There’s a Stacked Music Program for Biennale of Sydney 2024 – Here’s What You Need to See

Cakes Da Killa. Photo by Kendall Bessent
Empty Threats. Photo by Nick Astanei.
Dyan Tai
Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul. Photo by Camille Vivier
Lupa J
Debmaster
MC Yallah
Penelope Trappes. Photo by Agnes Haus

Cakes Da Killa. Photo by Kendall Bessent ·Photo: Courtesy of Biennale of Sydney

This year’s edition of the biennale, Ten Thousand Suns, will see a Sydney landmark open to the public for the first time in 100 years. In partnership with Biennale of Sydney, here are the live sets by pioneering queer MCs, unapologetic punk bands and boundary-pushing electro-pop acts to see.

The monolithic White Bay Power Station in Rozelle looks like something ripped from the pages from the late 19th Century. Built between 1912 and 1917, the sunblasted relic was one of Sydney’s longest running coal-fired power plants until it was decommissioned in 1984. Now, for the first time in nearly 100 years, it’s set to open to the public as part of the 24th Biennale of Sydney.

“Nothing really gives you a sense of how big it is until you’re actually in there,” says festival producer Michael Kennedy. “You’re just dwarfed by the architecture. Some of the old heritage machinery has an almost Guillermo del Toro quality to it. They look almost biomechanical, like sea creatures.”

This year’s edition, titled Ten Thousand Suns, will see the site and its two atriums (the Boiler House and the Turbine Hall) transformed into a new kind of cultural powerhouse, propelled by works from a diverse roster of local and international artists – including celebrated First Nations artists Dylan Mooney and Darrell Sibosado, and pioneering cyberfeminist artist collective VNS Matrix.

Never miss a moment. Make sure you're signed up to our free newsletter.
SIGN UP NOW

White Bay will also host a stacked music program curated by Phoenix Central Park in Chippendale, one of the country’s leading performing arts spaces.

“[The Boiler House] has 40-metre-high ceilings, so we’re experimenting with different types of music from local and international artists that can really use the space’s resonance to its highest potential,” says Phoenix creative director Beau Neilson. “This is the first time music will be heard by the public in that extraordinary space with its huge volume.”

Neilson says this year’s opening night – which has already sold out – promises to be “absolutely wild”.

“We’ve got some amazing internationals. [Belgian electro-pop duo] Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul, they’re going to be real party starters, and they’ll be supported by an array of young rappers from the Trackwork label, a vital platform for First Nations and Western Sydney artists.”

Both Neilson and Kennedy tip Brooklyn rapper Cakes Da Killah’s performance with East African rapper MC Yallah and French DJ Debmaster as a major festival highlight. “[Cakes Da Killah] just absorbs everyone into his performance and has been a huge advocate for Brooklyn’s queer scene, while MC Yallah effortlessly raps between four different languages” says Neilson. “So you’ve got all these different expressions of contemporary hip-hop colliding in this really high-energy, impactful, joyful celebration.”

Opening night and Cakes Da Killah are the festival’s only ticketed music events. The rest of the program is free through the Phoenix ballot system. Punters can sign up for the gig they want to see, and tickets will be released a week before.

Free highlights include boundary-pushing electropop acts Lupa J and Dyan Tai. “They’re both non-binary acts, their shows have high production value and the costumes are amazing,” says Kennedy. “They’re really going to fill the space and make use of how dramatic the architecture is.”

For an immersive ambient performance, Neilson says Penelope Trappes, Bluetung and YL Hooi are all must-sees. On the other end of the spectrum, Kennedy says the interstate double-header featuring The Empty Threats and Perfect Actress will be “the most unapologetically punk night” of the festival.

These shows are just the tip of the iceberg of what is one of the most ambitious and eclectic festival line-ups Sydney has seen in years – but Neilson says the artists themselves needed little convincing.

“When we showed the artists the power station and explained they would be performing as part of this amazing celebration of art, they just got it. We can’t wait for our audiences to have that same sense of excitement.”

Broadsheet is a proud media partner of Biennale of Sydney.

Broadsheet is a proud media partner of Biennale of Sydney.

Broadsheet is a proud media partner of Biennale of Sydney.
Learn more about partner content on Broadsheet.

Broadsheet promotional banner