Down Under: WOMAD NZ, Wildlands, City Of Sydney & More

– WOMAD NZ

WOMAD NZ To Remain At TSB Bowl Site Until 2029

World music, arts and dance festival WOMAD New Zealand has extended its partnership with New Plymouth District Council for a further ten years.

It remains at picturesque TSB Bowl of Brooklands, Pukekura Park until 2029. The March 2019 event drew 17,414 over three days and generated NZ$6.5 million (US$4.36 million) to the local Taranaki region.

WOMAD has also extended three-year partnerships with sponsors, including TSB Bank and Todd Energy.

Event director and NZ program manager Emere Wano said, “We believe WOMAD NZ is more important than ever in our community and globally to help build a society that respects and learns from others differences.” Mike Large of WOMAD International noted that “the long-term commitment with NPDC as host city and the support of our partners gives WOMAD NZ the confidence to plan ahead, building on the already successful festival, and to bring even more of the world to New Plymouth.”

Inaugural Wildlands Fest Announced For Brisbane

Brisbane gets a new summer festival this year showcasing Australian and international dance, electronic and hip-hop acts.

The inaugural Wildlands event will be held Dec. 28 at the 26,490-capacity Brisbane Showgrounds. Australian EDM act Rüfüs Du Sol is the first named act.

Wildlands is a joint venture by the team behind two New Years Eve events from both sides of the coast, Victoria’s Beyond The Valley and Western Australia’s Origin Fields, which previously hosted Chance the Rapper, Jamie xx, Stormzy, Cardi B, Khalid, The Kooks and Schoolboy Q.

“Brisbane is such a beautiful city, filled with music lovers of all genres. Beyond The Valley and Origin host so much amazing talent touring the country over New Years, that often don’t visit Brisbane,” explains Michael Cristidis of Beyond The Valley. “Each festival has grown so much over the past years, carving their own unique festival experience & collectively we thought it’s time Brisbane gets their own taste of our flair too.”

– City of Sydney

City Of Sydney Fund Additional Nighttime Activities

The City of Sydney is kicking providing A$210,000 ($147.489) in grants to ten local businesses for nighttime programing. The City adds this to the A$1 million ($702, 332) worth of nighttime programming it has funded since September 2017,

The programming includes free and safe weekend shows at music venues Mary’s Underground, Tokyo Sing Sing and Yulli’s Brews, upgraded lighting and air conditioning for the Old Fitz Theatre and the chance to increase its capacity, a weekly drag bingo night at the Dove and Olive to boost foot traffic on the streets outside as well as other events as creative workshops, designer glasses exhibitions and Sunday night cabaret performances.

Lord mayor Clover Moore said, “The night-time economy is critical to Sydney’s future – it generates more than $4 billion ($2.89 billion) in revenue each year, with 5,000 businesses employing more than 35,000 people.”

INXS Svengali Proposes Retirement Complex

INXS’s global strategist Christopher M. Murphy has plans for a complex called Rock And Roll Heaven for retired music and media executives.

They’ll “rock ‘til they drop” while involving themselves with the wider local artistic community while also mentoring the next generations of executives.

“Once [upon] a time, our community was the key to young and old,” 64-year old Murphy told Pollstar. “These days most people do not know or engage with the people next door, let alone engage in the community.”

– Christopher Murphy of INXS

The proposed complex is part of the development of a 36-hectare site in Ballina, New South Wales. It is an hour’s fight from Sydney and 20-minute drive from Byron Bay.

The location has drawn movie studios and tech start-ups to the region, wanting a healthier lifestyle than what Sydney offers. It has been Murphy’s home for the past ten years.

The local council wants to build up swampy farmlands opposite the local airport into a multi-generational tech and entertainment hub. It is already the planned site of Murphy’s X Building, which will permanently house 10,000 INXS items and an interactive recreation of the band’s 1991 landmark performance at London’s Wembley Stadium before 72,000 fans, as well as being a tech and creative complex.

The council has green-lighted $22 million ($15.4 million) to build roads and facilities to the area by late 2020.

University Of Newcastle Offers Heavy Metal PhD

The University of Newcastle is offering two scholarships for the study of the social geography of heavy metal culture.

The university’s contention is that Aussie metal has created a sound of its own, with a social link to Britain while being physically remote from its culture.

Subjects include Homelessness and Mutual Aid, Vegan Geographies, Unschooling, The Possibilities of Childhood and Heavy Metal Geographies.

Young Scalper Lands Jail Term

18-year-old Kayla Rose Mateer was sentenced to six months in prison after pleading guilty in Queensland’s Caloundra Magistrates Court to selling A$7,000 (US$4,916) worth of fake tickets to festival as Groovin’ The Moo and Big Pineapple Music.

She faced 30 charges of dishonestly obtaining property and one charge of dishonestly inducing delivery of property between January and May 2019. She also has to pay back her victims.

Mateer’s attorney told the court his client needed the money to support herself and her younger brother. Their mother lives with an addiction.