Smirnoff Presents the DFA Records Stage at Future Music Festival

As they have done in previous years, Smirnoff are getting inventive at Future Music Festival. This year, they are bringing a slice of New York nightlife to the festival by hosting James Murphy’s DFA Records on their very own stage.

Aussie festival-goers will be as good as transported to the heart of New York City with an all-encompassing nightlife experience that will see DFA leading-light Murphy and Pat Mahoney, his partner in the legendary LCD Soundsystem, on headline duties.

DFA Records have always been on the cutting edge of music, having released genre-defining stuff by some ace acts, many of which will be in full effect on the Smirnoff stage at Future Music Festival, including: Hercules & Love Affair, Holy Ghost! Juan MacLean, Benoit & Sergio and Horse Meat Disco.

To the side of the stage, aspiring DJs will be given the chance to experience how it looks to be a headline performer. To capture the moment, their photo will be taken at the ‘Superstar DJ’ booth, against a real crowd backdrop. Photos will be uploaded to the SmirnoffAustralia Facebook page:

The Future Music Festival 2012 takes place on the following dates: 
Brisbane - Saturday March 3, DOOMBEN RACECOURSE
Perth – Sunday March 4, (Labour Day Long Weekend), ARENA JOONDALUP
Sydney – Saturday March 10, RANDWICK RACECOURSE
Melbourne – Sunday March 11 (Labour Day Long Weekend), FLEMINGTON RACECOURSE
Adelaide – Monday March 12 (Adelaide Cup Long Weekend) ELLIS PARK

Tickets are on sale now via Ticketmaster (136 100 or: www.ticketmaster.com.au)

Dim Mak at Future Music Festival, Sydney

Saturday saw the Future Music Festival in Sydney. As we mentioned a couple of weeks ago, the event saw Dim Mak and Smirnoff’s Nightlife Exchange Project bring some of the glitz and glamour of LA nightlife to life. Mash up king Steve Aoki and friends, Don Diablo, Sound of Stereo, The Subs and TAI performed, playing some shit-hot electro sounds. Here are a few snaps of the revelry.

Words by Rob Townsend.

Dim Mak hit up Future Music Festival

Growing tired of festival season and its staid old traditions? We know how you feel. Still, read on weary music lover because, ever keen to offer up something new, interesting and exciting, our old mates Smirnoff are bringing LA LA Land to the Future Music Festival as an extension of the Nightlife Exchange Project by hosting DJ crew, Dim Mak, on their very own stage.

So, amid the blazing Australian sunshine, festival goers can sample a bit of the glitz and glamour of LA nightlife as mash-up king and founder of Dim Mak, Steve Aoki (pictured, top), rips the place apart with electro sounds alongside Dons Diablo, Sound of Stereo, The Subs and TAI. Legendary party photographer Mark the Cobra Snake will also be snapping away while a Polite in Public photobooth will offer fans the opportunity to take photos on backdrops of iconic LA landscapes. And, of course,  there'll be a range of special LA-themed cocktails at the Smirnoff bar at the Dim Mak stage.

More fun than standing in an hour-long line waiting to buy a $9 tin of VB and then going to watch some dullard shoegazing indie band at *insert name of festival that you have been to this year and were faintly disappointed by*? You betcha. 

Future Music Festival is comin attcha on these dates:
Brisbane – Saturday March 5, Doomben Racecourse
Perth – Sunday March 6, (Labour Day Long Weekend), Arena Joondalup
Sydney – Saturday March 12, Randwick Racecourse
Melbourne – Sunday March 13, (Labour Day Long Weekend), Flemington Racecourse
Adelaide – Monday March 14, (Adelaide Cup Long Weekend), Garden of Unearthly Delights, Rundle & Rymill Park

Words by Rob Townsend.

Changing Lanes Festival gets the go-ahead

It wasn't long ago that I was bemoaning how festivals can just lazily shove up a couple of stages and charge the shirtless masses extortionate amounts for tickets to watch Dizzy Rascal and Muse for the umpteenth time. Since then I have been impressed by a (hopefully) changing dynamic. Smirnoff's innovative approach to enhancing festival experiences, both at Future Music and at their own extravaganzas, is exciting and, as always, I found this year's Laneway to be a delightful way to spend a Sunday.

Last week, another festival that promises to be more about the whole experience than just the music got the green light from Marrickville Council after months of hard work. Changing Lanes, presented by MAPS Entertainment and in collaboration with the Sydney Fringe Festival, is a fund raiser for FBi Radio. It will take place on the 19th of September in Newtown, Sydney and will celebrate the city's brimming artistic and music communities. The line-up - announced soon - will feature bands and DJs that span indie, rock, acoustic, dub-step, hip-hop and electro. Local and international street artists will involve themselves throughout the day in a live painting event and there will also be food, fashion, vinyl and bike stalls there.

Ticketing details should be announced imminently.

Future Music Festival, Sydney

The Future Music Festival took place last weekend at Sydney's Randwick Racecourse. The festival is predominantly dance-based and combined DJs with bands like Does It Offend You, Yeah? and was headlined by a typically barnstorming set by The Prodigy. It wasn't just for the danceheads though, and any rogue indie kids could escape the doofdoof with Franz Ferdinand, Empire of the Sun and Operator Please.

An innovative addition to the festival was the Cirque De Surreal-themed Smirnoff Precinct. Located next to the Pink Flamingo Stage, the two storey precinct featured live streams of the onstage action and had the appearance of a mad hatter's party, with a massive table in the middle where performers put on an hourly show while punters drank Mojitos and Mules. Upstairs, festival-goers escaped the carnage of the festival at a chilled out club with heaps of comfy seats and table service, while others took advantage of the elevated dance podium which overlooked the main stage.

In a time when promoters can be lazy enough to just stick a load of bands on a stage and get away with charging stupid amounts for tickets, it is pleasing that there are still some nice touches like this at festivals. As anyone who has been to the likes of Lattitide or Glastonbury will tell you, a festival experience should be as much about what is happening off the stage as on it. It seemed that, with the death of the wonderful, relaxed and diverse Great Escape Festival, Sydney had given up on the idea of a festival that offered more than just the bands on the bill. However, with Playground Weekender being all about the FUN and with thinking outside the box like the Mad Hatter's crazy precinct at Future Music, maybe there is hope for us who want more for our festival dollar than watching Dizzy Rascal turn up for the zillionth time.