Centennial Parklands, Sydney
Saturday February 24, 2018 :
On a hot, humid end of summer day the inaugural Sydney City Limits was held at Centennial Park last Saturday. An eclectic crowd of young and old gathered in the dust and heat for what proved to be a well organised and laid back festival with a strong local and international lineup.
After the trek in we arrived in time to hear the last couple of tracks by Australian DJ and producer LDRU, the crowd invigorated and singing along to favourite ‘Keeping Score’ with the soaring vocals of Paige IV resonating through Centennial Park grounds.
Pocket-sized hip hop artist Tkay Maidza bounced on to the Harbour stage, all long hair, huge smiles and hot red camo gear –and the crowd was bouncy and engaged from the first beat. Tkay positively vibrates throughout her set and the addition of a drummer brings a real energy to the show. Crowd-pleaser ‘Do It Right’ had them all singing along, and a morph into a Flume cover with a bit of crumping action from Tkay was fun. Big hit ‘M.O.B.’ brought even more people in and ‘Switch Lanes’ had everyone singing along. Loads of dancing, energy, movement and fun.
A change of tempo with English garage/indie-rockers The Libertines, playing for the first time in Australia. The early afternoon timeslot saw a decent crowd gathered in the heat. Frontman Pete Doherty rocks up in tracky daks and a football shirt, well, because he can. They opened with ‘Delaney’ which pleased the tightly packed crowd singing along to what was the first taste of rock for the day. This legendary English pub-style band keeps it simple and all about the music – no fancy light shows or effects – satisfying a mainly older crowd that, included lots of kids on shoulders, with their gritty rock anthems. The band shared hugs & an arms-in-arm bow to the audience, after a great set where they seemed to be enjoying themselves just as much as the crowd.
Next I was off to catch young Brisbane garage punk rockers the Dune Rats, fondly known to their fans as the Dunies. Complete with huge rock/devil horn hands each side of stage, they ripped it up from the first chord, hair thrashing around and all punk rock & laughs. It was hectic down the front in the mosh pit and the crowd went off to the youngsters’ anthem ‘Six Pack’ while two huge inflatable beer cans were bumped around. I left to catch some of Thundercat, returning to watch the adoring fans jumping and cavorting to cheeky anthems ‘Dalai Lama Big Banana’ then finishing with ‘Bullshit’, and the band getting the adoring crowd to join them in a fingers-up photo to capture the occasion.
Across to the Park Stage to catch Thundercat – and a nice cool breeze swung in just in time. This funky three piece brought the vibe down to a chilled pace and I couldn’t help grin watching some folks passing a spliff around. I was surprised by how young a lot of the crowd was for an old-school style jazz/fusion bassist. Thundercat (aka Stephen Bruner) simply oozes cool as he holds his 6-string bass high on the chest and croons in a surprisingly high, sweet voice for such a big man. Some of the long songs and retro keyboard sounds had me thinking back to Santana.
A change of tempo saw The Avalanches burst on to the stage next, hitting it off with come-back single ‘Frankie Sinatra’, which had the entire audience singing along as they bopped around happily. The Avalanches didn’t disappoint, bringing their particular brand of trippy, funky beats and free-spirited eccentricity. A wildly colourful backdrop set off this high energy set. The girls stole the show – vocalist Eliza Wolfgramm with her signature baseball bat strutted the stage while she punched out songs and drummer Paris Jeffree on an elevated platform absolutely thrashed the drum kit Nirvana style!
Surfer-reggae outfit Ocean Alley, hailing from Sydney’s laid back Northern Beaches, exceeded the City Limits with their sunset show – excited fans packed in to the Big Top as the orange glow streamed in for this cool, sweet set. They took the crowd on a journey of infused energetic reggae and rock sounds, on a night when singer Baden was celebrating his birthday. Crowd-favourites ‘Confidence’ and ‘Yellow Mellow’ had the whole audience in sync, delightedly dancing and singing along with the band.
The sun sets and the fruit bats come out, looking above the Park stage – how apt for the Diva herself, Grace Jones. As her face looms out of a black backdrop – boom – she appears, Goddess like in gold under the spotlight, prowling the stage in theatrical mask, slinky tights and sky-high stilettos. ‘Nightclubbing’ was the first in a short but powerful set by this almost 70-year-old legendary artist who has influenced so, so many. “It’s much louder than before, man – Can you hear me?” she booms in that familiar deep voice, stalking the stage with a commanding presence like no other.
Each song has a new eye-catching theatrical outfit – there are nine performers on stage and you couldn’t tear your eyes away from the spectacle of tribal imagery, flag dancer, backup singers and exotic outfits– the crowd in awe of the beautiful and somehow terrifying presence of Ms Jones. ‘My Jamacian Guy’ and ‘Amazing Grace’ follow, then a cover of ‘Love is the Drug’ with rock, disco and electro fusion. An indigenous male pole dancer and bubble machine enhanced the already visual feast, the Diva in a thigh-length pink wig and skin tight leotard and upper body painted. Then in a flash she is gone, leaving an awe-struck but satisfied crowd.
As we left, Justice had turned the dusty field in front of the Harbour stage into a late-night dance party. The French duo explode on a stage drenched in light effects with their punchy brand of French house and disco. There was so much on offer today it was impossible to catch them all – other acts included Phoenix, Beck, Vance Joy, Allday and Tash Sultana – a feast for all ages! All up it was a successful and enjoyable day of music – congratulations to the organisers on a top notch event.
Reviewer : Caitlin Martin
Photographer : Joshua South
GRACE JONES
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DUNE RATS
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GANG OF YOUTHS
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OCEAN ALLEY
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TASH SULTANA
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THE AVALANCHES
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THE LIBERTINES
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THUNDERCAT
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TKAY MAIDZA
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VANCE JOY
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