Soul sessions: late nights, deep thoughts and good music collide at Vivid Sydney 2024

From big-stage concerts to intimate venues, there’s
something for every music-lover at Vivid Sydney 2024.

What makes us human? That’s the question Vivid Sydney is asking in 2024.

Everything on the line-up for this year’s edition of the annual Lights, Food, Music and Ideas festival is united by the theme of Humanity.

On the Ideas bill, that means panels discussing the news cycle or exploring the impact of AI, and mysterious events where attendees are prompted to soul search with a stranger.

In the Music program, it’s performances from artists whose work explores the search for meaning and purpose — both international provocateurs known for posing the big questions and local heroes whose work explores life, death and identity.

It’s set to make for a very interesting festival — and some thought-provoking late nights. But with Vivid Sydney running across three weeks from May 24, there’s a lot on the line-up to discover.

So which shows should you put on your hit list? Here’s a brief guide to some of the standouts.

Explore the weird and wonderful

Keen to tumble down the rabbit hole? The Vivid Sydney bill has a wealth of left-of-centre events to keep you titillated late at night.

Two of Sydney’s most boundary-pushing record labels, Trackwork and SUMAC, are teaming up to host a late-night dance party featuring music like you’ve never heard it before within the surrounds of a 100-year-old heritage substation at the new Machine Hall.

+WINDCHILL, happening June 9, promises a journey through experimental sounds with a program full of artists known for pushing the boundaries of genre — think emotional SoundCloud anthems and dubbed-out songs paired with sparse electronic percussion — with a line-up including LAVURN, YL Hooi and Nina Buchanan.

But there’s more than just music to enjoy. At their Bedtime Stories event as part of Vivid Sydney Supper Club, comedian Rhys Nicholson and ARIA-winning musician Georgia Mooney are exploring the flip side of humanity — they’ve assembled a line-up of storytellers including Annabel Crabb, Benjamin Law and Julia Zemiro, each of whom will share tales of their most appalling (and most human) of moments. You’ll laugh and you’ll most definitely cringe.

Nicholson and Mooney are also hosting an adults-only kids party at Mary’s Underground. Up Late Play Date has party hats, games, face-painting, craft, comedy… plus booze and a strictly for adults storytime session. Perfect.

The unexpected and unmissable

A range of more intimate shows this year are happening at Machine Hall, located in the CBD’s Clarence St, many of them featuring acts whose work delves deep into identity and humanity.

Folk-rock storyteller Jen Cloher, whose music draws from their rich heritage as Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Kahu, and tackles gender, home, place and protest, plays on June 6. The next night is a party from CLUB 4A, the event brand who transform the way celebrated artists from Asia and the subcontinent are perceived, by moving their work from conventional galleries into alternative venues. Combining forces with Eastern Margins, their bill features Asian-diasporic excellence from the likes of Melbourne hyper-pop artist Daine and Chinese-Australian guzheng composer Mindy Meng Wang.

Genre-hopping Detroit legend Black Milk, whose music fuses human stories with sounds spanning funk, soul, jazz, hip-hop, electronic and gospel, plays on June 11. The legendary First Nations rock-reggae band No Fixed Address, who first formed in 1979, make an anticipated return to the stage on June 12. Still going strong over four decades later, the show is a chance to revel in the band’s songs of survival, resistance and pride. And on June 14 you’ll be able to see a very different kind of gig care of Arnhem Land’s Ngulmiya, who blends a traditional singing style with innovative classical music and ancient storytelling.

Discover Vivid Sydney’s other music venues

There are plenty of big names on this year’s music line-up — some of whom may surprise you.

Two of the boldest names in electronic music are set to play the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall. On her very first Australian tour is Arca, the Barcelona-based singer, producer and conceptual artist who has collaborated with everyone from Bjork to Frank Ocean, and whose solo work explores topics like gender identity in ever-changing experimental sounds. Fever Ray — a.k.a. Karin Dreijer of The Knife, one of music’s most fearless and most acclaimed acts — takes the Concert Hall stage for a pair of brain-bending shows on June 5 and 6.

Want more? Tumbalong Park will play host to a line-up of free gigs all festival long — with a bill that includes local favourites like Mallrat, Forest Claudette, 3%, Christine Anu and Budjerah. All of which means it’s set to be a very busy start to winter for Sydney.

For the full program for Vivid Sydney 2024, click here.