Despite the recent spate of warning signs in the Australian music festival industry – One Great Night on Earth being the most recent example, quietly cancelling its ambitious event – announcements for new festivals continue to pop up as the Summer months draw ever closer.
Yesterday we reported that the rumour mill was swirling over the potential revival of Brisbane’s much missed Livid Festival. The country Victorian town of Warrnambool is also set to see a music event styled after Tamworth Country Music Festival’s success, while the iconic Sydney district of Kings Cross will turn into a five-day celebration of music and culture at the end of this month.
Now there’s news of another new festival to be held next year. Entitled Spunk Tones – a mash up of the names of the two labels responsible for the festival, Sydney’s Spunk and Melbourne’s Mistletone – the new ‘mini-festival’ will combine big name international acts Beach House and New York singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten – who will be in the country for New Years’ for the Falls Festival – with more local fare.
The newly-birthed event will see one-man orchestra Wintercoats and Beach House reunited after the Melbourne artist supported the much-loved American dream pop act on their 2011 tour. Joining them will be Jack Ladder and the Dreamlanders, who were nominated for the Australian Music Prize this year, and lo-fi Melbourne native Bored Nothing.
A regional alternative to the usually capital city-based music scene, Spunk Tones will be held in the sunny Northern NSW coastal town of Bangalow, a the local A&I Town Hall.
The event is being put on by Melbourne-based indie label and touring company Mistletone, along with Spunk, the Sydney label responsible for locally distributing such artists as Bat for Lashes, Arcade Fire, and Stephen Malkmus.
The organisers certainly have enough experience behind them, with Mistletone being responsible for previous mini-festivals Spring Tones and Summer Tones. Which were similar showcases of Australia’s independent music scene, but unfortunately are no longer running.
Considering the tumultuous nature of the industry at the moment, it will be interesting to see if the mini-festival is a runaway success in the vein of AJ Maddah’s Harvest, or goes the way of such failures as Heatwave and Blueprint.
Either way fans of indie Australian music should have their appetites more than sated at Spunk Tones however, if all goes to plan.
Spunk Tones 2013 Mini-Festival Lineup
Saturday 12 January, 2013 at A & I Hall, Bangalow ( venue info )
Tickets on sale today from Oztix
Beach House
Sharon Van Etten
Jack Ladder and the Dreamlanders
Wintercoats
Bored Nothing
