MUSIC | WEEK ONE (JUNE 8–12)
Dark Mofo’s opening night celebration The Gathering will take over the In The Hanging Garden’s Cathedral and Odeon Theatre, featuring First Nations artists BARKAA, Tasman Keith, dameeeela, DENNI, MARLON X RULLA, Uncle Dougie Mansell, Katarnya Maynard, Rob Braslin,and many more artists.
A presentation of artwork and performance developed in collaboration with YIRRAMBOI + Dark Mofo, ‘kin’ highlights the cross-cultural connections and kinship between Victoria’s Koorie and Tasmania’s Palawa peoples in developing works, building relationships and exchanging knowledge.
Visionary composer Max Richter (DEU) brings us two double-billed performances of VOICES—a composition in dozens of languages reading the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, along with Recomposed—his complete reinterpretation of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.
Bass-playing extraordinaire Thundercat (USA) drives his virtuosic astral acid jazz into a psychedelic funk fusion. Witch (USA) invite us to surrender to a cascading haze of fuzzy riffs from the heavy stoner doom, with Dinosaur Jr’s J Mascis on the drums.
Touring Australia for the first time, Ethel Cain (USA) will haunt us with her gothic pop and Deep South sound. Having quickly sold out multiple shows at Vivid and Rising festivals, this performance is a hot ticket.
Punk-rock icons Black Flag (USA) will perform a one-off exclusive Australian show—their first time here since 2013. Drab Majesty’s (USA) exclusive performance will mix darkwave synth with dreams, supported by Bitumen’s (AUS) edgy industrial sounds.
Eartheater (USA), a multi-instrumentalist producer whose experimental digital production and three-octave vocal range melds classical composition with avant-electronica.
Pioneering English electronic artists Squarepusher (GBR) and Plaid (GBR) join on a double-header bill of twisty synth electronica. Sleaford Mods (GBR) will deliver their immaculately enraged punk-hop and ferociously poetic convulsions.
Deafheaven (USA) will perform their post-metal album Sunbather exclusively for Dark Mofo, in conjunction with its 10th anniversary, while Zheani (AUS) will dish up a spicy performance of furious fairy trap, screamo, and electronica alongside Mahne Frame’s icy rave beats.
Fulu Miziki (COD) are hosting an experimental workshop on crafting musical instruments from garbage. They’ll also be bringing their Congolese Afro-futurist collective to the stage, using their salvaged trash musical instruments and costumes.
Zindzi & The Zillionaires (AUS) is fronted by ABC’s Play School host Zindzi Okenyo, who will present family-friendly daytime shows for junior darklings.
Singer-songwriter Keeley Forsyth’s (GBR) emotionally raw and magnetic vocals tell stories of hard-won triumphs and the darker corners of domestic life. Tasman Keith (AUS) is Aussie hip hop’s new vanguard, whose music melds syrupy 90s synth with neo-funk, joined by GLVES (AUS).
Borderlands is a program of experimental electronica with four events across two weekends, with the first presenting David Lynch collaborator Dean Hurley (USA), as well as Laurel Halo (USA), with more shows in the second week.
Night Mass: Exstasia is the festival’s epic late-night event, this year bigger than ever, taking over three city blocks where artworks, performances, cocktail lounges, punk theatre, cinema cabarets, clubs and junkyard raves will create a sprawling metropolis. The packed program will be announced soon.
