WHATS ON: LIVING FOR THE WEEKEND
By Brad Martin
Each week Brad Martin will be hand selecting the cream of the crop of gigs, parties and events in Sydney to ensure you can focus on deciding what to wear and leave the hard choices up to him.
It’s summer in Sydney and it’s peak party season. This week you can experience some Techno in the sunshine, Funk in the park, and Local legends all over the city.
Sydney Festival has started with a bang, with the ‘Meriton Festival Village’ in Hyde Park hosting cutting edge acts from around the world in the Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent, as well as a garden of delights right in the heart of the city. Friday sees LA’s Dam Funk taking over the Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent bringing his laid back brand of G-Funk back again to Sydney. Filling your Friday till real late with some laid back, breezy vibes. Expect tracks from his 2015 album “Invite the Light” out now on Stones Throw records, featuring collaborations with artists such as Ariel Pink and Snoop Dogg.
WHAT: Dam-Funk (LA)
WHEN: Friday 15th Jan 11:45pm
WHERE: Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent, Hyde Park North
HOW MUCH: $39 + bf via Sydney Festival
Saturday is awash with local vibes with Sydney crews Motorik and Plastic World each throwing down some afternoon dancing in the Inner West. The legendary Motorik are renowned for bringing to our shores some of the best rave and techno that the world has to offer. This weekend they are bringing us “Original Flavours”— a line up filled with legends of the Aussie scene. Late Night Tuff Guy will be going deep into the discotheque groove, whilst his techno alter-ego DJ HMC will be bringing a full 3 hours to the Factory Theatre’s Technodrome. Original Flavours will also feature a rare as hell live set from the legendary Itch-e and Scratch-e, responsible for the best and most enduring rave anthem; “Sweetness and Light”. Also featuring Fantastic Man, Stereogamous, Phil Smart x Francis Xavier, and a whole room dedicated to the bassier sound of breakbeat and jungle.
WHAT: MTK: “Original Flavours” – LATE NITE TUFF GUY / DJ HMC / FANTASTIC MAN / ITCH-E & SCRATCH-E / FRANCIS XAVIER & PHIL SMART / STEREOGAMOUS PLUS MORE
WHEN: Saturday Jan 16th 3pm
WHERE: The Factory Theatre Marrickville
HOW MUCH: $35 via Motorik
In the two years that Sydney Label Plastic World has been around, they have been releasing some of the freshest and most creative music from their diverse roster of Local acts. Boasting an almost exclusive vinyl only catalogue, Plastic World has been home to releases from GL, Alba, Retiree and Tuff Sherm. This Saturday at the Chippendale Hotel they are gathering together a monster line up to celebrate their second birthday with you. Kicking off at 2pm, and taking over the full venue, with DJ’s spinning Vinyl in the courtyard and live acts including Black Vanilla and Sampa the Great taking over the downstairs dungeon, it’s a great opportunity to catch some of Sydney’s best emerging acts before they take over the world.
WHAT: Plastic World 2nd Birthday Black Vanilla / András / Sampa The Great / Cassius Select / Dreems / Silent Jay & Jace XL / Alba / Thomas William Plus more
WHEN: Saturday Jan 16th 2pm
WHERE: Chippendale Hotel
HOW MUCH: $25 Via Plastic World
For those of you who still have the party stamina of the young, your weekend of partying can continue right up till the end of Sunday at the latest hotspot in the city; Harpoon Harrys. Recently renovated and refreshed, this Wentworth St pub has been playing home to Picnic Social upstairs and Teddy Bears Picnic downstairs for the last couple of months. A diverse, friendly crowd will make you forget about your early start on Monday, with new resident Valerie Yum joining Picnic head honcho Kali, and Melbourne-via-London’s Bell Towers undertaking a mammoth 4 hour set showcasing his brand of dreamy-techno-pop smashing sets for such names as Boiler Room and Dekmantel. With releases out on Canyons Hole in the Sky Label, a string of 12-inches on Munich’s Public Possession label and last year’s “Hyper-realised-Self”, Bell Towers set is the perfect opportunity to dance yourself clean of the sins of the weekend.
Meanwhile downstairs the Gay-Uncles of queer Sydney Paul Mac and Jonny Seymour, aka Stereogamous, will be combining hugs with deep house as the ideal way to finish/start your week. Featuring a range of guest selectors and performers showing up each week including Betty Grumble, L’oasis, Annabelle Gaspar, Matt Format and Brendan Maclean, it’s “like an intergenerational, mulicultural, all gender LGBTIQAH bistro disco pub rave”.
WHAT: Picnic Social // Teddy Bears Picnic
WHEN: Sunday 17th Jan 5pm
WHERE: Harpoon Harrys
HOW MUCH: Free
Next Thursday Astral People are bringing out Alt-queer rapper producer Le1f to the Oxford Arts Factory. Fresh off the release of his debut studio album “Riot Boi” featuring production from SOPHIE, Lunice, Boody, Blood Diamonds, Salva, Dubbel Dutch and Evian Christ, Le1f is definitely a one of a kind. With a background in ballet and modern dance, Le1f’s performances are dynamic, engaging and urgent, challenging and subverting the boundaries and stereotypes surrounding contemporary hip-hop. Featuring support from Oscar Key Sung and Babyfaced thrilla,
WHAT: Le1f with Oscar Key Sung + BabyfacedThrilla
WHEN: Thursday 21st Jan
WHERE: Oxford Arts Factory
HOW MUCH: $39 + bf via Moshtix