Dispatch from Adelaide.
Dispatch from Adelaide.
Contributed by Chrissy Symeonakis
14 May 03
Music has, and I guess always will, play a big part in my life. From when I was a little tacker my parents have footage of me singing on video; I even dressed as Madonna in my primary school fashion parade when everyone else opted to go as either a Barbie Doll or Transformer (though I will tell you for the record that I did not follow her through her more controversial and bad girl days. I was more a material girl). Now that I am a big girl, music still remains an important part of my life and I have based my career around that love too.
If you were to look at my cd collection most of you would either laugh, cringe or wonder what I was thinking. I have a vast variety of genres amongst it all, depending on what stage I was going through of my teens, the boyfriend I had at the time and what was “cool”, though I am happy to say that for a lengthy period of time I have now stayed with my most liked genre; “Dance Music”. I’ve made it something which I am passionate about and take a vested interest here in my home state of South Australia. The fact that I live 3 hours away from civilisation (Adelaide) doesn’t in any way disadvantage me, it just means that I travel a fair bit or have to con people to come clubbing with me.
I am happy to report back to the masses that although I live in South Australia we aren’t as country or in the dark ages as one would imagine, but yes we still have a little way to go in catching up with our neighbouring states and securing more international acts than we currently are. Adelaide, along with Perth, is known for its happening Drum ‘n’ Bass scene, though we still seem to get overlooked by touring big name artists (most recently being Paul Oakenfold, Timo Maas and Underworld to name a few) and also by the mass of summer festivals and tours the country seem to by-pass Adelaide. Unless you are cashed up and are able to get the time off work then the only alternative to seeing these artists is to travel interstate and sometimes that isn’t practical or affordable. Not only is it a shame for us punters but also for the artists and promoters, as they have no idea of the one hell of a party they are missing out on by skipping our state.
Adelaide has a very supportive and happening dance scene and something to cover most music genres. From Adelaide’s longest running and newly made Super Club, Heaven II, providing the ultimate clubbing experience over their 4 main nights catering from R ‘n’ B to hard house and everything in between, to the other scale of the spectrum suave and funky venues like The Red Room, Mojo West and Traffic. Not to be forgotten are the furry pant wearing, glowstick waving ravers who seem to have a lot of events on to cater for them in Adelaide. Although the thought of hundreds of sweaty ravers sucking pacifiers and chuppa chups makes me cringe they are well represented.
There doesn’t seem to be a shortage of djs either. Almost every fifth person you come across is either an aspiring dj or owns a set of decks, though I have a feeling some may only be using this as a way too meet women, and yes it does happen. Guys posing as djs to get the girls, not an uncommon thing here, and throughout many clubs and states I am informed.
Adelaide looks after their industry people well and once a year The South Australian Dance Music Industry comes together for a night of dinner, dancing and taking the night off to let someone else do the work for the Annual South Australian Dance Music Awards (SADMA’s) where up and coming djs, sound and lighting companies and events (to list some of the categories) are awarded and recognised for their contributions and greatness in the industry. SA was the first state to hold such an awards night and has a proud dance music heritage to uphold.
This year’s 7th Annual Awards night saw the nominees in all 24 categories voted on by 200 local dance music industry voters from across the board. I am excited to see what the outcome is from the night (on which I will keep you posted).
So don’t think that by by passing Adelaide (like the big shot internationals) on your next trip that you are doing yourself a favour. You aren’t. Not only is it a great city to experience for it’s food, wine and local sites, but we really do know how to party and if you ask nice enough I may even point you in the right direction.
Then again I may be a tad biased!
