2023-10-03 08:59:02
Heavy police presence, ONEFOUR's late addition and tens of thousands of revellers at Listen Out festival in Sydney
It was difficult to avoid being caught in a mosh pit at yesterday's Listen Out festival in Sydney.
After shows in Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, and Melbourne, and with about 30,000 people showing up in Sydney, this year's tour was the most well attended in the festival's history.
It shows a real appetite for festivals, despite several failing to go ahead of late. Dark Mofo, Falls Festival, and This That festival have all been subject to cancellations.
Rapper Vv Pete was the opening act at Sydney's Centennial Park.
The 22-year-old spoke to ABC News backstage after her performance.
Pete has been writing music since she was nine and performing since she was in the fifth grade at school, but things could have turned out very differently for her.
"I always wanted to be a scientist," Pete said.
Sinéad O'Connor: Irish Singer of 'Nothing Compares 2 U' Passes Away at 56 - Updated"But it turns out my destiny is to become an artist. It was really cool discovering that."
Pete has also performed at the Sydney Opera House, something she said she "manifested".
"In 2022, I told my mum, I said, 'Mum, next year, I'm going to make sure I perform at the Sydney Opera House.' Bang, I performed there," she said.
"So, I feel like the power of words are so wise, and when you have that consistency, that motive, you believe in yourself, faith is the biggest thing."
The rising star was born and raised in Sydney's west. She lived in Merrylands before moving to Mount Druitt at the age of 10.
And although Pete has never travelled to New York, her image has.
A photograph of her has appeared on a building in Times Square in a Spotify advertisement.
"That was an honour," Pete said.
"My first release was Bussit, but what really did good in numbers was from [songs] Frauds and Jordan 1s.
"So, because of the high streamings I got from those, as well as the Mall Grab Remix [of Frauds] — massive shout out to Mall Grab as well — we're almost at 1 million streams.
So, things like that are the reason as to why they put me up [in Times Square], because on stats, I'm one of the fastest growing artists in Australia right now."
Watch it now! - The Rise of the TikTok Jester Queen: A Hilarious Impersonation of the British Royal HouseholdSocial media has played a big role in Pete's continued rise.
"When we dropped Jordan 1s, we managed to get 2.2 million plays on TikTok, which really helped it with streaming as well because we got advertised.
"And also, different dance classes around the world started making up choreographies and stuff and big people in the game.
"Now if you go on Jordan 1s, there's like hundreds of videos, reels."
Pete is from a tight-knit family, despite her parents splitting when she was young.
She gave a shout-out towards the end of her performance to her proud mother who was onstage, waiting in the wings, and has always been in her corner.
When I told my family first I'm going to become an artist, a lot of them were looking at me down, but the one person that stood by me was my mum," she said.
"It's like she knew I was going to have a bright future.
"Now all of my family are obviously supporting me, but my mum has always been that one person who's … she's given me free will and she allows me to be myself and I just respect her so much."
The gates opened at 12pm with no access to the grounds any earlier, and Pete was scheduled to take the stage from 12:05pm, meaning even the most dedicated fan may have turned up late to her performance following bag searches at security.
Pete calls her fans Varvies. One of her Varvies, Darren Heng, said it was the first time he was seeing her perform live.
Get Your Daily Dose of Laughs with @larrydeancomedy's Hilarious Original Sound Bites!"She's so big in my friend group," he said.
"All my friends love her, so they kind of introduced me to her and I just fell in love with her.
"Her energy is just so great.
"Her body positivity … it means a lot to me too."
Pete is a fan of her fans.
"I just love my Varvies," she said.
"I love you guys so much. Every single day, we're growing bigger and bigger.
"And I thank God, I thank the universe, I thank my ancestors, I thank my family, spirit guides, everything, because it's only up from here."
Pete also got to watch a few performances by artists she knows well.
"I was so excited to see [Gomeroi artist] Kobie Dee," she said.
"He's great. He's from Sydney too, my home city. That's my brother right there.
Painkiller: A Hard-Hitting Drama Unveiling the Opioid Epidemic"Big shout-out to him and big shout-out to Zion Garcia.
"He's one of the triple j Unearthed [winners].
"We went to school together. So, we're really close. I just hopped on stage and I … seen him, gave him the biggest hug. I'm so proud of him."
The festival line-up included American rapper Lil Uzi Vert, electronic DJ Friction, and American DJ and music producer Skrillex.
By the time Bronx native Ice Spice took to the stage for a brief set, it had cooled down considerably and the sunshine had been exchanged for a full moon.
ONEFOUR ushered in after a change to the program
People booking the £204.90 general admission and £288 VIP tickets were warned that the festival line-up was approximate and likely to change — and it did.
Sydney drill group ONEFOUR were a late addition, replacing American producer and DJ Metro Boomin.
Sorcha was in the audience when ONEFOUR took to the stage.
"I rate them," she said.
ONEFOUR has been nominated for an ARIA award, with the ceremony to take place on November 15.
The festival had a heavy police presence, with officers targeting anti-social behavior and alcohol-fueled violence.
Laughing It Up in San Fran: Larry Dean's Hilarious Stand-up Comedy Game Show!Prohibited drugs were also on their radar, with sniffer dogs in attendance and 85 people found in possession of illicit drugs, according to NSW Police.
If you would like to know other articles similar to Listen Out Festival in Sydney Draws Tens of Thousands with ONEFOUR's Surprise Performance and Strong Police Presence updated this year 2024 you can visit the category Entertainment news.
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