7 Moments You Can't Miss At Fairgrounds Festival 2016

Fairgrounds Festival is returning to its beautiful NSW grounds in December this year and it’s bringing with it a pretty magic lineup.

Helmed by names like The Drones, Angel Olsen, The Tallest Man On Earth and Japandroids, it’s a celebration of raw, organic and honest music by some of the best alternative and indie acts around right now.

While we’re still a couple of months away from descending on the Fairgrounds fields, we’re already starting to get excited about what could be. In light of that, we’ve put together a list of the moments were most looking forward to come December.

The Tallest Man On Earth – Time Of The Blue

Our generation’s Bob Dylan, The Tallest Man On Earth is one of the most ferocious, emotional performers on the scene right now and his latest song Time Of The Blue is one of the most heavenly things we’ve heard this year. This sort of twinkling, floating folk music is made to be performed out of the city where the sky is plentiful. Fairgrounds can offer that and so we’re pretty sure this is going to be a special moment. Bring the Kleenex.

https://youtu.be/4krsXTXRGR4

Angel Olsen – Intern

Angel Olsen‘s latest record My Woman is also her best. She’s always been good but this is a record by a songwriter who has grown in confidence and is now raw, honest and powerful. Intern is the perfect example of that. It’s a sparse, simple song that revolves around potent lyrics (“something in the world will make a fool of you”) and soaring vocals. If you’ve seen Olsen before, it’s likely you’ll be introduced to a whole other side of her when she sings this.

Japandroids – The House That Heaven Built

Apart from Royal Blood, we’ve been starved of massive, anthemic new rock bands in the past few years so it’s a huge plus to have Japandroids back after three years. You could pick any song from their catalogue and you can be sure it will be great live but it’s pretty hard to go past their soaring opus The House That Heaven Built. A lot of the acts on the Fairgrounds lineup are making sweet tunes but this is the sort of stuff that’s going to blast through the speakers and rattle your ribcage. Most likely to bring the carnage…Japandroids.

Jagwar Ma – Give Me A Reason

Jagwar Ma‘s second album Every Now & Then will be out by the time Fairgrounds rolls around so they’ll have a bunch of new tunes to try out. One that’s already out, and is a good sign that the album is going to be great, is Give Me A Reason. It’s the most melodic, danceable track the Aussie duo have ever made and is likely to get the crowd moving. Stick around until just after the one minute mark when the beat kicks in and the party really starts.

Big Scary – Oxygen

Big Scary‘s new album Animal is the most vicious, ferocious record they’ve ever released and that will no doubt transfer to the live stage. The brassy, rollicking opener Oxygen sounds like they’re literally animals going in for the kill and it’s pretty thrilling. With those drums rumbling through you, this is sure to be one of the more aggressive moments of the day. Keep an eye on Meg’s intense drumming too – she’s an absolute beast with two drum sticks in her hand.

Sheer Mag – Fan The Flames

If Fan The Flames is any bit as fun as it looks in this video, then it’s going to be a riot. Sheer Mag frontwoman Christina Halladay is one of the most tireless, charismatic live performers right now and she has a howling voice to boot. This is one of their more funky numbers and you won’t know whether to thrash your head around or groove. That’s not a bad decision to have to make.

Julia Jacklin – Pool Party

Julia Jacklin is the new darling of Australian alternative music. The wafting, hypnotising Pool Party is the track that people are falling in love with and she’ll no doubt be able to work her charm with it on a live stage. Set amongst the beautiful Fairgrounds fields it’s going to be pretty hard not to feel like you’re in heaven when your soundtracked by a tune as perfect as this.