Sugar Mountain is unlike any other music festival in Australia. In fact, it feels a little rude to lump the day out in the standard “music festival” category, as the event rolls together various forms of fresh music, art, media and culinary goodies in one incredible outing.
Returning for another triumphant year at the Victorian Arts College, the pokey laneways of the festival’s recently newfound home were swarming with a diverse range of punters, eager to have their senses blown by the unique artistic experience.
Comfortably spread throughout the art school, the campus felt more like the performing artists’ canvas, with jaw-dropping works such as Ash Keating’s towering wall piece that illuminated the Car Park Stage, and perhaps the most intriguing of works, the powerful imagery of the female body by Prue Stent, Honey Long and Clare Longley.
One could easily wander the classrooms and alleyways, completely immersed in the stunning creativity for the entire day – however, Sugar Mountain has plenty more up its sleeve: the music.
Kicking the day off was beat poet Kate Tempest, who closed her set with the poem ‘Europe Is Lost’, delivering her spoken word to a deadly still crowd whom exploded with applause at her conclusion. As a first timer to an experience like this, there were zero expectations – but wow, now it is very understood why Tempest possess such a cult following.
It was very proud day to celebrate our home grown talent, with Sydney pub-punk charmers Royal Headache firing the Dodd Street stage up and about just as the sun began to peak through the early afternoon clouds, belting tunes from their killer 2015 record, High, as well as teasing new material.
Melbourne outfit Total Giovanni proved once again that they’re an essential booking for any festival lineup, sending the tightly-packed crowd into a disco-dancin’ frenzy with their infectious tunes, ‘Can’t Control My Love’ an unforgettable highlight.
With the Bacardi Bar adjacent and plenty more space than the previous year to have a boogie, The Boiler Room proved to be perhaps the best stage set-up this year. Fans of dance were given a 360-view of the likes of Tom Trago and Tim Sweeny who both dropped very tight sets, however, it was the headliners, Hot Chip, who stole the day.
To no surprise, the alt-dance heavyweights from the UK saw the vast majority of the crowd squeeze their way to the main stage, punters climbing on shoulders, bins – just about anything to get ready for the floor.
The London crew performed hits from their impressive catalogue, which were belted out in unison by the adoring audience, as well as including covers of Springsteen’s ‘Dancing In The Dark’ and perhaps the song of the day, LCD Soundsytem’s ‘All My Friends’ – the perfect close that saw plenty of pals swing their arms around each other in sheer jubilation.
Despite the fall of music festivals in Australia over the past 12 months – Sugar Mountain proved its worth at the beginning of 2015, and after the rousing success of the artistic palate that was Saturday’s display, it very much looks like this day of art adventure and music exploration is here to stay.
