It's Saturday and both the inevitable hangovers and Hobart chill are starting to rear their heads on the Dark Mofo masses. Tonight features some of the best action the festival has to offer and away from the official program there are many local delicacies waiting to be unearthed.

Having bit adieu to The Grand Poobah only a few hours earlier, I'm back for a meaty (or in this case, high class vegan burger) line up of local and national talent. Just Step S'ways is the loving baby of Hobartian label Wrong Place Records and the whole day has been clearly crafted with love. Featuring the likes of The Pits, Mount Trout and an all consuming sound installation by Bad Cabin (feat. Steven Wright (Bi­Hour, Wasted Idol), Callum Cusick (Treehouse, All The Weathers) and Kim Walls).

Arriving ungraciously late and with the energy of a deflated soccer ball, I manage to catch the sets by the events headliners. Melbourne one­man party odd-ball Orlando Furious is no stranger to Hobart and is without a doubt an honourary member of its underground music scene. The set is his usual flair and gets the modest yet passionate crowd rearing. The sound however is criminally quiet for his set in the Kissing Room and with the venue setting up for their late night shenanigans during the performance, somewhat kills the vibe of the show. Still, no matter what the circumstances there are always good furrrriiooousss times to be had. Over in the main band­room, its time for Hobarts leading export from the underground scene. Treehouse, this three­piece always present a loose and relatable stage show while delivering endless reams of catchy/scratchy Ozzie pop ­punk bliss. There are broken strings, mic’s that don’t work, people shouting out shit... the usual follies of music. But here they're the norm and accepted in a weird and beautiful way and if you've yet to score your first kiss in the Treehouse, get off your arse and 'ave a listen m8.

A few home made cocktails down the street and then all of a sudden its time to kick sheeeet back inta gear... With Savages having cancelled their entire Australian tour as Dark Mofo commenced, all eyes were on the festival to see what they could offer up as a replacement and oh well, they delivered!!! Marking their first gig since their triumphant return headlining Golden Plains X, Eddy Current Supression Ring have been called up again to the majors in a move that causes true delight and a scurry for tickets throughout DM.

J.P. Shillo has well and truly left his mark on Australian music through his past ventures and his unique approach to music through his solo material. His approach to guitar is dream­like to any guitar nerds and unfortunately catching the tail end of his set, it is surprising that Shilo' name isn’t out there a little more, still, that feels as if it is at his discretion and any time to catch this legend is a welcome one. Having recently released their 300th album Nonagon Infinity, Melbourne psych­rock possie King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard typically don’t disappoint their fan­base with the extensively cast band delivering up all the clichés and mind bending trickery that bought them to the spotlight in the first place. They do have another show on the cards for Blacklist later tonight but they still give this performance in the Odeon their all despite on paper being a little bit of an odd­-card for this bill.

Now is the time that many have waited for and an experience that those lucky Golden Plainsites hope to reprise. Undeniable figureheads in the Australian underground punk sound, Eddy Current Supression Ring are here having another crack of their reunion. The atmosphere has beginnings of anticipation like that of their Golden Plains performance, with that aura of admiration and thanks that these guys are back together. But this does shift as the band notably loosen up onstage and its not before long that the audiences giddy eyed stance evolves into a punk rawk throwdown like a classic Eddy show. Primary Colours opener Memory Lane kicks off the show and is the perfect mood setter and feels like putting on your socks that have holes but you'd never throw out.

As Anxiety kicks in it whips the crowd and band into a playful frenzy. Like it's the 90's and as if it was still cool, a random girl climbs onstage to dance to no one who cares (band included) but her own enjoyment until she is eventually shoed offstage by security. The angsty love­ pop of Wrapped Up is an unquestionable highlight and sees charming frontman Brendan Supression ­in a blink of an eye ­ go for a casual wander around the venue to perform the track on top of the precarious edge of the second level balcony. From that point on, its all punk rawk baby which does somewhat have its downsides as a shorter less sweet version of Rush to Relax than Golden Plains is tainted by an over stimulated audience. Turn Your Page brings things to a close before the band surprisingly and thankfully reemerges to end with the kraut grooves of I Admit My Faults. Ahhhh fuuuuucccckkk it's bloody great to see these guys continuing on from their Golden Plains triumph and though tonight was a different beast, fuuuuuucccckkk it ‘twas bloody good!

If you thought the night was done, mate, har di har har har. A wander up the road to The Brisbane Hotel for their Grimoire parties is always an essential part of Dark Mofo and with tonight being the final night of their festivities, its time to get lost in yet another world. As with previous years, both the band room and front bar are featuring artists of all sorts, while upstairs in the dorms, the rooms have been converted by local artists into the way a backpackers should be. Milk Teddy are in fine form as per usual, local DJ Rainbow Trout kicks the dance floor into gear and the energy is pushed with each performer to get behind the decks. Pints are bloody cheap and a performance by electronic artist Simona Castricum is definitely a bangin' way to close the bandroom for the night. Upstairs perusing the art installations, there is a room with cones that you yell into and make noise music through a series of delays and god knows what else. There is a room that is simply a jam room, another one where you are instructed to do a self portrait and join the godless ranks of other peoples fine art taken throughout the festival and there is another room in which you get done up in paint by a couple of great artists and I wind up being their crown jewel canvas for the night. Photos available upon request.

Then for some reason, without hesitation, once Grimoire wraps up... Again! Its back off to the bloody Poobah until fuck knows what time of the morning. The bloody kissing room and main bar have some amazing DJ's. There are too many young people here and I swear that stupid piano in the hall is possessed by the spirit of a snake charmer that is madly in love with me... Even at 7am! Stop damn you! Cigs out the front and then attempt to sleep.

Sunday, the riotous times of the festival are coming to a close. But not yet, not yet. It's time to wander down to the Parliament Lawns with all the local townsfolk and do us an old fashioned burning. Ogoh Ogoh: The Burning has become a Dark Mofo institution and sees the streets shut off as the Ogoh Ogoh makes its journey through town over to Dark Park before returning to the firey pits bellow. The parade is led by Blacklist giants Itchy O in far more of a militaristic/tribal way. Once we make it to Dark Park they expand upon their march and do a more refined set as the Ogoh is prepared. The acted out story and Itchy's accompaniment within it, can see you get lost in the narrative. As is the case with many people here... with children being presented on the shoulders of parents in the front rows, the best view of the performance comes from the screens of taller guys iphones filming the affair. This coupled with a drunk comedian whom obviously needed attention when it was quiet for more than a few seconds choosing to yell out lame jokes consistently interrupting the performance, the experience does get lost. Still, once the Ogoh catches fire it is a sight to be seen, even though most people don't see the burning through till the end.

Dark Park sees a notable expansion this year and seems to house most of the events open to the public style artworks. Like Bass Bath the year before, the line to the paid House of Mirrors (main attraction of Dark Park) is so unbelievably massive that its an unfortunate miss. The converted warf halls are amazing places for exhibition especially when the space is used as with the massive Our Time lighting installation. The brick heavy Bodystorm exhibition feels a little pretentious and the obvious points of the piece are largely lost upon many casual observer. The Brainstorm student exhibition is a nice slice of Dark Mofoery and offers a wide variety of interesting small and large scale pieces/environments all discovered in an exploratory way of, which is what Dark Mofo is all about. The rest is some pretty nice bars and food which ain’t nothing to complain about.

It's Monday and the festival is still going despite having quietened down. It's a rainy and cold day while the streets are at their quietest yet. But it allows a great time to jump on the ROMA and head out to MONA. Even though there is no new major exhibit this year, it is always great to stumble about through Walshy's Batcave and marvel at his collection. Set up for Dark Mofo, Japanese sound and visual artist Ryoji Ikeda's Supersymmetry is an amazing experience and is an audiological and visual journey through the notions of its physics inclined namesake. Its a dark dystopian journey that is synthetic and a reminder of the future ahead and like that it constantly sparks intrigue. Ikeda did a live performance of this work and it was with deep regret not witnessing it as this was the most intriguing art piece that Dark Mofo had to offer. Temporary exhibition by Cameron Robbins called Field Lines is also of note. But of course the whole collection is a must see as is their bar as MONA is one of our greatest offerings.

As night begins its longest yard, the temperature plummets as the solstice is upon us. Tonight is about experiencing the festival at its darkest and most mysterious. Over at St. David's Cathedral, Heart of Darkness is the works of John Tavener, Peter Sculthorpe, Arnold Scholenberg and Allison Bell with Bell herself as soprano, Susan Collins on violin, Steffannie Farrands on viola and Sue­Ellen Paulsen on cello and the results are hauntingly beautiful. The confines of the cathedral are visually and acoustically amazing. You can hear the resonance ring out softly into dead silence and the loudest parts confronting and unavoidable from your pew. The progression and talent is awe inspiring while the narrative and musical approach offering to bring you down to the darkest levels of despair. Reading the translated lyrics in the program following the music, shows this is the highest form of poetry between life and death. It is deep! REALLY deep and an absolutely amazing experience that leaves you effected long after the conclusion of the performance.

Also on offer to escape the darkness is a free event at the Odeon called Hal'cyon, a performance by Tasdance that commences sunset 4:50pm and is continuously performed through till sunrise 7:40am. Going inside from the rain at around 10pm you're greeted with a cup of chai and don some previously stitched­ in­ the­ evening ponchos and take a seat around the outside of the Odeon which has been transformed for the event. With its length it is not meant to be a quick satisfaction and is designed for you to get lost in it for a time and it works quite well as I stay for close to two hours watching the highly talented dance routines in line with the amazing projections and my bean bag was bloody comfy and it was fucking cold outside.

(I've never done this before and I am going to make note of two things I did not get to experience of this years Dark Mofo that I massively regret not seeing/doing.)

1 ­ Asylum: Entry By Mirror Only: I heard about this from assorted people after the fact on Sunday and I am traumatised that I couldn't go and get as traumatised as they did going. This performance and exhibition by artist Mike Parr takes over the grounds of the former Royal Derwent Hospital the oldest standing insane asylum in Australia. Photography was banned and no-one could properly describe the atmosphere and they all looked back on the situation fondly with a degree of yep, trauma.

2 ­ The Winter Solstice Swim: Yep, I know. You wuss. You do the swim every year you chickened out this year hey... Yep I know.

Wanna know why? I caught my mother having a sip of my salted caramel milkshake bought from the Winter Feast and of course, I get bloody sick. Am still kinda sick and I probably would have died if I done the swim this year as it was farkin’ cold and raining out. Still I hear they drew large numbers without me. Maybe word got around I wasn’t going...

But missing this year, I feel as if I lost something of my credibility as opposed to something physical...

So with a cold wet Tuesday morning bus ride to the Hobart airport that’s it for another year. When taking into account years past the changes made to the festival this year in someways helped the festival’s organisation ­ while to a degree ­ also hindering its past displayed potential.

Last year I claimed that Dark Mofo is the best festival in the country, if not, the world. Does that claim still hold up? Yes it does. Dark Mofo is still truly a unique experience in the festival landscape. It and the local community offer a diverse and consuming world that is an essential experience for anyone and will no doubt leave a mark one way or the other.

See you at MONA FOMA m8!

For part one featuring Tim Hecker, Blacklist, Chelsea Wolfe and more rabble visit the 4ZZZ reviews page!