Dark Mofo 2019 review: Night Mass is charged with excitement and empty of boredom

With DJ rooms packed with light and sound, a converted car park filled with performance art and back to back music gigs, it’s difficult to sit still in the hype of the Night Mass.

STEP inside the labyrinth of the mysterious “nocturnal neighbourhood” that is Night Mass, walled within the city’s latest complex In the Hanging Garden where supposedly “no one sleeps”.

But just what happens on the corner of Liverpool and Murray St from 10pm until late each weekend of Dark Mofo?

MORE REVIEWS – AND THE SHOW YOU SHOULD NOT MISS

Dark Mofo: Sneak a peek inside Night Mass

VIEW GALLERY

40,000 ATTEND DARK MOFO EVENTS ON OPENING NIGHT

YOUR ULTIMATE GUIDE TO DARK MOFO 2019

With DJ rooms packed full of light and sound, a converted car park packed with controversial performance art and back to back music gigs in the Odeon Theatre, it’s difficult to sit still in the hype of it all.

There are three main venues within the precinct of Night Mass.

The Odeon Theatre line-up of Night Mass is easily a Dark Mofo event in its own right, where headline acts such as Sampa the Great and Mallrat pull in the crowds.

Sampa The Great performs at Dark Mofo’s Night Mass at the Odeon Theatre. Picture: PATRICK GEE

They put on an epic show, but it detracts from the exclusive feeling Dark Mofo punters are hungry for.

The entertainment on stage makes it hard to escape – a face like a moon speaking to the crowd between sets and Japanese artist Saeborg presenting his inflatable latex beetle costumes fighting over inflatable pieces of poo.

Between the main floor and the seated upstairs area of the Odeon Theatre is a hub of its own.

The DJ area at the bar does a better job of transporting dancers to the nocturnal neighbourhood.

Mallrat plays at Dark Mofo’s Night Mass at the Odeon Theatre. Picture: PATRICK GEE

Exit the Odeon Theatre via the upstairs area and through the alleyway that leads to Watchorn St to find a jumping castle and a gazebo – should you feel you have any time at all to sit down and chill.

Past the food vans and the main bar area of In the Hanging Garden – where the crowds are thick – is the entrance to the Cathedral space below. Here exists the most grungy scene of the event, where Red Bull presents Via Sao Paulo, performance artists from the underground queer electronic scene of Brazil.

A huge crowd packs out Night Mass. Picture: JESSE HUNNIFORD/Dark Lab Media

Back upstairs and through the crowd is the nightclub of Altar in the former Tattersalls Hotel, where there exists a maze of DJs, queues to rooms with various light shows and an outdoor space that overlooks the Hanging Garden.

Like the other venues, it would be easy to get stuck in this intense venue for much of the night.

Filled with 3700 punters, Night Mass is an overwhelming event charged with excitement and empty of boredom.

Take an open mind and a good group of friends and it’s an event worth the entry fee.

NIGHT MASS

June 14, 15, 21 and 22, 10pm to late. Ages 18+.

Corner of Murray and LIverpoll streets, Hobart

$89 per night, door sales $95 per night (subject to capacity)

Event is sold out but you can join a wait list