Roundup: Vivid Sydney 2024

Headlining a two-night farewell to the equally legendary Spunk! Records, who are sadly calling it a day after 25 mighty years, Explosions In The Sky will be playing the 2003 album that broke it all open for them, ‘The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place‘ in full. The Middle East and Aldous Harding are also on the bill, rounding out a rock-solid lineup to bid Spunk! a fond, teary adieu.

A career that spans founding Mental As Anything to being highly sought-after designers and fine artists is guaranteed to produce some wondrous results. The brothers Peter O’Doherty and Reg Mombassa will combine art and sound at this show, with songs from their epically diverse back catalogue set to Reg-designed light projections on the front the of the Customs House building. A feast for ears and eyes.

Another label sadly calling it quits in 2024, Elefant Traks will be hanging up its headphones with one last blast at the Opera House. A label with genuine impact, these two acts embodied the attitude of activism that Elefant Traks represented. A rare chance to these two acts together, and a fond farewell to a powerhouse of Australian hip-hop.

To celebrate its 20th birthday, Air will be playing their ‘Moon Safari’ album in full and, for the first time, in its entirety. Rarely does an album so rapidly and comprehensively enter a wider public’s consciousness, but in the early 000s you couldn’t move for tracks like ‘Sexy Boy’ or ‘Kelly Watch The Stars’. As sharp and cerebral as it was insanely danceable, Air were a shiny counterpoint to the scruffier guitar acts that dominated those years, and that album in particular has stood easily against the tests of time. This one’s got classic written all over it.

Speaking of classics, the imperial Underworld also return to Vivid Sydney and you can bet the house, the garden, and the garage on them delivering something unforgettable. Over three decades in, and still one of the most innovative, multi-decade-defining artists in techno, there are few who can claim to have played the game this well, and for this long. A glittering jewel in Vivid Sydney’s crown this year.

Jen Cloher‘s explorations of identity mark them out as an artist with a whip-smart mind, drawing on their rich heritage as Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Kahu as much as mining rich veins of folk and rock. The sort of show to make your brain fizz all the way home, and beyond.

Over two nights, Vivid Sydney will get treated to two very different sets from Yassin Bey (fka Mos Def). On the 12th Jun, the set is a tribute to another hip-hop all-timer, the late and lamented MF Doom. Night two digs deep into his 2009 album ‘The Ecstatic’, widely regarded as one of his best, and certainly one of his most conceptually complex releases. Either sound incredible, so take your pick of the nights – or, more sensibly, do both.

Deerhoof‘s giddy experimentation will be on full display for this one-night-only set, promising a strange journey through their many, many takes on many, many genres. Prolific in quantity, playful and curious about a dizzying array of influences, this’ll be one for the explorers.