REVIEW: Sydney City Limits 2018

2018 brought along with it a brand new and extremely exciting festival to the great city of Sydney. Sydney City Limits inaugural outing was extremely successful. A widely diverse set of artists brought together an equally unique group of punters, creating an overall incomparable festival experience. Here are the things that stuck out from the festival.

THUNDERCAT IS AS SKILLED AS HE IS ENTERTAINING

LA based bass guitarist Thundercat is one of the most talented performers I have seen live. His skills on the bass guitar were immaculate, really showing them off with extended pieces of pure instrumentals between his beloved tracks from his album, “Drunk”. The combination of his amazing Bass skills and extremely well written neo-Seoul hits provided a performance as engaging as it was impressive.

AUSTRALIANS LOVE GANG OF YOUTHS

Despite being on heaps of festivals in Australia throughout 2017, and already made 2 NSW appearances in 2018 (Mountain Sounds and SCL) Gang Of Youths still pulled one of the biggest crowds of the day. Their rock ballads are at home on the main festival stage, with the music’s ups and downs sending the crowd into phases of emotion and euphoria.  Dave’s stage presence is incredible, and whether you like the music or not you have to admire their overall impact on the Triple J demographic.

VANCE JOY IS A FOLK SUPERSTAR

I always knew that Vance Joy was huge but I slept on the fact of the sheer amount of hits he has in his discography. Off the back of his newly released album, Vance joy played a combination of old hits, and new album cuts. Despite the new songs being extremely well received by the crowd, all of his mega hit singles created massive crowd responses. “Riptide”, “Lay It On Me”, “Mess Is Mine” all created goose bump worthy scenes. Vance Joy is a superstar, and his mega-hit singles cement him as one of Australia’s biggest and exciting acts.

FUTURE HAD THE SET OF THE DAY

Future came out and performed his first song without his mic working. After storming off the stage in frustration of the technical difficulties, the crowd waited anxiously for the problem to be fixed and wondered if he would return to the stage. However, with the issues resolved, Future entered the stage, accompanied by 3 young teenage dancers. His energy was incredible, and the trap beats refreshing as ever on a festival mainly comprised of indie artists. His vocals were on point, and his discography of many songs with millions of streams and downloads created an atmosphere that was unmatchable. Closing his set with his collaboration with Young Thug, “Relationship” the crowd was teased with what could have been.

BECK STILL MATTERS

I was sceptical of Beck in all honesty. I am of a younger generation, and am slightly out of touch with the Beck context. However, I still heavily admire what Beck was able to do on the stage. His longevity as an artist underlines his impact, and his massive crowd at around sunset was fitting for a legacy of his kind. It was truly amazing how Beck was able to morph a crowd of both the Double J and Triple J demographic, creating a truly wholesome and unifying experience.

JUSTICE STILL BANGS

Justice’s music is timeless. Closing the festival, the massive production, crazy lasers and an amazing set design all created a new and exciting way to experience music that lots of people have grown up with. The mood was perfect for that time of night, after a long day in the warm Sydney sun, the party atmosphere of Justice was a perfect way to end the inaugural festival. Again, Justice was able to bring together a diverse crowd of all ages. Playing classics from their 2007 self titled debut all the way through to their 2016 “Woman” Justice bridged the gap between the older and the newer fans through some hard-core disco floor fillers.

Overall, The Sydney City Limits experience was a great one. Even though the rumours were that it didn’t sell as well as people expected, the crowds were huge and the overall enjoyment of every punter was extremely high. The diversity in artists and crowds all created an atmosphere and joy as everyone enjoyed the music which they paid good money to see.