Sunday 16th November
Glebe Street Festival is setting itself apart from other community festas that have taken place this year with a unique focus on community creativity in the arts and social change. Throughout Sunday the 16th of November, Glebe will be host to over 200 stalls and 30 live performances.
Showing off the kooks and kinks of Sydney’s last true bohemia, the Glebe Street Festival will grab you hook, line and sinker with the likes of Matt Ross playing the blues, stalls such as Poke serving up unique delights like “Hawaiian style sushi” and a heap of community based organisations meeting up in Foley Park to deliberate on how to change Glebe, and the surrounding Inner West, for the better.
Featuring five festival centres sprinkled throughout Glebe, the 16th of November is definitely a day to go on a neighbourhood adventure – you’re sure to discover a few things that you never knew were happening in this neck of the woods!
For the Musos…
Angie Who & The Weary Few
11:20am, St. Johns Road Stage
This swinging gospel and folk band have put together an album specifically to raise funds to fix St John’s leaky roof. They will be performing live and selling their EP ‘This Little Light’ on the day to put you in a community mindset. Their brooding rendition of ‘I want Jesus to Walk With Me’ shouldn’t be missed live.
Project Collective Ska
3:00pm, St. Johns Road Stage
This group of hooligans is off chops if you are a sucker for ska. They are the young and very talented face of Sydney’s muso scene, most members playing in a plethora of other ensembles. Be sure to stick around for tripping trombone solos from Frank Dasent and Billy Ward’s face-melting saxophone riffs.
Lepers and Crooks
3:50pm, Parramatta Road Stage
This band of five are the new rockers on the block, famously snapping up INXS’ old manager, Chris Murphy. They have a cleaner sound than most of the psychadelic/ indie rockers roving around the Inner West at the moment, whether that will work in their favour only time will tell!
See our interview with them below…
For the Kiddies…
Lah Lah’s Big Live Band
10:00am, Parramatta Road Stage
The grooviest children’s band around, Lah Lah’s Big Live Band’s combination of jazz, fun and friendship (and a truly ‘phat’ sound) has won the hearts of families all over Oz. They will be playing a set and then hanging around for photos with their fans.
Flamewater Circus Children’s Workshop
10:00am, Minogue Reserve
If your kids like to live dangerously, you’ll have a tough time keeping them away from this troupe of fire twirlers. Here they can learn the basics of circus performance like hula hooping, twirling and juggling from Sydney’s premiere circus pros.
Children’s Petting Zoo
All day, Glebe Public School
Something for the littlies: Glebe Public School will be hosting a petting zoo and other animal themed entertainment all day. For more animal lovin’ head to to Foley Park where pony rides
will be on offer.
For Foodies…
Some stalls to salivate over:
• Angus Smoke House will be serving up American style pork ribs, buttered corn and hot smoked chicken wings.
• What would a trip to Glebe be without the prospect of churros? Get them warm and doughy from Dos Churros.
• Kettle Town will be serving up their unique range of house-made chai.
• La Parada Mexican will be whipping out the Tex-Mex faves. Think chilli cheese dogs, nachos and tacos.
• Poke make Hawaiian Style Sushi which is not served in rolls but in paper boats with fresh-sliced sashimi, black rice and delish Japanese condiments.
• Grab a “Gourmet Snag” at the Gourmet Stand for a unique twist on a street-party BBQ.
Sociable Crooks
Ciao had a sneaky interview with the boys from Lepers & Crooks about returning to their favourite block of Sydney for some riff-raffing fun.
You have recently been touring a heap around the Inner West of Sydney – do you have any specific ties to the Glebe area?
We’ve all lived in Glebe at different times over the past few years and Burg has lived in the area since he was about 16. It’s definitely our favourite part of the inner city, all the trees and old terraces make you feel like you’re in your own separate world as you look over the horizon toward the towers of the city, it’s a great place to create music. We all lived together on Glebe Point Road for about a year and that was one of our most cherished times, the vibe of that street and the eclectic mix of people definitely helps get the creative juices flowing. We had a jam on our balcony at the Glebe Fair in 2012 and that was stacks of fun but it’s exciting to have a place at the Parramatta Road stage at the Fair this year.
There are many articles around comparing you to INXS, but from your sound it doesn’t really seem like that’s where you are heading. Who are your band’s biggest influences?
It goes back to Alex (lead guitar) and Burg (bass) jamming together as young teens listening to Burg’s dad’s old records such as Led Zeppelin and The Doors. The pair agreed they wanted to be in a band that was essentially based around classic rock but influenced by enough unique flavours to create a modern rock sound with a classic rock feel. These flavours include rhythmic and drumming influences from bands like RHCP, Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age but also include softer pitch and story element influences from artists such as Rodriguez, Bob Dylan and Amy Winehouse.
I hear Alex also listens to a plethora of jazz and blues artists and is always looking for new musical colours to add to our tunes.
All in all we are quite open minded and take ideas from whatever we see live or hear on the radio (when it’s not spurting out shit everywhere) so our music tends to evolve organically, it’s like there’s an ever changing unwritten formula that everyone just seems to know and follow, we all write as a team so it’s great to have five writers as opposed to one or two.
Look. I’m going to be frank and just objectify you for a moment. But you all have very luscious locks, do you have any hair maintenance tips – or is it just the sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle?
The hair maintenance tips are generally one haircut per year (or two years) and make sure not to wash often to avoid being too clean! I think the long hair obsession started in school where hair had to be over the ear and high on the neck, we always used to try and grow our hair and fold it over with bobby pins to hide it from the teachers but they had lunch time inspections often, it seemed like prison sometimes, ha ha! Burg’s hair was always just dead straight so he just keeps it shaved.
Are there any other acts at the Glebe Street Festival that you are looking forward to hearing?
We’re definitely looking forward to playing with Bonez again, we’ve shared the bill with them a couple of times and had some kick arse parties with those guys. I saw them at The Vanguard once and Dukes (guitar) brought out an electric egg beater with wires attached and used it with some cranked up crunch for his solo and it just blew us away! We’re also excited to see a few other acts that we haven’t seen before like Cherokee Rose and The Maybes.
The Shop
Local artists from one + 2 studios have formed a collective that will be showcasing their work in an innovative space on Glebe Point Rd called the The Shop. The collective of artists began The Shop project because they were sick of entering art spaces where everyone remained quiet and had to be well-behaved.
At The Shop you can interact with the goods on sale like any other retail space, except many of the artists have created pieces specifically for the stall’s exciting collection. We asked organizer and artist, Andrea Boltresz, to tell us more.
Is there a standout painting/piece that can’t be missed?
Topographical textile sculptures by Andrea Boltresz, not available anywhere else and pioneering entirely new sculptural techniques with recycled textiles; drawings by Pina Bartolo (one of the highest regarded teachers of life drawing Sydney, and a rare chance to purchase her work); textures and shapes in glass by Dagmar Ackerman, also truly unique and exceptionally accomplished work.
What is the price range of the works and can anyone buy them?
We have works ranging from $50 up to $5,000. We’d like to think there is something that will appeal and can be afforded by anyone. This is a great chance to invest in something that you will love having in your home for many years to come.
What are the benefits of buying work from local artists?
Artists who live and work locally are passionate about the places and things around them. We see the finer detail and the hidden things by steeping ourselves in a particular environment for a time. It allows us to produce work that resonates with others who also live and work here, and gives us the opportunity to show people new ways of seeing the world around them. And obviously there are benefits to the local economy, and it’s ethically good to support local industry of all types, including artists, artisans and craftsmen.
Have there been some works created especially for this project?
Almost all of the works have been created for this event. Many of us, including myself, produced an entirely new body of work specifically for this. Committing to this concept has provided impetus for creative work for all of us and every artist has submitted work not previously exhibited for sale.