A recent story in The Canberra Times mentioned that attendance at this year's Multicultural Festival was the highest yet, which not only benefited the local economy but was also thumbs-up for the concurrent Fringe Festival, maybe returning one day as a separate event if reason prevails.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Extra funding would provide an excellent opportunity for a program of good-quality music that reflects innovative and stimulating art residing at the periphery of mainstream entertainment. This doesn't necessarily mean a return to Nazi-themed burlesque that caused all manner of controversy a few years ago for all the wrong reasons, but more about a roster of vibrant music that suitably fits the concept of "fringe".
I figure if this event is going to properly match the definition of artistic edge then the music component needs to have a flavour somewhere beyond high rotation hits on Triple J. So, here are a few choice acts comprising my fringe festival wish-list:
1. MV&EE – A US two-piece formed by guitarist/vocalists Matthew Valentine and Erika Elder who have recorded 40-odd albums that showcase a mind-blowing psychedelic synthesis of vintage delta blues and the best bits from Neil Young and the Grateful Dead's cosmic jamming on set piece Dark Star. The music is fantastically strange and the fact this group has not yet toured Australia is nothing short of bewildering. I cannot think of a more appropriate headliner for the Fringe Festival.
2. The New Christs – Last year I approached the Transit Bar to see if there was some interest in putting on a show from Sydney post-punk rockers New Christ. There definitely was and it's tragic a Canberra date was not added to a short east coast tour. The most recent album Incantations goes hard on blues-derived anthems of the tattered and torn kind, somewhat like the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street all over again. This band should be topping the charts but inconceivably doesn't despite the fact that vocalist Rob Younger also fronts outlaw rock trailblazers Radio Birdman who are soon to be headlining a first-rate garage-punk festival in Italy.
3. Free Improvisation - There is of course the need to celebrate local talent at the periphery of the mainstream, so the concluding performance of the Fringe Festival could comprise one big explosion of freely conceived improvisation from an ensemble that includes such local talents as trumpeter Reuben Lewis and saxophonist Nicholas Combe, SoundOut festival director Richard Johnson on hand-crafted gourd and guitarist and hellosQuare label owner Shoeb Ahmad conjuring the spirit of free music pioneer Derek Bailey. This would be a high-energy burst of musical freedom that encapsulates what the Fringe Festival can and should be about.
