Melody Menu

Image: Andrew Gurruwiwi Band by Melody Menu.

Author: Melody Menu

Transplanting a music, film, tech and games festival to Sydney from the United States was always going to raise some eyebrows. An immersive experience, South by Southwest, or SXSW for short, has become more of a city-wide activation than a festival since its inception in Austin, Texas in 1987. Launching this kind of late night experience for the first time in 2023 in a city with a complex relationship to music and nightlife was both ambitious and somewhat fraught. Sydney’s trademark train network continued to be delayed in seemingly all directions, and the concerts needed to finish by curfews far earlier than in Austin, however the innovation and energy of SXSW still shone through in SXSW Sydney, taking place on unceded Gadigal lands and featuring an eclectic lineup that revealed itself through serendipity and fun. The best bands were often the ones you saw by accident in museums, churches, old theatres and even small stages set up in the street, wandering around Sydney to see a handful of bands out of over three hundred artists. In that spirit, here are just ten of our favourite artists featured at SXSW Sydney.

Self-described as ‘your old friend,’ Phoebe Go transformed the Courtyard stage at the Powerhouse Museum into the best kind of backyard gig. Presented by Rolling Stone, the Courtyard already had a leafy outlook that was made all the more welcoming with Phoebe Go’s sweetly sad songs in a solo set without her regular band. Just vocals, finger-picked electric guitar and sunshine, surrounded by friends you haven’t met yet.

From here, we made our way to see Dylan Atlantis, Dylan’s bedazzled guitar, and their band at the UTS underground. Combining genres such as emo, rock, soul and hip hop, Dylan Atlantis exuded confidence and raw charisma while rapping, crooning, and rocking out, and absolutely nailing Brittany Howard’s roaring vocals in their cover of Alabama Shakes’ ‘Gimme All Your Love.’ After New Zealand 5-piece Fazerdaze’s set at the UTS Underground, a friend summed up that the show ‘makes me want to rehearse.’ Their polished rock n roll and crystalline harmonies seemed effortless, only hinting at the dedication and practise required to sound so shiny.

We saw Adam Newling grace the stage at both the Courtyard and the Alley – Agincourt Hotel across SXSW Sydney, with the Agincourt show featuring an additional member who gently steeped their sound in violin. Both sets were wholesome and fun, with the band hugging onstage before unleashing their unpretentious folk rock on the audience and leading singalongs of the emotional and cheeky ‘Difference of Opinion’. Similarly, ‘Ocean’ made for an incredibly affecting moment, a song about ‘learning to swim’ emotionally charged with harmonica and Adam and keyboard player Keva McMullin’s soaring vocals.

Also at the Agincourt Hotel, Babitha was an 8-piece production with nothing sounding out of place. Congas, pedal steel, twelve-string, backing vocals, electric guitar and bass flanked singer and guitarist Imogen Grist’s yearning grooves making for a resounding country and western-flavoured set. Later that night with at least three cowbells set up around the stage along with several bongos and other drums, we knew we were in for a percussion-fuelled treat before Los Bitchos began their set at the Soda Factory. The London-based band sashayed between imminently danceable and headbanging during their mostly-instrumental songs, making for an unpretentious and hypnotic set that continued to ring in our ears long into the night.

Friday at SXSW Sydney saw us get our steps up and venture further afield after starting the afternoon at the Courtyard. Enola and their band brought an expansive nighttime energy to our otherwise sunny afternoon at the Courtyard with driving basslines and angsty, angular guitar. Their first song was an interesting study in audience expectation with Enola putting their guitar down as the first song hit its peak, concentrating instead on their vocals, a choice that commanded attention when so many other artists would reflexively shred or solo.

Yolngu elder Andrew Gurruwiwi and his 8-piece band blazed through a set of Yolngu Funk at the Courtyard, expanding on genres such as reggae, dub, and ska, even blending into triumphant prog rock. Armed with a keytar, congas, and bongos, Gurruwiwi alternated between polite and heartfelt invitations for the audience to ‘feel free’ to dance, and searing truth telling about war in Arnhem Land, all the while maintaining a welcoming and extremely danceable energy.

This bridge between truth telling and beats was also traversed by Gomeroi man and rapper currently living on Bidjigal Land, Kobie Dee at Barney’s Church where he emphasised the importance of storytelling and coming together. This kind of genuine connection with the audience wasn’t easy in a space that has already been written about as “activating for the sake of activation” by The Guardian with a pop-up record shop and the most corporate atmosphere we had come across so far. But Kobie Dee held his own, highlighting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders’ status as the ‘original storytellers’ and ending his set with a gut-wrenching a capella version of ‘Still Standing’; a song about unending resilience in the face of the continuing Stolen Generations and intergenerational trauma, his words stark against a silent room with no beats or samples to soften the blow.

Due to an unfortunate scheduling error on the SXSW Sydney website, we had just missed a set by Malyangapa and Barkindji woman and artist BARKAA also at Barney’s Church. Undeterred, we made our way to see BARKAA labelmate Dobby at Mulan Music Restaurant & Bar. There, the Filipino and Muruwari rapper and musician swept up the audience in a high-energy set of drumming and rapping – often at the same time – accompanied by scratches and samples from DJ Just Like That. Dobby proudly shared his culture and spoke about the Brewarrina Fish Traps being the oldest built structure in the world, before introducing ‘Dirrpi Yuin Patjulinya (The Bird Names Himself)’ a song written around a butcher bird’s call and further energised by an emphatic performance on an electronic percussion pad.

Dobby’s organic beats and yarns were somewhat in contrast with the neon animations of bears and penguins dancing on a screen behind the stage, but made a weird kind of sense with Dobby’s music becoming a grounding force in this strange and hyperreal festival experience. A reminder that music and dance has remained a part of the cultural fabric of this place now known as Australia for tens of thousands of years.