Vivid Live is an interesting concept. Each year it gives an internationally acclaimed artist the opportunity to curate a large scale festival through the Sydney Opera House. Last year Brian Eno curated the inaugural festival. I was lucky enough to see Eno’s keynote address, his projections onto the Sydney Opera House and his 77 million Paintings installation as well as performances by electronic/rock acts Pivot (now PVT) and Ladytron.
This year the projections onto the Sydney Opera House are back, created by Laurie Anderson. Anderson and Lou Reed are the Vivid Live curators for 2010 and have scheduled a very interesting and diverse line-up including Tuvan throat singers Chirgilchin, stylistically differing Japanese rock bands Boris and Melt Banana and The Blind Boys of Alabama.
On Friday I went to see Boris perform in the Studio. Thanks to the Sydney Opera House for providing tickets to Boris and the opening night party that followed. I think the organisers learned from an issue I noticed last year. Putting a ‘rock’ band in a seating-only venue such as the Opera Theatre doesn’t work very well. The energy level suffers which affects the performer and audience equally. The Studio is a much better space. The line between stage and audience is less defined resulting in a much more dynamic environment. I didn’t really know what to expect when I went to the gig. From listening to a few clips on the internet I was bracing for Melt-Banana or Boredoms insanity. Boris’ music definitely had a bit of that vibe but was actually quite harmonic, exploring the intricacies within their chosen tunings. Apart from a slight crackle issue with Takeshi’s double neck guitar/bass the band sounded incredible. Walls of noise often broke away to reveal reverberant lyrics sung by any one of three band members. Female guitarist Wata’s vocals were truly haunting. The gig never strayed from being insanely loud though, even in the breakdowns. A stack of Orange and black quads coupled with a line array and massive subs in a 15m2 room tends to have that effect. I look forward to hearing Melt-Banana and the Blind Boys of Alabama this week.
This brings me to another point. There has been some controversy around the lack of Australian artists in the Vivid Live line-up. This is valid criticism but we do have a distinct lack of quality non-top-40-oriented internationals performing in Sydney as well. I think it is important to develop both sides of the equation as opposed to play one side against the other. Australian based artists definitely need more high profile arts events to perform at but I myself, and I sure others too, need the inspiration that culturally diverse acts from all over the world can provide. I see Vivid Live as a festival that can play a big part in developing a more vibrant arts scene in Sydney. Introduce a few more venues for live performance during the festival such as the Opera House and Museum of Contemporary Art forecourts, bring the mix of local and international artists closer to a 50/50 split and pretty soon Sydneysiders will have a world-renowned festival on their hands.
Tags: Boris, Ladytron, Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, Melt-Banana, Pivot, Sydney, Sydney Opera House, The Studio, Vivid Live