls that the phrasing conjures. That's because the film focusses intensely on John Lennon's life aged fifteen-eighteen, an intimate portrait of a specific time period rather than the usual longwinded biopic. Aside from a few little wink-wink sight gags scattered throughout, Nowhere Boy could be the late adolescence of any boy growing up in Liverpool in the mid 1950s. Except of course, Taylor-Wood knows that we know he isn't.Confronted with the death of the uncle that raised him alongside the starched Aunt Mimi (Kristin Scott Thomas, perfectly buttoned up), fifteen year old Lennon (Aaron Johnson) is further thrown into confusion when his biological mother steps into the frame, at the cemetery no less. Anne-Marie Duff as Julia is more like an ebullient older sister, eager to welcome back Lennon into her rebuilt life, having abandoned him as a small child. She gently shoos her two daughters out of the way as she coos over John, fussing and â€" just a little â€" flirting. 'Rock'n'roll means sex', she teaches him, knocking him for six, as he begins to measure out his approach to life, and, more to the point, his music. There's an excellent scene showing them hearing and reacting to Screamin' Jay Hawkins I Put a Spell on You for the first time in Julia's lounge room, capturing the shock of the new and how something like a song at the right age can change everything.The film is less about John Lennon and his budding musical talent, perhaps because Johnson feels a little out of place with his cheeky, quick banter, but moreso that it's the story of the two women who raised him, from within the interior of a family melodrama. The stark contrasts between Mimi and Julia, with their own clashing notions of both parenting and living, form the spine of the film. Both show up to see his new skiffle band play at a local fair, but though their intent of support is the same, they are unable to do so together. The reason for his abandonment as a small, crying child (shown occasionally in unnecessary flashbacks) is revealed at one point, sadly the least triumphant moment of the film.Taylor-Wood, known predominantly as a photographer and video artist, in collaboration with screenwriter Matt Greenhalgh (he penned the Joy Division biopic, Control) has made a loving, intimate rendering of a snippet of a life. Beautifully shot, and with period perfect costuming ("it's my Buddy Holly look", says John to Paul McCartney, at one point), Nowhere Boy looks the part and feels genuine but not enough to linger, even if by the end of the film we understand that the boy is actually going somewhere. https://youtube.com/watch?v=Y6Km9L1Sqd0
When Sydney was in lockdown earlier this year, having a drink at any bar around town fell into the realm of fantasy. Come December, however, the city's residents will be able to book in for a gin beverage at a very unusual and unique watering hole — at a floating hot air balloon bar. We hope you like hovering more than 30 metres above Tumbalong Park in Darling Harbour (110 feet, to be exact) and drinking Hendrick's gin, because that's the exact combination on offer. The hot air balloon bar has been dubbed 'Hendrick's Gin Most Unusual Balloon Bar', after all, and it's designed to promote the spirits brand. Still, it looks set to serve up a bucket list-level experience. Block out a window of time between 3–9pm on Saturday, December 5 in your diary, because that's when you'll be able to take to the sky — if you can nab a ticket, that is. To score yourself a spot, you'll need to head online from 9am on Monday, November 30. It's first come, first served, obviously. Tickets are free — which'll get you quite the lofty view, as well as some gin to sip. There'll also be hampers of Hendrick's-themed goodies onboard, which will pay homage to the cucumbers that the brand loves and constantly recommends pairing with your beverage. Hendrick's Gin Most Unusual Balloon Bar will hit the skies above Tumbalong Park in Darling Harbour from 3–9pm on Saturday, December 5. To book a ticket, you'll need to head online from 9am on Monday, November 30.
It's been a hot minute since Surry Hills' Bartolo welcomed customers through its glass doors. Closing with the rest of Sydney's hospitality venues back in late March, the Crown Street restaurant has remained shuttered through winter and spring. But, it hasn't been empty. The team has been busy giving the venue a makeover, complete with a seafood-heavy menu, frozen cocktails and a new look. And it has swung open its doors just in time for summer. Now home to Bartolo Wine Room, the space has had a refresh. The coffee machine has been pulled out and replaced by a slushie machine, churning alcoholic drinks you can order takeaway, and space for a DJ to spin Italo disco tunes on weekends. Family photos on the walls have been swapped for pics of the Italian coast by Sydney-based photographer Jude Cohen and new high tables primed for sundowner drinks have arrived streetside. Instead of spanning separate menus for breakfast, lunch and menu, food is now confined to one menu created by new Head Chef Sam Bennett (One Ford Street). Like the art, it's reminiscent of an Italian summer, with entrees of grilled whole sardines with peperonata, baccalà mantecato (a Venetian salt cod dish) and ox heart tomatoes with burrata. Larger dishes include mafaldine with fermented chilli, clam and sausage spaghetti, and fish with garlic butter and cabbage. Dessert, as you'd expect around Christmas in the European country, stars a panettone with stone fruit and zabaglione [caption id="attachment_792739" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Spaghetti with clams and sausage by Jared Merlino[/caption] The wine list has had a rejig, too, and now features more than 180 bottles from across Australia, Italy, France and Georgia. It's particularly heavy on the orange and natural numbers, including the likes of a standout rkatsiteli from Do Re Mi in Georgia and the skinsy Delirium from Continental Platter in SA's Riverland. The aforementioned slushie machine is pumping out a 'nuclear' piña colada, which is made with Wray & Nephew's overproof rum, and the drinks list is rounded out by cocktails — including the summery Spritzy Boy and a riberry-spiked negroni — and tinnies from the likes of Grifter, Batch and Modus Operandi. While Bartolo has now reopened, alongside sibling Sydney venues Big Poppa's and Lobo, another one of Owner Jared Merlino's venues remains closed: Kittyhawk. Merlino says the team is aiming to open early in the new year, after the 350-person venue has had it's own redo, with the upper level set to be transformed into a live entertainment venue. Find Bartolo Wine Room at 359 Crown Street, Surry Hills from 5pm–12am Thursday, 12pm–12am Friday–Saturday and 12–11pm Sunday. Images: Jared Merlino
Planning a date isn't always easy. Sure, big romantic dinners are nice, but they can start to feel a bit humdrum if that's all you and your boo do. This week, swap your same-old date night for an action-packed day instead. We've teamed up with the adventure expert, Adrenaline, to bring you this date itinerary where you can travel to another dimension with a VR experience, take your date to daring heights on a Blue Mountains hike or try your hand at bouldering — and taste some out-of-the-ordinary eats along the way. Whether you're newly dating or lifers, this list has you covered, and takes all of the stress out of the planning too. [caption id="attachment_789763" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Destination NSW[/caption] ENJOY A HEARTY BREKKIE AT PERCY PLUNKETT As fuel for your action-packed day ahead, start your date with a hearty breakfast. Instead of stopping at your local, change it up and head to Penrith's Percy Plunkett. Set in a historic brick house on Station Street, the cafe's old-timey vibes are part of the appeal. On a nice day, grab a seat on the porch and enjoy your brekkie in the sunshine. The all-day menu offers something a little different from your average Aussie cafe — think lamb eggs benedict, Korean fried rice, with kimchi, pickled slaw, avocado and a fried egg, and a deep dish pancake, served with butterscotch sauce, white chocolate mousse, caramelised banana and berries. TRAVEL TO ANOTHER DIMENSION WITH A VIRTUAL REALITY EXPERIENCE If you and your date are missing overseas travel, why not travel to a different world instead? Adrenaline's multi-player VR experience will transport you to a post-apocalyptic world where zombies reign. You don't need to be into video games to enjoy this immersive experience — it's just an absolute blast. FREAK VR Penrith has exclusive rights to this game, which is a step above your average virtual reality experience. Its world-class 4D effects means you'll really feel like you're inside the game, even when it carries you up and down 'elevators'. It's suitable for up to four players ($189), so you can even turn the day into a double date if you fancy — you can either work as a team or in competition. Bookings start at 9.45am and regularly book out, so be sure to secure your spots in advance. EAT YOUR WAY AROUND THE WORLD IN KATOOMBA After FREAK VR, you'll need to calm your nerves from all that immersive zombie killing. Take a break from the physical adventure and enjoy a food-filled one instead. At Katoomba eatery 8Things, you can eat your way around the world from a succinct menu of eight street food-style dishes. The menu changes regularly and spans dishes from a range of regions, including Southeast Asia, Africa, North America and the Mediterranean. At the moment, there's South Indian-style dosas, Korean-style pork belly bao, NYC-style cheeseburgers and Balinese-style nasi goreng on offer. [caption id="attachment_789764" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Destination NSW[/caption] TAKE YOUR DATE TO DARING HEIGHTS ON THE WENTWORTH FALLS HIKING TRAIL Now you've braved a virtual world, it's time to take your date on a daring adventure of a different kind. Katoomba is surrounded by heaps of gorgeous Blue Mountains hikes, but one of the most adventurous is the Wentworth Falls track. This trek may be quick (only 1.4-kilometre return), but it is no cakewalk. The steep hike will take you 100 metres up to Jamison and Wentworth lookouts before descending 200 steps to the cliff's edge of Fletchers lookout. It offers sweeping valley views far below, with sharp drops hidden at every turn — so you'll have to tread carefully. TRY YOUR HAND AT BOULDERING IN PARRAMATTA When you've finished scaling the Blue Mountains, head off to try another type of climbing experience. On your way back into the city, stop in Parramatta to go bouldering at 9 Degrees. The gym is split into nine levels of difficulty, each of which is colour-coded. If you're new to bouldering, you can start with yellow (the easiest); more experienced climbers can go for white (the hardest). The gym also has a training wall (dubbed the kilter board) to help you level up. 9 Degrees also boasts locations in Lane Cove, Alexandria, and a brand new outpost in Waterloo, so you can choose the one that's most convenient for you, and a day pass costs just $20 (with an extra $7 for optional shoe hire). [caption id="attachment_786073" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Robert Walsh[/caption] END THE DAY WITH COCKTAILS AT SYDNEY'S NEW SKY-HIGH BAR 83 After a full day of adventure, end the day with cocktails at a brand new, sky-high Sydney venue. Bar 83 sits, as you'd expect, 83 floors above the city in Sydney Tower — claiming the title of the city's tallest bar — and offers glittering 360-degree views. While your focus may be on the panoramas, the bar's fit-out is impressive in its own right. A mix of retro and futuristic vibes, the bar has circular red and white lounges, gold lights and striking mirrors. Now, for the drinks. The cocktail list was created by award-winning bartender Jenna Hemsworth (Restaurant Hubert, The Baxter Inn) and offers signature drops like the Pain Pleasure Principle (cognac, cacao and lemon myrtle) and the Ignore All Rules (tequila, sherry, tomato and basil). Sit back, relax, and enjoy a well-deserved tipple after your jam-packed date day. To explore all of the Adrenaline experiences available in Sydney and beyond, head over here. Top image: Wentworth Falls Track, Destination NSW
One of the best things about living in Sydney is the good weather, particularly in summer. So, why not make the most of our fair city by drinking and dining al fresco? Round up your date or your mates and have a picnic in the sun. Lucky for you, we're giving away lush hampers filled with tasty snacks and top-notch Wolf Blass drops to three Sydneysiders, so you can take your picnic game to the next level — without spending a dime. The hampers will come with six bottles of Wolf Blass Makers' Project wine, including its popular pink pinot grigio, rosé and pinot noir, and a heap of gourmet goodies, including eggplant and chilli chutney, artisanal crackers, handmade chocolates, gingerbread bickies, nuts and mini meringues. So, should you win this prize, you'll be feasting away this summer, whether you choose to do so by the beach, in a park or in your own leafy backyard. To enter, see details below. [competition]791139[/competition] Remember to Drinkwise.
Rugby fans all across Sydney are primed for this weekend. The HSBC Sydney 7s returns for two jam-packed days of rugby matches with 28 of the world's best international men's and women's Rugby Sevens teams going head-to-head to be crowned tournament champions. While all that action-packed rugby will keep you busy over Saturday, February 1 and Sunday, February 2, there's a lot happening off the field, too. The annual event will also feature a mini music festival, the chance to meet some of the players and much more. Basically, it's an all-out party no matter which way you look, so here are all the other things you must check out while you're there. [caption id="attachment_758988" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rugby AU Media[/caption] DANCE AT SATURDAY'S FESTIVAL For the second year running, the Sydney 7s weekend will have its very own music festival so, when you're not watching the footy, you can dance into the night. The festival will host live acts across the two days, starting with some of our city's best homegrown DJ talent on Saturday. Kicking off on the decks is Bondi's own Yolanda Be Cool from 4.30–5.30pm, followed by DJ Tigerlily from 6.30–7.30pm. Closing out the night is ARIA Award-nominated artist L D R U, who'll perform from 7.30–8.30pm. Heaps of supporting acts are on the docket, too. Head here for more details. [caption id="attachment_758963" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rugby AU Media[/caption] ENJOY SUNDAY'S MULTICULTURAL PERFORMANCES On Sunday, you can expect the festival area to feature an impressive lineup of acts from across the globe. Headlining the day is Polynesian recording artist Fiji (George Veikoso). He's a leading force in the contemporary island reggae music scene, so expect epic beats paired with his smooth vocals. Alongside Fiji, other acts to take the stage include a Caledonian pipe band, a live brass band, an African drum group and cultural dance groups aplenty. Apart from performing at the festival stage, some of these groups — which also include crews from South Africa, Scotland, New Zealand and the Cook Islands — will also roam around the stadium and perform pop-up gigs throughout the weekend. For full details, head to the website. GRAB A FEED While you're welcome to bring food and non-alcoholic bevvies into the stadium with you, part of the fun of the day is exploring the many food options that Bankwest Stadium has to offer. Here, the food offering is inspired by western Sydney's diverse communities and promotes local merchants and producers. From the stalls, expect the likes of beef brisket, ribs and pulled pork rolls from Barbecue Pit, poke bowls and rice paper rolls from Nourish and salt and pepper squid and tempura prawns from Catch. There are also pizzas, burgers and specialty coffees on offer, plus footy staples like beef pies, sausage rolls, hot dogs and hot chips. You can check out the full details of the food and drink offerings here. And if you're headed in with a group, weekend hospitality packages are also on offer. [caption id="attachment_759236" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rugby AU Media[/caption] PUT YOUR FOOTY SKILLS TO THE TEST While rugby is raging on the field, spectators can get in on their own sports action with games and activities set up all around the stadium. If you fancy yourself as good as the pros, grab a mate and start off with the kicking challenge, a virtual simulation game which tests your skills. Each player gets a chance to kick and will be scored on speed, difficulty, power, height and goal scoring. The duo with the highest daily team score will even win two signed jerseys. [caption id="attachment_758991" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rugby AU Media[/caption] WIN HEAPS OF PRIZES Apart from signed jerseys, there are heaps of prizes and giveaways on offer throughout the weekend. On-field challenges, dance cam competitions and free merchandise are all on the docket, plus games like horizontal bungee, obstacle courses and inflatable passing challenges all come with potential prizes. And you'll find branded giveaways everywhere you look, including clapper banners to help you cheer on your team during the match. You can win tickets to the best seats in the house and bag gifts like Budgy Smugglers. Basically, you're almost guaranteed to leave with a few freebies. There's more information on games and activities available across the stadium here. [caption id="attachment_758994" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rugby AU Media[/caption] MEET THE PLAYERS Sydney's instalment of the Rugby Sevens tournament doesn't just give fans the chance to watch their favourite players in action — spectators also have the rare opportunity to meet players from all over the world as they take a lap around the pitch post-game to take selfies and sign autographs. There are a few key players you should keep an eye out for including Australian women's players Ellia Green and Emma Tonegato and men's players Maurice Longbottom and Lewis Holland. Plus New Zealand's Michaela Blyde and Ngarohi Mcgarvey-Black are two to hope for — so far in the 2019-20 season, New Zealand is ranked first in both men's and women's standings. And the winning team of the men's 2018-19 Sevens series was Fiji, so watch out for that team, too. [caption id="attachment_759009" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rugby AU Media[/caption] SPARE A THOUGHT (OR DOLLAR) FOR THOSE IN NEED Of course, this year's event couldn't pass without an acknowledgement of the raging bushfires that have devastated our country. Sydney 7s is doing its part toward bushfire relief — it's donated over 2000 complimentary tickets to the NSW Royal Fire Service alongside $5 from every ticket sold over the just-passed long weekend. Plus, World Rugby, Rugby Australia and Asics have joined forces to pledge a total $1500 Red Cross donation for each try scored by the men's and women's Australian teams across the tournament. Spectators are encouraged to join in the fundraising and do their part, too. Why not pledge $1 for every try your favourite team scores throughout the weekend? To purchase tickets to HSBC Sydney 7s, visit Ticketek, and for event updates follow @Aussie7s on Instagram. Then, find more ways to make the most of your weekend below. Top image: Rugby AU Media
One of the best parts about heading off on a well-deserved holiday is getting excited about all the incredible food you're about to eat, right? But look — travel is expensive and our annual leave never quite extends as far as we want it to. Luckily, Sydney is a fantastically global city, which means your tastebuds can travel the world without you ever having to shell out for a pricey plane ticket. And the best news is if you're a Citi customer you can nab a free bottle of wine thanks to the Citibank Dining Program. Just visit any one of these venues (and many more) and pay for dinner using your Citi card. We've even listed some tasty wine pairings to save you from poring over these eateries' extensive wine lists — just have a gander at the Citibank Dining Program website to see what free bottles of vino you can get with your next international feast.
The south side of Newtown's King Street is now home to a brand new beer hall, with South King Recreation Club channelling RSL vibes, spinning tunes on vinyl and throwing it back to 'pre-lockout Sydney'. The venue plays up its old school atmosphere with daggy furniture and carpets, along with little touches like an administration merit board circa 2001 and mounted photos of the 'board of directors'. They've swapped the pokies for retro arcade games, but kept the meat tray raffles and cheap pub grub deals — including $12 schnittys on Wednesdays and $12 burgers on Thursdays. Parmas and beer-flavoured lamingtons also make the menu. Grab a seat in the leafy outdoor beer garden for locally brewed beers by the likes of Young Henrys and Hawke's Brewing Company. Craft tinnies and draught brews are just $5 during the bar's weekday happy hour, which runs from 5–7pm and also features a rotating list of $10 specialty cocktails — think mezcal palomas, plus bourbon-spiked peanut butter and jelly milkshakes. The bar will also pour minimal intervention wines from small producers like New Zealand's Don + Kindeli and Adelaide Hills' Ochota Barrels. Every Wednesday features your chance to win some meat, as well as badge draws, and every Thursday offers Wheel of Fortune prizes — plus DJs hitting the decks all night long. Entertainment Director Rick Hunter (who runs the monthly South King Record Fair) has lined up guest DJ appearances from some notable local acts, and has sourced one helluva collection of vintage vinyl for the venue, too. South King Recreation Club is now open at Level 1, 597 King Street, Newtown. Opening hours are Monday through Friday from 5pm–late and Saturday through Sunday from noon–late.
If you’re Newcastle-based or maybe planning a little trip up for the long weekend, check out Crack Theatre Festival. Part of the yearly independent arts festival This Is Not Art (TINA), Crack is now into its sixth year and is once again treating Newy to an eclectic smattering of theatre, art, dance, circus, stand-up, installations, masterclasses and panels, including the thought-provoking live-action documentary Kids Killing Kids. This year’s co-artistic director Nick Atkins says, "Crack scans the country for quality contemporary performance and helps it to land on its feet in Newcastle." Over 70 artists will present over 50 works in what sounds like a stimulating (and free!) weekend embracing creative discovery and the outlandish. So maybe head along to support young performers testing out original material, touring collaborative works and experimenting with new ideas. If you don't know what to see, just pick the shows with the most intriguing names — Nicole Henriksen's comedy piece Naked Unicorn Vomit would be my personal preference. You can check out the full festival program at the Crack Theatre Festival website.
If you thought The Soda Factory's Tuesday Dollar Dogs was generous, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Having just surpassed the 10,000 like mark on Facebook, they’re hosting an event titled 10,000 Leagues Under the Sea to show their gratitude. This nautical bash will feature a complimentary seafood smorgasbord of gourmet fish and chips, salt and pepper squid and lobster sliders. There’ll also be complimentary cocktails for the early birds who arrive between 5-7pm. Rockabilly party-starters, The Two Timin' Playboys will be taking the stage from 7pm, followed by DJs spinning tunes into the wee hours of Thursday morning. Relatively new on the scene, The Soda Factory has quickly crept up the ranks of Sydney’s hottest bars. This dimly lit industrial space slathered with 1950s charm is the brainchild of Graham Cordery of Experience Entertainment and Michael Chase. In gutting out what was formerly Tone Nightclub to make way for this hip retro hangout, Corderoy told us before opening that whilst he enjoys a quirky decor and customised cocktail, what he doesn't enjoy is having to walk out at midnight. This is evidently a criticism that has struck a chord with many Sydneysiders — at least 10,000, in fact.
Bands? Check. Booze? Check. Helping out a worthy cause? You’d better believe it. So get pumped to get it on, Vegas style, at Club 77 on September 29. Hosted by notorious Vegas starlet Gigi Fontaine, Low Rollers looks like nothing short of a night you’d love to never forget — she’ll be telling stories about all the glitz and all the glamour (or the lack thereof) in Las Vegas, whilst local bands The First Husbands, Brother Speed and Polographia shred up a storm on stage. The event is the brainchild of the Young Centenary Foundation, and every nickel, penny and dime raised goes towards funding medical research. Which is good for the feels. There’s also an open bar, card tables and all manner of Vegas-oriented trashiness (shotgun wedding, anyone?), all promising to be worth the road trip in the Great Red Shark to a faux-Nevada nirvana. Vegas, baby.
Every Wednesday during Art & About 2013, the bohemians at East Sydney Creative will be providing working folk with a good excuse to knock off early. Their 'Escape Early on Wednesdays' extravanganza promises to transform Darlinghurst, Paddington, East Sydney and Surry Hills into a hive of activity, where art is Queen Bee. Over 20 organisations will play host to exhibitions, installations, yarn bombing, live music and talks. At the heart of it all will be the Metro Screen Pop-Up Cinema & Bar. Designer Gui Andrade is transforming the Metro Screen Studios at Paddo Town Hall into not just a movie house but a visual and kinaesthetic experience. "The idea that I had for the pop-up cinema was 'the glitch'," Andrade told us. "It can be hard to pick up on when you're watching a film. I want to play with people's perspectives as soon as they walk into the theatre. I want to make them wonder if what they're seeing is real or illusory — if it's what they're supposed to be experiencing." Each week, a different program of short films will screen, each arranged by a different curator. On September 25, Rich Warren (former coordinator of the UK's Encounters Festival) will deliver 'Subliminal Psychosis and Paranoid Perspectives', "a trip into the twisted minds of filmmakers and the inhabitants that lurk there." October 2 will see 'The Lena Dunham Love In', a journey through "the origins of Lena's world, where characters were born, grew up and took shape on the big(gish) screen". October 9, titled 'Feed Me Weird Things', is promising "an evening of pretty things, twisted pixels and classic retro psychedelia". The final session, 'Prototype', to happen on October 16, will be curated by Craig Boreham, who's currently working on feature film Teenage Kicks. The Metro Screen Pop-Up Cinema & Bar will open between 5pm and 8pm every Wednesday during Art & About 2013 (25 September and 2, 9 and 16 October) at Paddington Town Hall, Cnr Oatley Road and Oxford Street (Oatley Road entrance, under the Chauvel Cinema). Entry is free but RSVP is essential, as numbers are strictly limited. Image: Tiny Furniture.
The Biennale kicks off with a special ARTBAR night at the Museum of Contemporary Art on Friday June 29. This is a new range of events for the MCA, and it’s exciting to see more Sydney institutions dip into the realm of late night programming with a focus on culture and community rather than clubbing and drunkenness. This second ARTBAR instalment, curated by former Concrete Playgrounder, Eddie Sharp, is all about the mechanics and bipolar excellence/strangeness of cinema. There’ll be pianos with pinballs, inflatable delusions, 1960s 3D cinema and the opportunity to view the Biennale exhibition spaces on levels 1 and 3. ARTBAR in June is part of the 18th Sydney Biennale.
There's perhaps an unintentional double-meaning in the title of Pixar's new film Brave. Thematically, bravery naturally forms the substance of the lead character's development, but the name's also an interesting take on the company's creative direction. Not only is this Pixar's first film to centre around a female protagonist, it's also the first with a female director (Brenda Chapman). At least... it was until Chapman was replaced by Mark Andrews halfway through. So, 'Brave-ish' perhaps? But then you recall Andrews co-wrote and worked as second unit director on John Carter, which takes us back to plain old Brave (or possibly insane). Of course replacing directors is almost a tradition at Pixar, with this now the fifth time it's happened, and usually the contradictory approach somehow works. On this occasion, however, it's not quite as effective since the competing visions fail to marry quite so seamlessly. The story follows Merida (voiced by Kelly Macdonald of Trainspotting and Boardwalk Empire fame) as a princess in training, though her attention and discipline run as wild as her Rebekah Brooks locks. She favours riding over reading, archery over tapestry and mischief over miss congeniality - all to the amusement of her father King Fergus (Billy Connolly) and the chagrin of her Queen mother Elinor (Emma Thompson). Tensions come to a head when it's announced three eligible clansmen will be competing for her hand in marriage, and in defiance of her mother she shuns tradition and sends the kingdom into turmoil. It's no surprise the 'animatography' in Brave is exquisite. Pixar's ability to imbue its characters with rich emotions, even when they're inanimate, is as impressive as it is now assumed, and the opening shots of the highland vistas are so photorealistic they could easily be mistaken for the opening shots of Prometheus. Ultimately Brave is probably Pixar's worst film to date. However, anything by Pixar will still be better than most of the other films that have (or will) come out this year. That's because the teams at its San Francisco-based headquarters know their story structure, character arcs and emotional triggers better than most, as well as how to make an audience laugh. And laugh you most certainly will. https://youtube.com/watch?v=TEHWDA_6e3M
Fightclub's Tyler Durden put it best: "You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake". We spend our lives at work - our careers are an enormous and contradictory part of how we value ourselves, how we're judged and how we relate to others. Through sculpture, installation and photography, the curators of Mostly Agree investigate the part corporate culture plays in forming our sense of individuality: how work at once directs us by injecting us with purpose, and throws us into despair and paralysis by narrowing that feeling of boundless possibilities we feel at points in our youth. There is a rich and familiar history of the conflict between the individual and contemporary corporate capitalism in popular culture. And some of the works in Mostly Agree fall back on stock ideas: the suited everyman, the ironically modified office suite. Sometimes it risks mimicking the greyscale culture it seeks to subvert. But the show is solid, and worth a visit just for the excellent stop-motion video work Reproduction by Emma White. In an endless 13second loop, a polymer clay photocopier methodically pumps out blank pages, then sucks them back in. There is no beginning, middle or end, only the slow time of nine to five. The attention to detail is exceptional, from the way the paper bends as it is ejected, to the flash of awful, cold light that periodically bleeps out from the side of the copier lid. Watching this video is as addictive and pointless as repeatedly pressing the refresh button of your Gmail account or Facebook news feed. It wonderfully expresses not just the inanity of many workplace tasks, but the joylessness of the silent bus stop queue, the dread of the monthly phone bill's arrival, the non-choice between forty near-identical tubes of toothpaste under fluorescent supermarket light, and all the other tiny, predictable habits that capitalism shoves us into. Reproduction is a precisely executed, brilliantly simple and infallibly wholistic piece of conceptual art. Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey's sculptural installation Consolidated Life aims for the same balance of dreadful beauty. A three metre high office block looks like a vogon spacecraft from Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy, but is in fact a Tardis of sorts. Circle the building and you will find a window to a miniature interior. Using mirrors and optical trickery, the artists have created a deadly still and infinite grid of desks, conspicuously empty of workers and interrupted only by a single, eerily spinning office chair. Image: "Consolidated Life", 2010, kinetic sculpture (internal view) by Jaki Middleton and David Lawrey.
For some living is easy. Some people have all the luck, and all the charm, but for those of us that struggle help is at hand; for the very first time An Introduction to the School of Life is coming to Sydney. Drawing on her experience as an author, filmmaker, comic, voice artist and journalist Gretel Killeen will share her knowledge in How to Communicate Authentically. Speaking on a topic of increasing importance, co-founder of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition Anna Rose will share her motto of “those who say it can’t be done should get out of the way of those already doing it” with How to Make a Difference to Climate Change. Author, philosopher and civilisation conceptualist John Armstrong will clear confused heads with How to Worry Less About Money, while the UK's Tom Chatfield will give a bit of advice on How to Thrive In the Digital Age. In total the talks will span about 90 minutes, which is about the length of an average film. So, why not leave the popcorn at home and give your brain a workout instead? Image: Union House - the school room by Evelyn Simak.
When Ross Perot ran as an independent candidate for president back in the 1990s he famously quipped: "War has rules, mud-wrestling has rules — politics has no rules." It's that same quote that opens director Jay Roach's new film The Campaign, both neatly establishing it as tale of dirty politics and drawing an analogy to Perot's own experience as a Southern outsider within the relentlessly intrusive and cutthroat US electoral process. In The Campaign that outsider is the simple but well-intentioned family man named Marty Huggins (Zach Galifianakis). Sporting a heavy lisp and gaudy cardigans only the most ardent hipster could love, the unversed Huggins is thrust into a Congressional race by a pair of unscrupulous billionaire businessmen (Dan Aykroyd and John Lithgow) after they decide the scandal-plagued four-term incumbent Cam Brady (Will Ferrell) no longer serves their best interests. Ferrell's portrayal borrows heavily from his popular impression of George W Bush, while Galifianakis's Huggins will be instantly recognisable to fans of the comedian's work as a version of his fictional twin brother 'Seth'. To avoid immediately offending or ostracising half its audience, The Campaign cleverly dodges partisan politics by pitting these two Republican candidates against each other in the small Congressional race of North Carolina. It's a refreshing take on the staid and diametric 'Republican versus Democrat' story, and with its focus on attack ads, political spin, and the corrupting influence of corporate contributions, The Campaign is more about the 'getting into' of politics rather than politics itself. In terms of satire it's certainly no match for the sharp wit or penetrating commentary of something like 1999's Election or 1997's Wag the Dog; however, it does stand comfortably alongside both when it comes to the comedy. Happily the laughs come thick and fast in this one, helped along by a solid supporting cast that boasts Jason Sudeikis and Dylan McDermott as the duo's duelling campaign managers and a constant string of cameos by actual political pundits including Wolf Blitzer, Piers Morgan, Bill Maher, Dennis Miller and Ed Schultz. It's also Ferrell’s strongest performance in a while, and seeing him alongside Galifianakis feels like a pairing that was long overdue.
Community station Eastside Radio 89.7FM has been providing Eastern Sydney ears with the best of specialist music, community and arts programs over the airwaves since 1983. On Saturday 26 May they’re having their bi-annual record fair, Black Gold, at Darlinghurst’s The Local Taphouse. With thousands of “Black Gold” vinyls for sale, your record collection is about to get a bulk injection. Amongst the plethora of audio joys available are jazz, soul, funk, disco, hip-hop and electronic records. Be amongst it, grow your library and get spinning.
Proud owners of what may very well be the greatest band name in existence, five-piece Snakadaktal are back on stage once again, fresh from supporting The Jezabels on their Australian tour. Winners of the Triple J Unearthed High competition in 2011, Snakadaktal released their stellar self-titled debut EP that same year and reached 26 in the digital ARIA chart. Wowing critics in the process, they went on to sell out shows across Australia. Earlier this year the band headed into the studio with producer Malcolm Besley and came out with 'Dance Bear', a track that sees them showcase the delicate sounds of their twin vocalists and their outstanding musicianship, a quality well beyond their years that lifts them far above their peers. Snakadatal will be joined at the Metro Theatre next Saturday by Sydney pop quartet Sures, who have recently signed a deal with Ivy League records and played shows with Wavves, Real Estate and Bleeding Knees Club. https://youtube.com/watch?v=0BOMlK_0rIM
