‘Lights On’ sees White Bay Power Station spark back to life, open to the public for the first time in 100 years, for the opening night of the 24th Biennale of Sydney! Be amongst the first to experience contemporary art within the industrial grandeur of the Station featuring live music, dancefloors, food trucks, bars, installations and roving performances. The site will come alive with a powerful, electric festival energy.
Chimney Stage
Curated by Phoenix Central Park
Belgian international dance-pop sensations Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul headline ‘Lights On’ in a Sydney exclusive, bringing their deliciously mischievous hooks, electroclash production and incisive lyrics to Australia for the first time. Following the critical success of their debut album Topical Dancer, which found its way onto countless ‘best of 2022’ lists, including Pitchfork, NME, The Guardian & The Needle Drop, ‘Lights On’ will be their debut Sydney appearance. With their irresistible rhythms, on-point critiques and acerbic wit, the pair are sure to send the crowd wild.
Joined by rising star and Mount Druitt’s finest Vv Pete, combining heavy club beats with genre bending Australian rap, winning audiences across the nation. Vv Pete will be joined by local powerhouse UTILITY & Friends. Sydney based producer, composer and founder of record label Trackwork, will play live alongside a cohort of the most innovative artists in Western Sydney including Gamilaraay rappers T Breezy and Walkerboy.
Finally, rounding out the evening is Aotearoa’s own DJ royalty HALFQUEEN. Rooted in the experience of her Fijian and Pākehā bloodlines, she is internationally renowned for decolonising the dancefloor with her high energy sets evoking nostalgia, ecstasy and uninhibited ass shaking.
Turbine Hall Dancefloor
With El Gran Mono
Helmed by a series of local and interstate DJs curated by the Biennale of Sydney in collaboration with El Gran Mono. El Gran Mono is Melbourne’s own picó soundsystem; huge, hand-painted fluorescent speaker stacks, often found blasting tropical music in the neighbourhoods of cities in Colombia. Activating the El Gran Mono Pico Soundsystem to bring some Afro-Caribbean Carnivalesque flare to White Bay, the dance floor will be live from 7pm to 11pm and feature original sets from:
Kaimán y Kobra – a DJ and MC duo blending original Colombian coastal champeta songs electrified with a high-energy DJ performance, alongside queer Afro-Colombian dance legend Wendy Need Yepes and performer Katherine Gailer.
DJ Matt Vaughan – the brainchild and resident DJ behind one of Sydney’s most revered queer parties, Loose Ends, which thrives on a sense of musical adventurousness and truly inclusive queer partying.
Ahju – a DJ/producer who’s influenced by the sounds of house music, 90’s rave, and UK dance.
Tickets to ‘Lights On’ are available for purchase now via the ticket link. Don’t miss out on this electric event!
