After spending much of 2023 touring North and South America with EDM artists Flume and Illenium, Vera Blue (real name Celia Pavey) is looking forward to an extensive stay on home soil for her own summer festival appearances – but not before 'Rushing Back' overseas for some American festival dates with Flume.
Although some of the overseas crowds have been massive – like an Illenium show in Denver, Colorado, which packed 40,000 people into a stadium – Pavey explains the fans never respond like Australian crowds."I think in Australia we go hard or go home, so the energy is always just absolutely insane – the Australian audiences respond to everything – you just can't beat an Australian audience," she laughs.
"We've got the spirit, as we saw with the Matildas playing the other night. There's just something amazing about Australia and the Australian spirit."
As much as Pavey has enjoyed returning to overseas shows after the downturn of COVID, and is appreciative of the experiences this year has afforded, she is looking forward to what the rest of this year holds for Vera Blue.
"I think having the collaborations with Flume and with Illenium has been such a blessing, and it's been so amazing to have that experience – it's really valuable and really fun as well," she explains.
"But I'm really excited because there's a few festivals – like Caloundra Music Festival, obviously – coming up in Australia, which is so fun, because I haven't done a festival in Australia for a few months so it's going to feel really good."
Celia's last festival appearance in Australia was also with Flume, which was a guest spot during his set at Splendour In The Grass in July.
"The first time I performed Splendour ever was in 2016, and I performed 'Never Be Like You' with Flume – that's the first time I met him," Pavey laughs.
"It was crazy doing it seven years later again, but also now having done my own song with him. It was nerve-racking but it was also exhilarating, because we had all the other vocalists side of stage, like Tove Lo and Tkay (Maidza) and MAY-A, and we were all kind of hanging out side of stage freezing our nips off, because it was really cold!"
Returning to the stage (and warmer weather) with her band at Caloundra Music Festival will allow Pavey to bring a different vibe, she says.
"My band and I have a rehearsal booked in a week before, and we're potentially going to perform a new cover or play with the songs in a different way – but really still just keeping the energy up and keeping the vibe," Celia says.
"Keeping everyone dancing and feeling happy is always my focus for my shows – I want to make sure people feel alive and are able to dance and sing-along, so it will be very colourful, very emotional, and it's going to be a lot of fun."
It will also be an opportunity for Pavey and the band to catch up with old friends on the line-up, including Jack River, Meg Mac and 'Papercuts' collab partner, Illy.
"That's what I love about playing a festival that's not in Sydney, I can kind of be there for the whole thing and enjoy it; my band and I can relax and have some drinks and just indulge in the live music," Pavey says.
"That's why I love festivals, because everyone's hanging out backstage, all the rooms are kind of close to each other and we can kind of just hang out and catch up and chat about life."
Celia says she's excited to potentially bring her best friend, who is moving to Queensland this month, to the festival with her, but is also looking forward to potentially making some new friends.
"There's a lot of up and coming bands and singers and artists that are on the bills for a lot of these festivals and you can fangirl if you're familiar with them," she laughs.
"But you also get to meet people and be like, 'oh wow, now I've got a little bond or a little friendship with this person'. . . which is really cool."
Vera Blue plays Caloundra Music Festival (Sunshine Coast) that runs 29 September to 1 October, Yours & Owls Festival (Wollongong) that takes place 14-15 October and Harvest Rock (Adelaide) that runs 28-29 October.
