Flight Facilities’ Forever tour is the party we all need
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH SECRET SOUNDS
WORDS BY IZZY WIGHT
“It seems only fitting that Australian artists should be the ones throwing the first and biggest party of 2022.”
Every live music enthusiast has a moment (or two) in their memory of utter symphonic bliss; a song that takes them back to that crowded mosh pit, sold-out stadium or damp, dingy dive bar. Those minutes of euphoric togetherness – sweat, flying elbows, muddy feet and all – are what I’ve been reflecting on in our 265 days of Melbourne’s lockdown (but who’s counting?).
Australian duo Flight Facilities‘ 2013 Splendour in the Grass set was one of those very special experiences. After months of begging, my reluctant parents had let a 16-year-old me attend under the legal supervision of my friend’s older brother. Camelback, sensible wide-brimmed hat and polka dot Big W gumboots in tow (I wasn’t cool in high school), my friend and I staked out the perfect front rail spot for hours.
Stepping behind the DJ booth in old-school pilot attire, the Flight Facilities pair played a set I’ll remember forever. During the ambient masterpiece ‘Clair De Lune‘, a brawny stranger put me on his shoulders for the first time. I swayed around like the main character I thought I was, wide-brimmed hat swaying in the cigarette smokey breeze.
Eight years since that transformative shoulder-swaying experience, Jimmy Lyell and Hugo Gruzman, aka Flight Facilities, are preparing for post-lockdown takeoff with their upcoming album, Forever. Embarking on their first Australian tour since 2018, the fellas will be playing some of the country’s best outdoor venues like Melbourne’s Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Brisbane’s Riverstage and a personally curated event Airfields in Sydney’s Victoria Park.
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Kicking off at Perth’s Red Hill Auditorium on March 12, the tour will travel cross-country with supporting performances from Cosmo’s Midnight, CC Disco, Young Franco, Sycco and Merci, Mercy. Sydney locals will get a personally curated experience at Airfields, a homage to the pair’s hometown and a salute to their first fans.
“It will have been over two years since we last set foot on an Australian live stage, and it has felt like an eternity. Returning with an event in Sydney, where we first started, felt like the best way to reignite the flame for a live music culture that, while wounded, is alive and deeply important to us,” Flight Facilities said in a statement.
“Some of our favourite music memories have been within the crowds of Australian acts, and we wanted to showcase similar experiences, to plant the seed for the next generation of local artists.”
Tickets go on sale at 9am on Tuesday, October 26, or you can sign up for pre-sale tickets here.
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