Big Red Bash 2024: Colin Hay makes desert debut Down Under
In far western Queensland, the pop-up city of 7500 campers known as ‘Bashville’, the home of the Big Red Bash is an oddity in the Australian music festival market.
Standing on the edge of the Simpson Desert atop the sand dune known as Big Red, Colin Hay turned toward the winter sun and cast his eyes across the pop-up outback city known as ‘Bashville’.
“I’ve never been to this exact spot before,” said Hay, 71.
“It’s like nowhere else on the planet, really. Most of Australia’s like this, isn’t it?
“It makes me feel really good to be here, and the air is extraordinary; because there’s no people, industry or cars, it’s very pure and refreshing.”
Los Angeles-based Hay was among the star performers at the multi-day camping festival known as the Big Red Bash. Climbing the dune not long before showtime, he was a man at ease, happy to stop for photos with festivalgoers and fans.
There are few other places in the country that Hay’s signature song Down Under could possibly feel more apt, and the crowd of thousands happily sang its famous words back at the smiling Scottish-born singer on Tuesday afternoon.
Situated 35km west of the desert outpost town of Birdsville, in far western Queensland, Bashville is an oddity in the Australian music festival market.
Only a week ago, the festival site was practically bare, with little permanent infrastructure in place in the shadow of Big Red.
Yet in recent days, thousands of four-wheel-drives, caravans and campervans – perhaps even a few “fried-out Kombis,” as name-checked in the lyrics to Down Under – have arrived from far-flung locales as adventurous music fans made new friends in the middle of nowhere.
Rainfall in recent days made the site a little muddy underfoot, but with blue skies overhead on Tuesday, the puddles were drying fast as the music program began at midday with a set from Goanna frontman Shane Howard.
With three-day adult tickets priced at $729, and $49 for children aged five to 17, the Bash is at the upper end of the nation’s festival market, which has had a rocky year so far with the cancellation of major events such as Splendour in the Grass and regional touring festival Groovin the Moo.
While the crowd of about 7500 is down from last year’s peak of about 11,000 campers, the Bash remains a strong lure in a region that rarely attracts large crowds.
Organisers say the Big Red Bash is the world’s most remote music festival. And as the former Men at Work frontman surveyed the landscape, he could only concur.
“I can’t think of anywhere that would be more remote,” he said with a smile.
“It could probably only happen in this country, because for one thing, the geography is such that everyone is hugging the coast.
“All you’ve got to do is travel a couple of thousand miles in and you’re already remote, so I’m not surprised it’s the most remote festival in the world.”
Accompanied by his multinational band of Cubans, Guatemalans and Peruvian musicians, Hay will conclude his tour later this week with shows in Sydney (Friday), Newcastle (Saturday) and Thirroul (Sunday).
Among other acts to take the stage on Tuesday were Diesel, Mi-Sex and Baby Animals, while the festival will continue on Wednesday with performances from artists including Tina Arena, Tim Finn and Mark Seymour.
The writer travelled to Birdsville as a guest of the Outback Music Festival Group.
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