Vivid Memories
Ever since Love Police announced that folk-maestros Big Thief will be touring in May, I have been looking out for any signs of Vivid 2020 news - since there is currently a big Sydney-shaped hole in their schedule (they’ve since added 2 more shows in Melbourne making it 4 times at the Corner Hotel!).
So when I received the email from Sydney Opera House that the first announcement is imminent, it took me down a path, down memory lane if you will, to this cool microsite that SOH put together back in 2018 to celebrate its 10th year - https://vividlive10.sydneyoperahouse.com/
When I think about Vivid and all the amazing artists that have performed in the House over the years, I can’t help think that us Sydney-siders do take it for granted that we have this wonderful venue and setting for this form of art to inspire and flourish.
It all kicked off in 2009, of course, with Brian Eno curating the festival of light and music. That year, I was fortunate enough to witness Battles for the very first time, and Tyondai Braxton was still part of the rotation. I still say this in my top 5 shows of all time and thank you Mike Evans for keeping this memory alive on YouTube.
2010 was Holly Miranda in The Studio where she covered Jeff Buckley’s Lover You Should’ve Come Over and mesmerised us with her sultry vocals.
I must’ve missed the years when the likes of Janelle Monae and Odd Future tore it up but in 2013, I made it to German legends Kraftwerk performing 2003’s Tour de France, with 3D glasses and all.
Kraftwerk - Vivid 2013
2016 was rather special with Justin Vernon (@blobtower) of Bon Iver fame retweeting me for some reason after their rather beautiful ‘Cercle’ show. 4 nights of it at The House and the kids are probably still talking about those run of nights. So many for us, indeed.
Fast forward to 2018 and we made some noise for Ice Cube and then Sydney’s own Middle Kids wowed on back to back nights. A homecoming or sorts for Hannah and band, and the whole evening felt triumphant and I was especially pleased for introducing them to some of my dearest friends.
Middle Kids - Vivid 2018
Which brings us to 2019.
Ethereal is one word that springs to mind when describing Grouper and she was certainly that in the most intimate of settings in the Utzon Room one rainy evening with the harbour as the backdrop. Just beautiful.
And to round out my Vivid experience so far is The Cure and the 30th anniversary of Disintegration. They had just been inducted to Rock ‘n Roll’s Hall of Fame just a month earlier and it was just one big celebration of music.
Bring on Vivid 2020.