Livid Up!

These days the festival experience has become almost ubiquitous, virtually a rite of passage for any young adult with even a passing interest in music, abetted by a seemingly endless array of diversely focused events for them to choose from. But once upon a time in the not-too-distant past things were vastly different; the Australian music landscape wasn't yet littered with overpriced and overregulated package experiences, and it was left to a few budding entrepreneurs with intrepid spirit and a vision to forge the way forward.

And for many years it was Brisbane leading the way in the Australian festival stakes with its trailblazing and iconic Livid Festival. Beginning humbly in 1989 as a small event at the University Of Queensland and featuring a handful of Brisbane-affiliated acts – chiefly The Go-Betweens, Chris Bailey, Ups & Downs and Died Pretty – the Livid Festival quickly became an annual event and a vital part of the Queensland music calendar. It grew incrementally over the years, setting up home at Davies Park in West End for much of the '90s before eventually outgrowing that venue and moving to the vast expanses of the RNA Showgrounds in 1997 where it remained until its final instalment (to date) in 2003. It blossomed from around 2,000 punters at the inaugural bash to over 50,000 at its zenith, without ever sacrificing the integral elements of culture and community – and of course brilliant music – that had made it so special from the outset.

There's currently a Livid Festival exhibition running at SLQ as part of the ongoing Live! Queensland program, and festival founder and promoter Peter Walsh has been going through his archives to dig up photos and memorabilia from Livid's entire lifespan, dredging up years of memories in the process. “It's been really weird,” he smiles. “It's been a little bit emotional, like looking in a bubble back at yourself. It was a really different time – I think the festival thing now is quite ridiculous, but it was different back then.”

Walsh and his then-partner both borrowed money from the UQ Student Council to fund the first Livid – ostensibly for car loans – and worked like Trojans to make it work, Walsh infamously handing out 50,000 flyers himself to get the concept out there.

“Looking back I can't believe that I had the balls to go ahead and do it – you wouldn't do it now; it would be insanity,” he laughs. “We borrowed that money – 4,000 dollars each – but no one ever asked the question, and I don't think we asked ourselves the question, we just didn't think about it; 'What if we don't sell enough tickets?' It was like, 'Who cares?' You're nineteen, you've got the rest of your life ahead of you, you're still at uni – who cares? We got to meet The Go-Betweens!”

Importantly, Livid retained its intrinsically Brisbane feel as it grew – always including a strong representation of local bands amongst the star-studded Australian and international line-ups – and also its focus on incorporating art installations into proceedings, giving the festival a heady and esoteric vibe unparalleled in today's marketplace.

“We did pretty well, because there wasn't 37,000 festivals. We were the first festival in the country, I remember going to see [promoter and eventual Big Day Out co-founder] Ken West back before I knew him well, and by the end of the meeting he was telling me that I should do a wine and cheese, because a festival just wasn't viable – 'It won't work in this country, it can't happen.' All of these people had tried and failed, and for us to be the first was a really big thing. Unfortunately now there's thousands, and I don't want to say that the quality's not as good – even though it's probably not – but I think there's been a real change in the motivation. I think why we did it and why we were successful was different to why other people are doing it now and why they're successful. Money was never the motivation for doing Livid – it was about standing on the side of stage with Lou Reed singing Perfect Day with tears in my eyes, looking at the overflowing crowd all singing along and thinking, 'I did this?' It made you feel really good.”

In its final years of 2002-3 Livid expanded unsuccessfully into Melbourne and Sydney, and after calling a temporary hiatus in 2003 has failed to rematerialise in the marketplace, much to Walsh's chagrin.

“I don't recall those final years with a whole lot of fondness,” he admits. “We made a decision that was really stupid, and every motivation I've been talking about was thrown out the door. More festivals were coming onto the market, and getting bands was harder, but it was still a bad decision. We were convinced by third parties that to remain in Brisbane would eventually lead to death because we wouldn't be able to secure the talent anymore to keep the event sustainable. We were starting to get to the point after 15 years where it wasn't as enjoyable and we were convinced [by others] that it was time to get serious, but it was fucking horrible.

“We forgot what we were – we were about Brisbane. I think it was a great event for the time and I'm very disappointed in how it finished because I would have liked to finish it on better terms. Perhaps one day I will. Next year is the 25th year and that's a milestone, maybe it's worth a try of having a one-off anniversary just to celebrate the fact that it happened. Who knows?”