Vivid Sydney 2018

This year is the 10th anniversary of Vivid Sydney and my second year attending. For the past two nights we have been walking around and checking out the light projections and installations in the Sydney CBD and along the waterfront.

Our first stop on Thursday night was the area around Customs House. The installation Chrysalis contained colorful cocoons made of fibre optic cables hanging from trees that had butterflies inside that would flutter based on sounds nearby. Synergy represented a complex superorganism of a tree surrounded by ferns that changed colors.

On Customs House itself were light projections of the May Gibbs' children's books characters Snugglepot and Cuddlepie as they journeyed through the Australian bush.

Along the waterfront towards the Sydney Opera House were a few installations, including the light sculpture Visible Dynamics and the illuminated cube Fragmented.

In the Royal Botanical Gardens there were a number of fantastic installations. At the start was The Nautilus Forest with its changing colors, the illuminated Hyperweb, inflatable versions of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, and wave inspired light bars of He'e nalu.

Light Houses were created with different designs and shapes and changed colors. One of the most moving pieces was Oasis, which paid homage to the memory of children growing up in out of home care and combined audio with illuminated lights in a pond.

Further in the Royal Botanical Gardens were the cute perched birds of Parrot Party and the interactive Aqueous where the colors would change as people stood on different sections of the pathway.

Tonight we headed to Barangaroo for dinner at the Chinese restaurant Lotus and then saw my favorite work of Vivid Sydney, which was the illuminated large scale puppet Marri Dyin (meaning 'Great Woman' in the Eora language) in the piece The Liminal Hour.

There were some good installations around The Rocks, with the different colored light tubes of Peacock, the multi-colored birds of 1000 Cranes, the flying neon kites of Luminous Flight, and the large sculpture Illuminosaurus.

Of course the main draw each year are the light projections on the Sydney Opera House. This year's installation Metamathemagical transformed the sails into a series of kinetic digital sculptures.

In the surrounds of the waterfront there were some playful pieces, including a giant inflated Earth, the rotating pufferfish sculpture Fugu, The Garden of Sweeties which was powered by renewable energy, and the cute Harmony Valley - Rainbow of Peace and Trees of Friendship.

Once again there were large scale light projections on the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia with Virtual Vibration, but they weren't as exciting or dynamic as last year's ones.

Overall I enjoyed the light projections and installations, but was surprised at how empty the streets were of people on both nights. Vivid Sydney is on until Saturday, 16 June 2018.

Neil Finn- Out Of Silence with Orchestra

As part of this year's Vivid Sydney Live program, Neil Finn played two nights at the Joan Sutherland Theatre in the Sydney Opera House with an orchestra and chorus made up of Aussie and Kiwi musicians. Mary and I flew up to Sydney to attended tonight's second show. The first half of the set was the entire Out Of Silence album played from start to finish. It was so great to finally hear all these songs live, particularly my favorite tracks "Love Is Emotional," "Chameleon Days," "Second Nature," "The Law Is Always On Your Side," "Terrorise Me" and "I Know Different." Neil was really pleased once they finished playing the album, saying he really enjoyed it.

The second half of the set was a mixture of songs from throughout Neil's career. We got to hear tracks from his previous solo album Dizzy Heights, which also featured strings, with "Divebomber," "Impressions," "Better Than TV" and "Dizzy Heights." With the entire Finn family on stage they also previewed tracks off of the upcoming Neil and Liam album Lightsleeper with "Where's My Room," "Hiding Place" and "Hold Her Close." Then there were the classic Split Enz and Crowded House songs with "One Step Ahead," "Private Universe," "Four Seasons In One Day" and "Don't Dream It's Over," which finished the main set. For the encore a few bars of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" became an improvised cover with everyone singing along, and then they finished the evening with "Message To My Girl." This was such a special and intimate show, and with Neil joining Fleetwood Mac, who knows when we will next get the chance to seem him performing his own material live.

Here's week four of The Infinity Sessions which was the actual recording of Out Of Silence broadcast live online:

Vivid Sydney 2017

I have spent the past two evenings wandering around the Sydney CBD to check out as many of the light projections and installations as possible on display from 6:00 - 11:00 pm as part of Vivid Sydney. My first stop was Martin Place, which had the Urban Tree 2.0 projections on the CTA Building, and the pieces Waratah and re/FRACTION at the opposite end of the pedestrian mall.

Down towards Circular Quay were a few interesting pieces, including the different angles of the piece Helix, the umbrellas of Supernova and Under My Umbrella, and the hanging lights of Parallax.

The Rocks and along the waterfront were where I was able to catch the bulk of the light projections and installations. The highlight was the Organic Vibrations projections on the facade of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, which were spectacular.

Other interesting installations in The Rocks and Campbell's Cove precincts were the light columns of Connections, the different environments viewed through Portholes, the light sculpture of Fractal, and Landscape of the Mind, which explored people's experiences with anxiety on a series of body maps.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge and buildings along the waterfront had different colored lights. The southern pylon of the Bridge also had projections of the Bangarra Dance Theatre as part of the piece EORA - Bennelong.

Of course the main draw of Vivid Sydney is the projections on the Sydney Opera House. Lighting of the Sails: Audio Creatures had a focus on sea creatures and animals this year.

The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney was my final stop and contained many of the sculptural elements at Vivid Sydney this year. There was a set path through parts of the Garden, with some of my favorite pieces being the moving The Sunflowers, the kiwi Birds of Lumos, the dandelions of SPREADING LIFE, and the Reflection light boxes.

The trees in the Garden were also lit and contained some interesting objects as part of the Electric Forest, and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music had some colorful light projections as you exited the Garden.

Overall there were some really great pieces at Vivid Sydney, but I don't think it compares as a whole to the all encompassing amazing experience that is White Night Melbourne.

Fleet Foxes - Vivid LIVE Sydney

Tonight Tash and I headed to the Sydney Opera House for the second of four shows by Fleet Foxes as part of Vivid LIVE. As these were their only shows in Australia for 2017, I was really excited to be able to get tickets to attend.

It's been five years since we last saw them play live. The set list featured many songs from their upcoming album Crack-Up, which is due to be released in mid-June. I always enjoy the opportunity to get to preview songs live before an album is released, and these tracks show the progression of the band from their previous two albums.

Watching Fleet Foxes recreate these intricate songs live is an amazing experience as band members switch instruments not only between songs but during them. They were also supported at points throughout the set by a string quartet and some horn players. It was great to hear some old favorites played, including "Grown Ocean," "White Winter Hymnal," "Ragged Wood," "Your Protector," "He Doesn't Know Why," "Mykonos" and "The Shrine / An Argument."

For the encore Robin Pecknold did a stunning version of "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song" solo on acoustic guitar. We also got to hear "Blue Ridge Mountains" and were treated to a cover of the Bee Gees' "In The Morning." During the concert someone shouted out what sounded like "I have the same tattoo" but it turned out to be a request for "Helplessness Blues," which ended up being the last song they played this evening. It was such a fantastic show and the band earned the standing ovation they received at the end.

Here's the lyric video for the first single off Crack-Up, "Third of May / Odaigahara"

Vivid Sydney 2017 - Taronga Zoo

Tonight was the kick off of Vivid Sydney for 2017, the 23 day festival of light, music and ideas. This is my first time attending Vivid, and tonight I took the ferry out to Taronga Zoo for Lights for the Wild. When you arrive there are some fantastic light projections on the heritage building at the entrance to the zoo.

Inside the light walk takes about an hour and half as you wander around the zoo on a marked path past these amazing giant animal light sculptures. They are split between ten legacy species lanterns in honor of Taronga Zoo's centenary conservation commitment, as well as feature lanterns of a variety of different animals and creatures.

I cannot recommend checking out Lights of the Wild enough - this alone made the trip up to Sydney this weekend worth it.