In its heyday, Vibes On A Summer's Day catered for eclectic dance and electronic tastes fuelled by a wave of interest in British soul-funk inspired acts and DJs.
It launched in Sydney in 1994 with the English DJ pairing of Norman Jay and the BBC's Gilles Peterson. With a philosophy that actively promoted getting away from the everyday, switching off from restraint, and reconnecting with the things that make your soul sing, the festival witnessed the likes of: Jamiroquai, St Germain, Propellerheads, Norman Jay, M.J. Cole, Groove Armada and Rae & Christian during its time.
With the event already returning to its Sydney home on the Australia Day weekend next month, Brisbane will also welcome Vibes back with a pared-down show at The Triffid. Promoter Joe Conneely is 'vibed' to bring back one of Australia's iconic festivals.
Joe Conneely aka Joe 90 at Vibes
Vibes On A Summer's Day returns in 2016, what has motivated you to bring Vibes back?
Simply, the time felt right to do it again. Vibes was always based on a smaller scale ‘boutique’ environment for bringing together the best of local and international acts and DJs. Vibes was the first to do this. We were also keen to tap into the positive sentiment still felt by past attendees, while engaging a new crowd with the event’s commitment to offering first-class eclectic music, broadly influenced by the dance and electronic-music genres.
The music-event landscape has obviously changed a lot since the last Vibes was staged; what do you hope to bring to the Vibes reboot with the industry experience and event awards you've accumulated?
People never came to Vibes because of any one, superstar DJ or act, which seems to have worked for some big festivals in recent history, but it’s become a bit of a celebrity cult, and the fees involved have seen many large festivals breakdown. No, people always came to Vibes for the music; the shared communal experience of discovering new sounds and they trusted our musical philosophy. They came for each other and for the positive, funky, soulful, shared experience; for the vibe! I’ve always believed that there is absolutely still a place for this type of event in Australia, possibly now more than ever.
The first Vibes was in '94; are you hoping to see multiple generations of people attending, parents bringing their kids etc.?
A new generation? Short answer, yes. It’s great that The Triffid wants to develop Vibes On A Summer's Day into a laneway/ block party event with multiple stages. The venue already has a strong, national profile and their vision is something we share for Vibes in Brisbane. It already has the inside and outside setting, which suits us and by expanding into the street, this will allow us to further cater to all types of musical tastes for various generations with the overarching theme of quality music tying it all together. There’s always something to learn about music no matter what your age, and quality music allows that to happen.
How does Vibes differentiate itself from other music events on the calendar?
Like I said before, Vibes is about the vibe. It’s about the people attending all wanting the same thing – great tunes and a good time in great company; positive vibes. That might sound a little bit ‘summer of love’ but it’s true. I’ve been DJing for over 20 years and toured over 300 artists, we’ve got our ears tuned into what’s happening and our reputation for delivering top music is pretty solid.
When we announced the Bondi event in Sydney two months ago, we didn’t release the line-up; we sold out of our first batch of tickets in 15 minutes – that’s a whopping amount of trust! And we’ve worked hard to honour that trust. Our guests know that the music and artists we deliver transcend fads and gimmicks and celebrity; it’s about music that’s all about quality and consistency.
For those too young to have attended last time, what was an all-dayer spent at Vibes like?
It was insane, it was mental, it was utterly fantastic. The Brisbane audience was well up for it – even the artists were blown away by the reception they got. Imagine 9,000+ party faithfuls at Riverstage dancing [and singing] non-stop to Jamiroquai, Groove Armada, Norman Jay, Miguel Miggs and loads more. I remember Jay Kay from Jamiroquai saying on the mic at the end of their set that it was the best performance of 'Little L' and that it was one of the best responses ever; the crowd who were already on the verge of berserk just tipped right over. Kudos to Brissie for that one, that was such a highlight for all of us.
Faze Action
Let's talk line-up… you've once again catered to the finest British and local soul-funk, electronic pallets including Jazzie B, Faze Action - are you satisfied with the artist bill? Personal favourite?
I’m very happy with the bill. I think we’ve struck the balance in respect to brilliant music of many genres. I’m a huge fan of Faze Action, always have been, they’re like Britain’s answer to Masters At Work. I had them headline Vibes in 2000 and it was phenomenal, they loved it too.
They’re pioneers of nu disco with million+ listeners on Spotify and they’re prolific - 250+ remixes for so many greats: Rae and Christian, Bebel Gilberto, Femi Kuti, Tosca, Ian Pooley and even Kid Creole and the Coconuts. They’re bringing two singers on this tour, Zeke Manyeka and Mary Moore, who used to sing with Groove Armada.
As for Jazzie B, we’re all thrilled to have him playing his first Vibes – quite simply he is the ‘don’. His career with Soul II Soul is well known but he’s done so much to advance black music in the UK and around the world – he got an OBE for it, you know what I mean? He had a spell running Motown in the UK and presented James Brown with a Lifetime Achievement award – an honour the late Mr Brown would only accept in person on the condition that Jazzie present it to him. Respect.
I’m also stoked to have the ‘band back together’ so to speak. Phil Smart, Kid Kenobi, Frenzie and Joe 90 (that’s me). We’ll announce the Brisbane local line-up early January.
The Brisbane venue; what were you looking for in terms of the place to host Vibes and how does The Triffid meet this?
To be really honest with you, we weren't going to do a Vibes outside of Bondi till 2017. We wanted to get our feet back and keep it small and focus on the one event. But the artists wanted to tour, our team started getting itchy feet, it started seeming feasible, and then Triffid started looking like a realistic option.
We have a legacy and a brand to protect – that’s very important to us, so the respect that JC and Asho from The Triffid have from the industry went a long way. We started talking and it became clear that their vision for Vibes in the future was totally simpatico with ours. There was really no reason not to go ahead in Brisbane for 2016. So here we are. Happy as a clam.
The future of Vibes…
Good grief man, are you mad? Let’s get 2016 under our belts and then we’ll talk about our national plans for 2017.
Vibes On A Summer's Day takes place at The Triffid, Brisbane, 23 January. The Sydney event takes place at Bondi Beach Pavilion 24 January.
