We didn’t fancy much at the Sydney Festival this year. But so as not to be boring stay-at-home people, we chose to go to a music gig at the Spiegeltent in Hyde Park almost at random. We went to see Jessy Lanza, a Canadian singer we’d never heard of!
It was a rainy evening, but we managed to get to Hyde Park by train without getting wet. The rain stayed away and we had a couple of drinks and some food before the show in the “festival village” – outdoor eating area.
Jan had “simple and robust Italian fare from Fratelli Fresh” and I had a “juicy burger . . . courtesy of Sydney institution Mary’s.” We rushed into the Spiegeltent to get a good possie. The fans dashed to the front of the stage, but we found a seat in a booth at the back.
The music was of a type we had never before experienced. Great thumping bass beats with synthesised drums and high-pitched girlie wailing over the top – it was quite good! It was Jessy’s voice as well as a female drummer, lots of electronic stuff and sampling.
Jessy is described as having “high soulful vocals and house-inflected 90s R&B”. Also: “Jessy Lanza makes pop music out of non-pop sounds from ’90s R&B to Chicago Footwork to Acid House.”
It was enjoyable, even for old people. And it got us out of the house and away from the TV (We’ve just finished binge watching the latest series of Spiral).
Good to see that you’ve got into Spiral – best TV series ever 🙂
Surprised that you found something worth seeing. Each year the Sydney Festival seems to get more obscure than the year before. Perhaps we are just getting too intolerant as we get older.
Spiral is good (not sure about best TV series ever at this stage), just getting into it.