MONA FOMA 2013

 

We've made the trip to Hobart almost every evening for the past week to go to the Museum of Old and New Art's annual Festival of Music and Art (MONA FOMA or MOFO as it's known). It's the first time we've been and I have to say it was great entertainment and well worth the lack of sleep. From fantastic acts we wouldn't normally get to see  that even started on time, right down to providing good food and drinks and enough space, seating (including the famous pink beanbags) and toilets... the MONA guys really know how to do events, with a bonus sense of humour. The highlights for me were:

• Hearing my number one all time favourite song This Must Be The Place performed by David Byrne and St. Vincent
• British author Neil Gaiman reading poems and stories (and singing the odd song or two) accompanied by a string quartet and guitar by the composer Jherek Bischoff  in Hobart's beautiful Theatre Royal
• The quirky and fun Chicks on Speed 

We saw Tasmanian 80s-style synth band All Fires, Aussie blokes Graveyard Train, an 'icon of the golden era of Ethiopian music', Mahmoud Ahmed and a couple of things my ears could have done without. All round great fun. And we're going back tonight for the MONA benefit gig for the Red Cross Tasmanian bush fire appeal, which will feature some of the same performers plus two of my favourites, the Hoodoo Gurus and Kate Miller-Heidke. Brilliant.