PS Approved: What makes FOMO's 2019 lineup so damn special
Year after year, the legends behind FOMO give us a festival unlike any other. They repeatedly have the intimacy and tight-knit nature of a boutique festival, but offer stadium-level acts that wouldn’t experience a show like this otherwise.
As the new year draws ever closer, so does FOMO so, to prepare, we broke down what makes their 2019 lineup so damn special.
IT PROVES THAT DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE REPRESENTATION ISN’T BLOODY HARD
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We hear it lineup after lineup. Time after time, festivals aren’t putting enough non-male and non-white acts on their lineup and, time after time, organisers give us weak excuses as to why this is.
FOMO have put their money where their mouth is and given us a lineup that shows modern music isn’t just dominated by white dudes. On their original, 12-act lineup, (granted, there have been some changes in the last few days) there were six men and six women. Alongside that, six of the acts were white and six of them people of colour.
Even further, if you consider their FOMO By Night lineup, they had included two trans women on the bill in SOPHIE and Miss Blanks. Two might not seem like a lot, but is miles ahead of the general LGBTQ+ representation across your average Aussie lineup.
THE 2019 LINEUP SHOWCASES THE BEST OF 2018
It’s not rare that Aussie lineups tend to steer a little more traditional when it comes to their big guns, but FOMO have kept it completely contemporary with their original bill for 2019 and are giving us some hugely critically acclaimed artists. Two in particular: SOPHIE and Kali Uchis.
SOPHIE has had her ‘A Star Is Born’ moment this year, embracing her confidence and freedom and becoming the pop star she always was behind the decks. Her record OIL OF EVERY PEARL’S UN-INSIDES has been featured in over ten end of year lists, hitting the top ten in three of them.
Kali Uchis, on the other hand, seems to have had confidence embedded in her since birth. Despite only just releasing her debut album, the achievements she has made – and the artists she can call fans like Drake and Lana Del Rey – far surpass veterans in the game. Isolation featured the likes of Tyler, The Creator and Jorja Smith, and featured on over 11 end of year lists. FOMO truly know what’s up.
THE BRIGHTEST AUSSIE STARS ARE PLAYING, AND NOT THE ONES YOU’RE USED TO
When it comes down to it, our festivals have a complicated relationship with local hip-hop, pop and, to a lesser extent, electronic artists that don’t fit into a certain mould. FOMO once again are breaking that mould with the local talent they’ve booked. You’ve got Carmouflage Rose representing a new and exciting wave in Aussie hip-hop. You’ve got Anna Lunoe who is delighting us to her explosive beats after dominating stages across the world and becoming a mum. You’ve got Just A Gent who has really made a name for himself as a self-taught prodigy in electronic music and you’ve got MIMI whose uncontainable talent transcends all three genres.
NICKI MINAJ
I mean, enough said.
Photo via Facebook
Words by JACKSON LANGFORD
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