JONATHAN ZAWADA – Lighting of the Sails
SOLANGE – Australian Exclusive
MAZZY STAR – Australian Debut, Australian Exclusive
ICE CUBE – Australian Exclusive
CAT POWER Moon Pix 20th Anniversary – Australian Exclusive, Global Premiere
DREAMS (Daniel Johns & Luke Steele) – Australian Debut, Australian Exclusive
H.E.R. • IRON & WINE
NEIL FINN ‘OUT OF SILENCE’ WITH ORCHESTRA
• NO MONO • TOTAL CONTROL & FRIENDS • MIDDLE KIDS • JOEP BEVING • FUGAZI’s GUY PICCIOTTO: ‘Instrument’ Screening + Q&A • XYLOURIS WHITE • HTRK • AN EVENING WITH REPRESSED RECORDS • BRIAN ENO’s ‘MUSIC FOR AIRPORTS’ PERFORMED BY ALASKA ORCHESTRA • CLUB KOOKY • KUREN x ELECTRIC FIELDS • BURIAL 12”s PLAYED ALL NIGHT LONG • ASTRAL PEOPLE FT. DANNY KRIVIT • MAD RACKET FT. LORD OF THE ISLES (LIVE)
https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/vivid-live
The Sydney Opera House today revealed the full line-up for its annual centrepiece music festival Vivid LIVE 2018, a celebration of contemporary music taking place from 25 May – 16 June 2018 as part of Vivid Sydney, the world’s largest festival of light, music and ideas.
Transforming the world-famous building inside and out from the iconic sails and Concert Hall to the newly-renovated Joan Sutherland Theatre, Vivid LIVE 2018 features over 35 international and Australian performances including 19 Australian exclusives and 10 Sydney Opera House debuts. Curated for the fourth time by the Opera House’s Head of Contemporary Music Ben Marshall, Vivid LIVE this year celebrates 10 years of cutting-edge contemporary music, having first launched in 2009 as ‘Luminous’, the brainchild of legendary British artist and musician Brian Eno.
Concert Hall
Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, artist and activist Solange Knowles will perform works from her acclaimed breakthrough album A Seat at the Table exclusively for Vivid LIVE. In her only scheduled Australian shows for 2018, the young R&B queen will fill the Opera House Concert Hall with her superb voice and unique aesthetic, including cinematic sets and spectacular dancers.
California’s dream pop, cult duo, Mazzy Star will make their long-awaited Australian debut exclusively for Vivid LIVE. The exceptional pairing of Hope Sandoval’s beguiling vocals with Dave Roback’s hypnotic guitar has influenced countless artists over Mazzy Star’s 30-year career and now Australian audiences can enjoy their psychedelic tracks live for the first time.
Ice Cube, the legendary West Coast rapper and founding member of pioneering rap group, N.W.A., is one of the greatest rappers of all time and his anger and urgency is needed in today’s society more than ever. This May, he returns to Australia to perform his powerful hits exclusively for the Sydney Opera House across four larger-than-life nights.
Cat Power returns to the Sydney Opera House for one night only in a world premiere celebrating the 20th anniversary of seminal album Moon Pix. As relevant now as it was on release, Power’s poignant breakthrough album – performed in full with original collaborators Jim White (Xylouris White, Dirty Three) and Mick Turner (Dirty Three) – is a touching exploration of female strength and vulnerability.
Former front-man of Silverchair, Daniel Johns (aka Dr Dreams) and Empire of the Sun’s Luke Steele (aka Miracle) will unveil their highly anticipated electro-pop collaboration Dreams in an Australian premiere exclusive to Vivid LIVE. Rumoured to be 15 years in the making, their debut record titled No One Defeats Us is built on melodic waves, mesmerising vocals and experimental electronica.
Joan Sutherland Theatre
Enigmatic young R&B singer H.E.R. (Having Everything Revealed) is one of the most exciting voices of 2018. Despite the mystique surrounding the artist’s identity, her debut EP is filled with reflective confessionals on identity and womanhood, in the tradition of Vivid LIVE alumnae Lauryn Hill and Janelle Monáe.
Four years on from his sold out Sydney Opera House debut, indie folk legend Sam Beam, aka Iron & Wine, will open Vivid LIVE with two intimate performances spanning a 16-year career of classic songwriting, including Beast Epic, Beam’s sixth album recorded as Iron & Wine. Performed with full band, the beautiful surroundings of the Joan Sutherland Theatre will provide the perfect backdrop for Iron & Wine’s most moving release yet.
Melbourne’s Tom Iansek (Big Scary) and Alice Springs’ Tom Snowdon will make their Sydney Opera House debut as No Mono to premiere their new album Islands (Part 1), the pair’s first collaboration since #1 Dads. Iansek’s brilliant songwriting combined with Snowdon’s unique vocals will captivate audiences at this exclusive Sydney performance.
Melbourne legends Total Control will invite specially selected guests including electronic pub rock iconoclasts Native Cats, Sydney’s own lo-fi chanteuse Greta Now, and Inner West producer du jour DJ Yoni (Holy Balm) to join them on stage for a feverish farewell before heading off overseas. Despite being their first release in three years, the countercultural quintet’s latest EP Laughing at the System shows that they have more to say now than ever.
Beloved singer-songwriter Neil Finn’s acclaimed new album Out of Silence will be performed with full band, orchestra and arrangements by Victoria Kelly in an Australian premiere for Vivid LIVE.
Sydney-based rock trio Middle Kids will premiere their debut album, Lost Friends, with a special hometown show at Vivid LIVE. This is the last chance to hear lead vocalist and writer Hannah Joy’s raw intensity complemented by bassist Tim Fitz and drummer Harry Day ahead of their 2018 world tour.
Utzon Room & the Studio
In his first Australian appearance since 1991, American punk-rock band Fugazi’s co-frontman and guitarist, Guy Picciotto presents a screening of the band’s definitive documentary Instrument, followed by an in-conversation in the Utzon Room.
Following two sold-out sessions in 2017, Dutch pianist Joep Beving brings his otherworldly compositions and hauntingly beautiful melodies to the Sydney Opera House for four rare performances.
After 15 years at the vanguard of experimental electronica and dub-rock, Melbourne’s HTRK will make their long-overdue Sydney Opera House debut, previewing their upcoming fourth album in the Utzon Room.
Cretan music icon George Xylouris and Dirty Three drummer Jim White reunite for a one-off performance in the Utzon Room to celebrate the release of their third album, Mother. Xylouris White’s remarkable combination of free-jazz, avant-rock and timeless Greek folk music propelled their 2014 debut album Goats to the top of the Billboard World Music chart and their latest work is even more hypnotic, challenging and rewarding.
Popular Newtown establishment Repressed Records will present an intimate 200-capacity evening to celebrate the best underground music in Australia, featuring Dirty Three legend Mick Turner, plus NASHO, Nun, Hurtsville and Knitted Abyss.
Brian Eno’s distinctive creative flair returns to the Sydney Opera House with an extraordinary live re-imagining of Ambient 1: Music for Airports, performed live by Alaska Orchestra. The first album to be explicitly produced as ambient music, Music for Airports was designed to encourage the mind to wander and is perfectly suited to contemplate the beauty of Sydney harbour framed by the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Utzon Room.
This year’s Studio Parties include a decadent two-night takeover from Club Kooky and residencies from Sydney’s longest-running dance institution Mad Racket featuring Lord of the Isles (live) and Astral People (feat. Danny Krivit). DJ Eli will celebrate the music of once-anonymous London producer Burial, bringing haunting echoes of UK club culture to the dancefloor. A highlight of the Studio Parties line-up in 2018 is Kuren x Electric Fields, co-curated by Rhoda Roberts, Sydney Opera House’s Head of First Nation programming. Taking place on May 27, their performance marks the 51st anniversary of the 1967 Referendum and the start of National Reconciliation Week.
Lighting the Sails
Award-winning Australian artist Jonathan Zawada will transform the Sydney Opera House sails with Metamathemagical, a vibrant projected artwork of morphing digital sculptures inspired by recognisable Australian motifs across science, nature and culture. Zawada’s use of cutting-edge technology challenges our understanding of the possibilities of projection by creating a 3D light sculpture that seemingly lives within the iconic Sails and pays homage to Utzon’s masterpiece.