This morning Golden Plains organisers finally let loose the remainder of their lineup. You thought Bon Iver and Roky Erickson were exciting? Well, prepare to lose your collective shit (HINT: Scroll to the bottom if you just want a list of bands).
Black Lips
One act that is sure to take festival goers to another level is the sublime Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy featuring The Cairo Gang. I could bang on about the beauty of Will Oldham (the band behind the monarchish pseudonym), but his bio describes him better than any mere journo ever could:
“Bonny’s parents performed intercourse merely once, but it was deeply tantric, lasting so long they conceived and birthed 3 children during the single act. Bonny was born Siamese twins, conjoined at every part of the body–overlapped perfectly on top of one another so he looked like just one guy. During puberty, Bonny’s Other began to itch, so he underwent a procedure to be surgically separated from himself, cell by cell. When doctors attempted to reassemble the extracted Boniface, they wound up with just two frogs, a jaybird, and a monkey holding a banjo. Determined to forge his own scrappy sonic path, Billy invented a brand new musical note out of just a bottle cap, a sack of raisins and a lawnmower engine, all held together with dried duck sauce and twine.”
Throughout the 80s, Sydney’s The Celibate Rifles made a name for themselves with corkers like ‘Tick Tock’ and ‘Gimme Gimme Gimme’. They’ll be the band pinning audiences to the slope of the amphitheatre for the festival. If they’re a bit too old for you, there is always Atlanta’s Black Lips who are sure to bring the garage rock party. Their latest album ‘Arabia Mountain’ was created with Mark Ronson at the studio helm and is undoubtedly a modern rock masterpiece.
Speaking of modern rock masterpieces, it has been almost twenty years since Urge Overkill released their then-modern rock masterpiece ‘Saturation’. Shortly after they achieved their biggest success ever with their cover of Neil Diamond’s ‘Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon’ which was the soundtrack to a classic scene in Quentin Tarantino’s 1995 film ‘Pulp Fiction’.
Speaking of power-pop, Wild Flag are sure to excite a number of festivalgoers. Featuring Janet Weiss and Carrie Brownstein from Sleater Kinney, the band formed in 2011 and released their debut self-titled album in September with ten songs that are so catchy you’ll think they were tattooed into your memory.
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti fills the festivals “indie” quota, with a wide and diverse set of sounds in his repertoire, the only thing it is wise to expect is the unexpected.
That won’t space fans out as much as the eerie and beautiful tones of Low, who over the last twenty-odd-years have been immersing audiences in their minimalist and dreary arrangements in a way that only they can.
Not a fan of minimalist live instruments, but still think you’ll need a chance to calm down after so many great bands? Sydney’s Seekae will also be filling this mellow mould with their minimalist electro that has been topping so many people’s playlists recently. WARNING: Before watching this band you should prepare to be taken away to another plane of reality.
Fans of that deep soul will be ecstatic to see the great Charles Bradley. After having been discovered by a founder of Daptone Records, the 62-year-old Bradley has wowed audiences with his raspy vocals and crack band featuring members of The Dap-Kings, The Budos Band and the Menahan Street Band.
That soul sounds too heavy for you? Fear not! CHIC featuring Nile Rodgers will set your dancing shoes on fire as they plough through a seemingly endless list of hits that Rodgers has produced, including Sister Sledge’s ‘We Are Family’ and ‘He’s The Greatest Dancer’, David Bowie’s ‘Let’s Dance’ and Madonna’s ‘Like A Virgin’ just to name a few.
A true pioneer of British hip-hop, Roots Manuva has told the tale of the streets of London in a uniquely British way ever since his 1999 debut album ‘Brand New Second Hand’. Now, his eighth album ‘4everevolution’ continues to build his loyal and dedicated fan base – which will undoubtedly contain a few new members after his March visit.
While we’re on the topic, remember The Avalanches? Well no, they’re not playing. Sorry to get your hopes up. However, DJ Dexter will be playing a “classic” set for the late night revellers. This Thing, Naysayer and Gilsun and DJ /rupture will help ensure that the music just doesn’t stop.
When a couple of teenage sisters from Sweden filmed themselves playing Fleet Foxes’ ‘Tiger Mountain Peasant Song’, they couldn’t have expected to find themselves with nearly two and a half million views, but that’s exactly what First Aid Kit did. Now, three years and two albums later, the band are heading to Australia for the very first time to show us what they’re made of.
Brooklyn’s Endless Boogie take the boogie of Canned Heat and inject it into the grit of Captain Beefheart played at the volume of Brant Bjork. Make a mental note now: bring earplugs to this performance! They’re definitely a contender for the Golden Boot.
The award for the only cover band ever to deserve a paragraph in a festival-annoucement story like this goes to: Kisstroyer! Having toured Australia, Asia and the Middle East, the band promise to bring pyrotechnics, makeup, blood, an arsenal of guitars and one of the biggest surprises you’re likely to experience at the festival.
The festival isn’t one to shy away from new music either. The last year or so has seen rise to Lanie Lane, Harmony, and Lost Animal – three completely different acts that will undoubtedly be playing to many people in the audience who had heard of, but not heard.
Canyons, Hunting Grounds and Two Bright Lakes DJs complete the lineup for Golden Plains Sixxx.
Add to that the already announced Bon Iver and Roky Erickson and you’ve got yourself one hell of a festival. In fact, if this lineup doesn’t excite you, then you’re probably dead.
Do yourself a favour and follow up every artist on this label you don’t know. There isn’t one single dud on this bill. The only downside to this lineup is that there will be no time for eating, drinking or sleeping at the festival, so bring lots of coffee.
So how do you get tickets?
You’ll have to enter the ballot. You can do so over at www.goldenplains.com.au. The ballot closes at 10pm on Sunday, 23 of October so if you’re not in it, do it now.
Tickets will set you back $289 plus booking fee. That includes camping with several thousand other non-dickheads (oh, by the way, there is a “no dickheads” rule at this festival, so if you’re a dickhead, well, do the rest of us a favour and stay at home, will ya?) and all of these incredible artists.
The festival runs from March 10 – 12, 2012.
So, just in case you couldn’t be bothered reading the whole thing, here’s the lineup in one go:
Bon Iver, CHIC featuring Nile Rodgers, Roky Erickson, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Black Lips, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Charles Bradley, Boots Manuva, Urge Overkill, Wild Flag, First Aid Kit, Seekae, Low, Kisstroyer, The Celibate Rifles, Naysayer and Gilsun, Harmony, Dexter, Lanie Lane, Endless Boogie, Lost Animal, DJ /rupture, Canyons, This Thing, Hunting Grounds and Two Bright Lakes DJs.
Follow the author Tim Cashmere on Twitter.
