Oh the power of music. What a special evening it was to open the 2019 Mullum Music Festival. In an area where many of the locals are dealing with the fires in the region, the evening was a welcome relief from those difficult situations.
As usual, the MC for the night was local Mandy Nolan, fabulously irreverent as ever. She even dazzled in a little musical number with Áine Tyrrell later on in the evening, photographic proof of which is below.
We were hugely impressed by the youth up on stage, with winners from the youth mentorship program and local band Loose Content playing a wide variety of original songs.
The Cassettes are a local dance outfit which pays homage to all the hits from the 80’s and 90’s. Xanadu anyone ?
Sibusile Xaba from South Africa is one of the drawcards for the festival. A complete gun on the guitar, massive charisma and vocals which seem to have an orchestra popping out from within, he had something for everyone.
As mentioned, Áine Tyrrell was a surprise guest. Now, despite the antics of Mandy Nolan, there was a serious message behind the song. It did feature the possibly irreverent refrain of ‘my pussy belongs to Jesus’, which referenced the recent legislation before NSW parliament and other jurisdictions regarding rights to abortions. They had the room in stitches. Mandy proved to be quite adept at the ‘vaginamonica’.
Mojo Juju was an absolute highlight. The songs from her most recent album Native Tongue featured, and are all deeply personal and were poignantly delivered. She is one of the great talents of the current generation of artists.
Rounding out the night was festival favourite, Z-Star Trinity. Always a favourite. Always delivering.
The festival runs until Sunday evening. There are still a few tickets available for Friday and Sunday from the website
Check out the rest of the photos below.
