Southbound January 1, 2009

Once upon a time some nice folk packed up their van and drove through the thick city haze to the pristine paradise of the SouthWest. They set up tents, threw down some tasty organic tucker and danced around while bands from lands afar made music upon the stage. So began The Southbound Festival!

And we’re proud to say not much has changed! Western Australia’s very own Music, Camping and Arts Festival is back to nature with the finest rollcall of rockers, boppers and beat makers this side of Pluto.

So, without further adieu, may we introduce the Southbound family for 2009.

First up, a very big band from a very little country…those great Scots Franz Ferdinand. Now, say ‘yeah’ for our raucous Swedish brothers The Hives. And we see you’ve alreadymet The Kooks. Watch those sharp horns… The Cat Empire can get a little wild. Now come and meet the rest of the family – there’s Gomez over in the corner playing ping-pong with Pete Mur ray. And that’s our American cousin Donavon Frankenreiter getting all philosophical with his northern neighbours Tegan And Sara.

And on the trampoline, that’s The Grates with Atmosphere featuring Brother Ali . And there’s Faker playing doctors and nurses with Jamie Lidell. Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed And The True Loves – please play nicely with Architecture In Helsinki ! Oh, and there’re the twins…Birds Of Tokyo and Karnivool. Aren’t they cute? But they’re almost as hyperactive as A-Trak.

The Mystery Jets and The Drones are some of the brightest in the bunch. Oh, and that’s Soko messing about with TZU, Liam Finn and Wolf & Cub – she’s visiting from France.

And there you have it – the Southbound family. But that’s not all…there are plenty more of us. But you’ll get to meet the rest in the months ahead. More than 30 international, national and local artists will make the fifth annual Southbound Festival the finest yet on Friday, January 2 and Saturday, January 3, at Sir Stewart Bovell Park, Bussel ton.

It all kicks off on Friday, January 2, when campers arrive, with the Festival continuing on Saturday, January 3, and campers departing the festival site on Sunday, January 4. This year we’ve expanded the Friday night program to include its very own exclusive performances.

Unlike previous years, however, we will be releasing a very limited amount of day tickets for Friday – so lucky day-trippers can experience the very special Friday enter tainment – for the first time. These changes are an exciting development for Southbound, as it truly progresses into a two-day festival.

Saturday will see some of the globe’s finest purveyors of sweet sound on four stages, garnished with a colossal feast of art, culture and community at WA’s most environmentally friendly festival. See the full day-by-day breakdown of acts here.

Official Website: http://www.sunsetevents.com.au/shows/southbound-2009.html