Music is a huge way to find the culture of a city and place, and with Sydney, that is no exception. From aboriginal street performers, to huge music festivals finding music around the city isn’t hard. In one weekend, I got to immerse myself in the Australian culture with three completely different musical experiences.
Day 1: Future Music Festival
Starting at noon and going until 11 pm, Future was the longest, biggest and wildest thing I had experienced in Australia so far. Let me set the scene: any rave in America, minus those horrible fur boots, plus beautiful weather and over 20,000 people all ready to dance, sing, and hopefully get themselves on stage. Before we got there, we had set out a game plan; with eight stages each holding 10 performers throughout the day there was A LOT to see. Of course that schedule we planned didn’t work out at all but that was probably for the better because we got to see some amazing acts like; Pharrell Williams, Tinie Tempeh, Dada Life, Rudimental, Phoenix and Deadmau5 (for the parents reading this, these are some of the most popular pop singers and DJs in the world). The best part of the whole thing; we got front row for most of the performers. By simply saying excuse me, people would move out of the way and let us closer; that is unheard of at a rave. By the end of the night I had other peoples sweat all over me, beer in my hair, pizza on my shirt and an amazingly tiring day under my belt.
Day 2: Autumn Vibes
After 12 hours of dancing the day before, Autumn Vibes was the perfect way to relax in the sun on a beautiful Sunday. Taking place in the Botanical Gardens with a background of the Sydney Bridge and Opera House this years performers put on an authentic African show. With colorful clothing, a good beat and eccentric dancing, the audience was on their feet in no time, dancing and singing along; I was even lucky enough to drum along with the group! Even though it was meant more for kids, we all had a blast experiencing something different.
Day 3: Monday Comedy
When first walking into Nelson Hotel Monday night, we thought we had the wrong place. Everyone there was watching footy (rugby) and probably in their mid-forties but as we were escorted to a second room we found an intimate area perfect for a comedy club. The first three comedians were what we expected, jokes about pop culture and some witty jabs at the crowd. But then there was Dave Eastgate, the highlighted performer. Dressed like a washed-up rock star, Dave jumped onto stage, strummed his guitar and started jumping around like a KISS artist. When everyone was able to finally stop laughing Dave got into his music. As his “encore”, Dave ended the group in tears when he sang about boobs, describing them in more ways than I had ever heard.
Samm Zombolo is a student at the University of Oklahoma and a TEAN Featured Blogger. Samm is currently studying abroad with TEAN in Sydney, Australia.
