Dark Mofo is an intriguing oddity of a festival that embraces the idea and its schtick of darkness (amongst other sensory delights) and is quickly imprinting its mark upon the winter event calendar in of all places, the freezing city of Hobart in Tasmania. In its second year, the festival, of which an offshoot organised by the brilliant team behind MONA FOMA, brings music, art, film and yes, feasting across the accessible Hobart landscape.

The festival itself spans close to two weeks in length. I arrive slightly early for the happenings on a Tuesday night and am welcomed by empty streets and temperatures so low that the saliva in my mouth begins to turn frosty. Getting lost and achieving relatively little, I manage to only find two places open within the CBD past 10pm. One called "The Men’s Lounge" and the other, a Dominos pizza. In the end I acquired a $5 "Bangers n' Beef" from one of them.

The Wednesday shows an on paper odd beginnings for my festival experience as DJ Lance Rock and his buds are in town performing Yo Gabba Gabba live. Set in the festival's main music breeding grounds, the rustic Odeon Theatre, today it is filled with bright face young’uns and, oddly enough, equally enthusiastic parents. The set up appears to be quite similar to last time the troupe was in town and the performance is equal. If I was a harsh critic, I would point out that this show is essentially a bunch of costumed characters moving roughly in time to a backing track and it was but, damn, it is a solid backing track and DJ Lance Rock can work a young audience high fives a plenty. Controversy spikes as Super Music Guest Friend Mykki Blanco leaves the stage empty half way through a performance of a drastically altered Haze Boogie Life. The addition of some Hobart radio DJ doing an astonishingly average cool trick was a low light and the rendition of Peekaboo seemed quite inquisitorial but they pulled it back together in the second half with an excellent 808 altered version of Party in my Tummy.

That night, though not an official Dark Mofo event, The Grand Poobah played host to a swagger of great local talent and a few notes from Brisbane. Jackson Reid Briggs opened the oddity of a night with downer country ballads while Naked responded with brash organic short fire punk tunes that were simply quality. The M-Humm followed and well what can you really say about pure sex appeal and awe inspiring musicianship (if I do say so myself!) Treehouse ended the evening in what can be described as a very loose set of garage punk with members sprawled around the stage and it is simply entertaining.

Thursday sees the first real hangover kick in and marks the beginning of a promising weekend. As the sun begins to set the fabled Dark Mofo Winter Feast opens its doors for the weekend. A world in its own, the feast is set down on the Hobart pier in a dock shed and plays host to some of the best chefs and restaurants from around the state/country. Inside the feast, string players play from the roof to endless rows of candle lit medieval style tables while, outside, meat roasts in open spits and fire is everywhere. Music makes an appearance in every crevice possible. There is a saw player, virtuoso pianists, Miles Brown of The Night Terrors quietly in a corner playing theremin, spoken word artists and Sophia Brous doing some performance with a twelve piece choir on the coveted wheel of death among other things. But it is the food that is the real highlight and it is over the next few days that fine dining and I get along like a house on fire, or well, more specifically me a wallaby burrito and a $300 bottle of scotch.

That night, the theatre is in full swing with The Bronx having ventured down from the US and the first addition of the hyper power of Dark Faux Mo. Opening up at the theatre is local group, Harrison Forward, and, to be frank, damn does this band know their sheet! With the energy of a meth lab and music which is part hardcore punk, part electronic noise, it is simply a gem throughout. The band bound about the stage with no shirts on in black and white face paint throwing out sunglasses covering Iggy Pop and Nirvana. Best in show. Melbourne's High Tension follow and most certainly do not reach any of the dizzying heights as laid down by Forward. The whole formula and stage delivery the band set up just feel dated and don't really offer anything special; well in 2014 anyway. A 15 year old version of myself, though, would have lapped it up. The Bronx are no strangers to this country and, quite frankly, a bit of their persistent charm wore off a few years ago. But, in the surroundings of the Odeon, they are on fire again as everything from the sound to the lights works in their favour. Matt Caughthran channels back to the group’s pre mariachi days and, with his stupidly long lead, crowd surfs around to classic Heart Attack American and re-charms a few more years of my attention.

Dark Faux Mo already has a bit of a word of mouth reputation for what it actually is and what actually goes on and the first word that can easily be used to describe it is 'drunk' ; well… three words - 'really drunk playground'. The side doors open up, upstairs expands and assorted crevices around the building grow lines to nowhere. On the main stage, Mykki Blanco, unexpectedly opens up affairs at the slightly early time of 11:00pm and, while it would have been better to see him/her at a cool time like 3am, the performance itself is as charged as an iphone battery on charge all night, 100% (ugh!). Blanco largely draws from newer material and teases throughout with snippets of older tracks like The Initiation. Despite avoiding certain classics, watching Blanco and his DJ in this uber camp stylised club world is all consuming. Even when Blanco ventures into the audience, it’s hard not to want a pash from the man despite sexual preference. Haze Boogie Life and Wavy are also notable highlights and really push the low end of the PA. The set closes with Blanco wide eyed venturing into the crowd as his DJ just goes willy nilly behind the decks taking the set welcomely way over time. Then the first problem of the festival arrives as it turns out that Sunn O)))/Shoosin set was also billed at the same time in another room and was impossible to catch both due to capacity issues.

The rest of the night then becomes a quick blur in a sea of overpriced Asahi Blacks. Six ft. Hick were trying to do something in some room but it was hard to tell as there were two of them. Some DJs, at some point, absolutely ruin the Odeon main floor with a mix including Spiderbait's musical abortion Black Betty mixed with Benny Benassi or whoever the guy was that sung that song with the girls on the jackhammers and no pants. This, among other atrocities, beg the question as to whether these "DJ's" were rounded up from the local surf lifesaving club or what but there are many other alternatives to be found throughout the rest of the theatre to which various articles of my clothing find new homes. The rest of this review cannot be published.

Part Two featuring Sunn O))), Total Control and The Winter Solstice Swim coming soon!!!

Bradley Armstrong