Supersense Festival Returns Next Month | The Quietus

Supersense Festival Returns Next Month

The Melbourne festival will host Spiritualized, Pussy Riot and more

Supersense, the festival created and presented by Arts Centre Melbourne, aims to offer a special ‘festival-as-theatre’ experience transforming an immersive labyrinth of the arts centre’s various underground walkways, venues and performance spaces, and hosting a number of performances amongst those areas.

Heading up the bill this year are Spiritualized, who will perform alongside the Australian Art Orchestra

and the Consort of Melbourne in a world premiere show. The band will perform material from across their back catalogue alongside the orchestra offering a special, one-off experience.

Earlier this year, Luaka Bop released World Spirituality Classics, Volume 1: The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda, a collection of devotional recordings made by Alice Coltrane while she was living in a spiritual retreat outside of Los Angeles called Sai Anantam Ashram. This year the singers of her Sai Anantam ashram are set to carry on her work with a series of selected concerts around the world. The tour will stop off at Supersense’s Saturday night programme.

Pussy Riot will also feature at the festival presenting their theatre concept, which will involve an adaption of member Maria Alyokhina’s upcoming book, Riot Days, which sets her own true story against the political climate in Russia that the group have been fighting against in recent years.

There will also be appearances from Blonde Redhead, Nazoranai (Keiji Haino, Stephen O’Malley and Oren Ambarchi), Kimbra, Lullaby Movement (Sophia Brous, David Coulter, Leo Abrahams), Oliver Coates, Inga ‘Lolina Copeland, Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO and The Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar, amongst others.

The festival, which is curated by performer Sophia Brous, takes place at Arts Centre Melbourne from August 18-20. For the full line-up, more information and to get tickets, head here.

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