Darebin Music Feast is back in 2017, this time charged with a spirit and lustre for live music, inclusion and inspiration like never before. Spanning eleven consecutive days in October, the Feast will showcase the incredible breadth of talent thriving in Melbourne’s North.
The Feast’s 100% inclusive theme is yet another bold move from the Darebin Council and the stunning centrepiece of the Darebin Music Feast platter is Mana, (Saturday 21 October at Northcote Town Hall), the result of Darebin Councils’ ground-breaking AMPLIFY mentoring program which invited early-career female, trans or gender non-conforming music event producers who live, work or study in the city of Darebin to enjoy a leg up in the competitive music industry. Successful applicant, Daisy Catterall, has produced an event celebrating queerness and people of colour, under the mentorship of Bexx D (LISTEN).
The opening night will feature Australia’s premier Aboriginal band, Coloured Stone. Along with special guests including Shane Howard, Kutcha Edwards, Bart Willoughby and Yung Warriors, the band will take audiences on a musical journey spanning 40 years. The concert will be followed by an after party curated by Hannah Donnelly (Sovereign Trax), featuring an all-female line-up of young Indigenous musicians, including DJ KYAANZ (Willow Beats) and DJ Soju Gang.
The Megaphone Project is a similarly compelling event that features twenty-five striking red megaphones which collect voices that then return unexpectedly via a custom wireless network. The installation will appear at five different sites across the municipality throughout the Feast.
The annual Darebin Music Feast Songwriters’ Award Grand Final is a regular fixture of the festival, showcasing the finest song writing talent in the area. Finalists perform for esteemed judges Peter Farnan, Sophie Koh and Kutcha Edwards in a bid to take out an amazing prize package including $2000 cash and studio time. Previous winners of the award include Jordie Lane, Sal Kimber and Brooke Russell. Who will be discovered this year?
Darebin Live will weave its way throughout the North during the Feast, featuring eleven days of non-stop live music celebrating our amazing live music scene from rock, folk, hip hop and jazz through to Balkan, big band and Brahms.
The riotously successful Reservoir Stomp has been incarnated as the event’s Closing Party in 2017, turning Rezza’s Bowls Club into a suburban shindig for the ages featuring acts from The Fauves to Murray Wiggle + Wally Meanie’s Bubblegum Machine featuring members from The Spazzys. It’s not the only family-friendly event in Darebin Music Feast’s canon – many of the events in the packed program are kid friendly and wheelchair accessible.
Whether you’re a shoe-gazer, a toe-tapper or a full-blown body-shaker, there’s something on the Feast’s vast menu for everyone! Get stuck in.
DAREBIN MUSIC FEAST
12–22 OCTOBER, 2017
www.musicfeast.com.au
Thursday October 12
Opening Night (The Red Dusty Road) @ Darebin Arts Centre
Thursday October 19
Songwriter’s Award Grand Final @ Northcote Town Hall
Saturday October 21
Mana @ Northcote Town Hall
Sunday October 22
The Reservoir Stomp @ Reservoir Bowls Club
