Naked City: Glastonbury Revisited?
The wet and windy weather that greeted the start of the Sydney Festival last weekend was not unexpected with January in the Emerald City renowned for its tropical style downpours. It’s something the Sydney Fest is well aware off and no doubt takes into its strategic planning but is it something they could positively embrace?
Rather than schedule outdoor events at the mercy of the weather, perhaps a rethinking is needed whereby the weather itself plays a creative role. Take the now iconic Symphony In The Park where thousands stake out their turf in the Domain to ‘soak’ up a few bottles of wine and a selection of symphonic favourites. Why not deliver a program of music that would make the arrival of wet and windy weather a bonus and only add to the artistic experience. Wagner is the composer who immediately springs to mind with his familiar evocations of storm and tempest, ‘Flying Dutchman’ style. Festgoers would be encouraged to ‘mac’ up in appropriate wet weather gear and should the inclement weather not arrive, fire hoses could be employed to douse the crowd – likewise, wind machines to send their picnic blankets soaring.
We’re all familiar with the annual mud bath that is the UK’s Glastonbury Festival and the primal thrills that punters enjoy by floundering in the earthy slop. ‘Mud’ could also play its part in a future Sydney Fest with Papua New Guinea’s incredible Asaro mudmen invited as the cultural flagship, appearing regularly at the Spiegletent and even deejaying the odd late night gig. Sydneysiders would be encouraged to fashion their own ‘mudperson’ masks with ‘flashmud’ style tribal gatherings happening spontaneously all over town.
The Sydney Festival always turns it on for the kids with this year’s Waterfall Swing proving a bit hit. And who could forget the giant rubber duckie which charmed Sydneysiders back in 2013 at Cockle Bay and again in 2014 on the Parramatta River? Imagine an even bigger giant rubber pig, fluorescent pink of course, wallowing in an Olympic size pool filled with good quality mud. Somewhere like the Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre would be perfect with thousands of kiddies enjoying a daily mud fight (and wallow) with Pinky the Pig.
While unthinkable, there is always the possibility with today’s severe climate change, that it could rain everyday in January. Rather than move the entire Fest indoors, the organisers could easily institute a plan B style celebration of mud, slosh, storm and tempest with standby orchestras versed in Wagner, the English glam band Mud and naturally the Scottish lads Wet, Wet, Wet.
Of course the following quote from Dr Seuss makes no sense whatsoever but perhaps it’s rap style, hip hop phrasing might inspire some serious rethinking about our festival weather in January.
“The storm starts, when the drops start dropping, when the drops stop dropping then the storm starts stopping.”
THE HIT LIST: Jamaican expat Pat Powell has been a fixture on the Sydney music scene for decades now spanning genres such as reggae, ska, soul and funk. More recently Pat has fronted the internationally renowned 26-piece Melbourne Ska Orchestra. Catch Pat in a very intimate setting along with piano whiz Bridie King and percussionist Samila Sithole at the historic Lord Wolseley Hotel in Ultimo this Saturday 17 from 8.30pm. The pub is supposedly the narrowest in the Southern hemisphere and you are never too far from the musicians. It’s atmosphere plus! www.lordwolseleyhotel.com.au
