BIGSOUND Reveals Program For Its 140 Artists

The mammoth program for this year's BIGSOUND Live program has been announced, with the most concentrated two nights of music talent in the Australian music calendar set to hit Brisbane's Fortitude Valley.

You've already seen the stunning line-up of 140 artists who are playing the event, but this is the difficult bit. How are you going to see all those bands in two nights? Well, The Music's Brisbane Editor Steve Bell has a plan...

How to see as much as possible at bigsound this year

With less than a month to go until half of the bands in Australia (and a decent smattering from far-flung parts of the globe) converge on Brisbane for the annual BIGSOUND Live extravaganza, it’s time to start focusing both the mind and the body to get the most of this once-a-year opportunity.

Whether you’re interested in the industry conference side of BIGSOUND or not is irrelevant, because having 140 top-level bands showcasing over two nights mid-week across 14 venues in the confines of Fortitude Valley’s entertainment precinct – all accessible with one magic wristband – is literally a music geek’s dream come true.

At this stage of the lead-in it’s all about preparation: making sure you have comfortable clothes that allow you to bolt between venues and still dominate the style stakes, getting the cardio fitness up to save embarrassment as you strive to shoehorn in those crucial extra acts, and most importantly getting to grips with the just-released timetable. You’re never going to see everyone that you want – there’s too many clashes – and you’re probably not going to even grace the door of very venue, but don’t forget the golden rule: proper preparation prevents piss poor partying.

So let’s grab the BIGSOUND Live 2014 timetable and make a preliminary plan of attack, keeping in mind that before it all kicks off I’ll probably discover that I’m desperate to see a ton of bands that I’m currently only cursorily aware of.

WEDNESDAY

I begin by doing stretches at the stage outside The Brightside as I’m serenaded by the sound of Sydney miscreants Step-Panther, who are always a great live proposition and whose allure has only been strengthened by cracking new single It Came From The Heart. Hopefully that’s thrown in early because after 15 minutes it’s time to bolt over the road to iconic Brisbane venue The Zoo to catch Dean from Hungry Kids’ promising new outfit Rolls Bayce, and at their set’s completion heading down the Valley mall to see local sirens Avabaree strut their stuff in the confines of The Elephant Hotel.

As soon as they finish it’s a toss-up between pummelling Perth trio The Love Junkies pushing their new long-player Blowing On The Devil’s Trumpet back at The Brightside’s outdoor stage and groovy Melburnites Baptism Of Uzi at New Globe Theatre – hopefully if we run we can catch a bit of both, this is why we need those hamstrings and quads nice and limber. I prefer to get my carbs from beer in these situations but at this juncture many chicken out and decide to eat, so instead I’ll check out burgeoning Brissie rockers Little Odessa back at The Elephant Hotel before returning to The Brightside car park for Adelaide’s Bad//Dreems who never let you down on the live front.

Sydney indie wunderkind Spookyland has been making huge waves of late on the back of debut single The Silly Fucking thing so I’m keen to hit Alhambra Lounge check out whether the buzz is warranted, but will only have 20 minutes or so because I’m then off round the corner to the ornate Press Club where banjo-toting bluesman Karl S Williams will showcase his wares in the most intimate of environments. From here it’s back to outside The Brightside – that stage acting as a kind of fulcrum for tonight’s activities – to catch a little of rapidly-rising Sydney outfit DMAs.

That's before getting those pegs pumping again to make New Globe Theatre up the road for a dose of local indie upstarts The Creases, whose new track Static Lines is stirring up a bit of a ruckus, then crossing the road to the awesomely dingy home of the heavy Crowbar for local metal freaks Darkc3ll. Then it’s back across the road to New Globe Theatre for one of my favourite Brisbane bands in many years Blank Realm, fresh from taking their brilliance to the rest of the world, and then the night will end in a flurry of madness as I strive to catch snippets of Mosman Alder at the gorgeous Black Bear Lodge, Crooked Colours inside The Brightside itself and Sydney electro-kings Seekae literally next door at the revamped The Rev.

Now the parties and unofficial showcases begin, but hopefully I’ll have the intestinal fortitude and willpower to head home and prepare to repeat the mayhem tomorrow night. Who knows, there’s a first time for everything…

THURSDAY

Some will claim tiredness on the second night of proceedings but I like to tell myself that I’m in the zone and ready to lay waste to the final phase of BIGSOUND Live 2014, and accordingly I’ll start proceedings tonight at the refurbished ambience of The Underdog – the northernmost pub in the grid – for an all-too-rare solo set from Pond luminary Nicholas Allbrook, who I’m fascinated to see outside of his normal band habitat.

Sydney party-starters Daily Meds have a reputation for getting pretty loose so I’ll duck into The Rev and witness the second half of their set, before striding forcefully down to watch awesome Tasmanian punks Luca Brasi rip the New Globe Theatre a new one, after which I’ll backtrack to The Zoo to watch multi-headed local alt-country behemoth Halfway show why recent album Any Old Love has been getting so much global praise. This should be the perfect primer for the psych-tinged country of Melbourne crooner Fraser A Gorman at Black Bear Lodge, the completion of whose set will allow me ten minutes to leisurely stroll back to New Globe Theatre to watch local rock reprobates HITS show representatives from the rest of Australia and the world just why their recent second album Hikikomori is one of the all-time great dirty Oz rock long-players of all-time.

Once I peel my face off the walls and plaster it back onto my skull I’ll hopefully be right to watch the end of excellent folk duo Sweet Jean at the Press Club, before fighting the ravenous hordes to catch Brisbane’s clown prince of rock’n’roll Jeremy Neale in solo guise at Alhambra Lounge. Having thus warmed up all the dancing muscles it’s a short sprint to the intimate Ric’s Bar for moody Melbourne punks Reptiles, after which it’s a harrowing finale trying to cram in time with southern party-bringers The Bennies, who are playing at the same time as legendary oz veterans The Church bring their atmospheric glory to The Zoo. After that Jack Ladder & The Dreamlanders bring the noir to Black Bear Lodge and Kiwi Marlon Williams emits his classic and timeless singer-songwriter vibes to those still standing at the Press Club.

Tired yet? Now it’s time for the major after-parties, strap yourself in because we’re only just getting started…

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For the full BIGSOUND Live program see the Gig Guide below or check The Music App for more information. Keep up to date with all the news, interviews, reviews and video from BIGSOUND at our dedicated festival page here.