The Pinheads help turn up the volume for Vivid LIVE
Indie band The Pinheads will help kick-off Vivid Sydney’s 23-day music assault on Sydney tonight.
Indie band The Pinheads will help kick-off Vivid Sydney’s 23-day music assault on Sydney.
The big music names headed to Sydney for Vivid LIVE include The Cure, FKA twigs and Underworld; Australian music icons, Paul Kelly and RÜFÜS DU SOL; along with local artists Dirty Three, Briggs and Maggie Rogers, amongst a line-up of close to 100 local music acts.
Helping to get the party started on opening night is The Pinheads at the Vivid Sydney-Happy Mag takeover of The Marly Bar in Newtown tonight.
The five-piece that hail from Wollongong’s northern suburbs are known for their crazy video clips and fast-paced lo-fi sound that lead singer Jez Player says has roots in British invasion bands of the 60s and 70s like The Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
“We grew us listening to that,” Player said.
“A lot of other stuff has influenced us since but I think that is the basis of where it began.”
Their surreal film clips feature everythings from spaceships (If I have to wait), coffins that open up to an alternate universe (Wildfire), and a crime-busting alien that emerges out of the waves off Austinmer beach.
In the clip for Feel it now, off their second album Is This Real that drops today, Player is on stage in just a pair of black briefs.
“Sometimes it gets real hot and I just have to strip down,” he said.
The nine other bands joining The Pinheads at the Vivid Sydney-Happy Mag Marly takeover on Friday night include Crocodylus, Julia Why? and Bec Sandridge.
Curator of Vivid LIVE, Ben Marshall added: “This year’s Vivid LIVE has been a genuine pleasure to program – from The Cure and Underworld to Teyana Taylor and Briggs to Keaton Henson and the late Jóhann Jóhannsson, it’s a selection of ambitious artists who’ve spectacularly succeeded on their own terms by blurring genres, subcultures and artistic practices to create something truly distinct.”
As well as taking over every stage at the Sydney Opera House for Vivid LIVE, this year’s artists will also perform across more than 23 inner city venues including the Art Gallery of NSW, Ziggy’s Barber Shop, Staves Brewery and St Stephen’s Uniting Church to name a few.
Curator of Music for Vivid Sydney, Stephen Ferris said, “We’ve upped the ante this year with an eclectic line-up of acts. There’s something for everyone, from die-hard fans to the simply curious and those who love a good time.”
HIGHLIGHTS OF VIVID MUSIC
GROUPER: Oregon-based experimental artist, May 24 & 25, Sydney Opera House
THE CURE: Alt-rock legends The Cure, May 24, 25, 27, 28 & 30, Sydney Opera House
LIGHT QUALITIES: Series of four concerts by Konzertprojekt, May 25 & 31, June 6 & 1, St Stephen’s Uniting Church
BRIGGS: Bad Apples House Party, joining Briggs is Electric Fields, David Dallas, The Kid Laroi, Birdz, Jesswar, Nooky, Kobie Dee, Philly, Rebecca Hatch, and jayteehazard. May 30, Sydney Opera House
FLORIAN, disco beats, May 30, The Soda Factory
I KNOW LEOPARD: Art pop darlings I Know Leopard, May 31 , Oxford Art Factory
WOMEN IN MUSIC: Ziggy’s Barber Shop is hosting a series of pop-up live music nights featuring established and emerging female artists, May 30 May - June 1.
UNDERWORLD: British techno duo, May 31 – June 3, Sydney Opera House
LISA FISCHER & GRAND BATON: New York jazz, rock, gospel, June 4, The Concourse Concert Hall, Chatswood
RÜFÜS DU SOL: Live electronic act, June 13 – 15 June, Carriageworks
VIVID MUSIC IN THE INNER WEST
The inner west is bringing the party to Vivid Sydney with a big line-up of music events.
Katie Noonan (May 24) and Monsieur Camembert (May 25) kick off a big program of music at the Camelot Lounge that includes Tex Perkins on May 29-30 and and Renée Geyer on June12-13.
The Vanguard’s Inner Westival runs throughout Vivid Sydney starting with the Kid Fiction on Friday and includes Goldheist on May 30 and Wo Fat on June 14.
The Lansdowne Hotel is hosting Bad Vibrations on June 1 with a line-up that includes The Laurels, Straight Arrows and Bloods. While Carriagework’s Vivid Music events include the Curve Ball on June 8 and FKA Twiggs on June 9.
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