It’s great to see music happening in Melbourne again. With some of the world’s longest and strictest restrictions over the last couple of years, musos and industry workers have had a pretty tough slog.

But things are feeling good in the Melbourne music world, the scene is slowly getting back to normal. Over the 30th and 31st of December, the Sidney Myer Music Bowl became the new home of the annual Beyond the Valley festival, aptly re-titled Behind the City due to its temporary inner Melbourne home.

***TELENOVA - PHOTO BY PARIS GOROZIDIS***

After weeks of mid 20’s, Day 1 brought a balmy 32* day to the crowd, with acts Sophiegrophy and Telenova easing revelers into the day with their laid-back musical stylings.

***BIG SKEEZ - PHOTO BY PARIS GOROZIDIS***

Then the main stage brought music from Big Skeez, who was a last-minute fill in for Big Twisty and FUNKNASTY. The rapper and his DJ served massive beats to the audience, and truly set the bar high for the rest of the day’s performers.

After a touching Welcome to Country, we were gifted with a set from Sycco, one of the best performers across the two days. Her recognizable tracks garnered a great deal of enthusiasm from the audience, these were tracks like ‘Time’s Up’, ‘My Ways’, and her amazing breakout single ‘Dribble’, each bringing a unique blend of rock, soul and electropop.

Up next was Eves Karydas, her set started with some sound issues that occurred in Sycco’s set, but that didn’t stop the energy from the performer. It was a show full of her hits like, ‘Couch’, ‘Further Than The Planes Fly’ and ‘Complicated’.

***EVE KARYDAS - PHOTO BY PARIS GOROZIDIS***

A high point came with a performance of her viral Like A Version, which was a cover of Ruel's ‘Painkiller’ mashed up with Frank Ocean’s ‘Super Rich Kids’. This got an insane reaction from the crowd, an energy was in the air that Karydas clearly fed off, performing the rest of the set with a different type of vibe.

Audiences were then treated with a set from iconic rapper Allday, his energy bleeding into the crowd right out of the gate, who were holding onto his every word. His stage presence is reminiscent of artists years into their prime, he’s a consummate professional.

Following up from Allday was Partiboi69, who was a last-minute fill in for Running Touch, (who had to pull out due to COVID) his set was definitely out there, and was one of the best of the day.

His fast and big beats brought a different vibe to the stage that was primarily vocalist and band/instrument based, perhaps he would’ve been better suited to one of the other stages dedicated to DJ’s.

***MALLRAT - PHOTO BY PARIS GOROZIDIS***

Next up we got Mallrat, whose limited crowd interaction didn’t matter, the audience were singing along to every one of her hits like ‘Groceries’, ‘Charlie’, and even ‘UFO’, complete with a live Allday feature.

Following on from her was Spacey Jane, whose indescribable brand of rock got a huge reaction from the crowd, a ‘Booster Seat’ singalong was one of the highest points of audience participation on the day, making the world of live music exciting again.

***SPACEY JANE - PHOTO BY PARIS GOROZIDIS***

Closing out Day 1 was the legendary Pnau, the iconic group performing hit after hit, with ‘Chameleon’ and ‘Go Bang’ being perfect for releasing the pent up energy patrons had over the last couple of years.

They were a perfect group to wrap up Thursday’s proceedings, while also priming patrons for the massive following day.

The 38* start to Friday kept fans away for a little longer, with IJALE, KYE, and Alice Ivy hitting the stage first, each bringing their own unique flair to the festival, showing that today’s performers are of a different pedigree, these musos are coming to party.

Then we got another lovely Welcome to Country, followed by a phenomenal set by indie rockers King Stingray, and Aboriginal fronted group, who mix the best of Aussie rock with the wonder of Indigenous Australian culture.

Their music is truly something special, each song having an interesting point of difference. It was great to see some Aboriginal representation at the show. The frontman’s crowd work was great as well, for a crowd that potentially could’ve been waiting for a later act, he won them over, got them involved in singalongs, and most importantly, got everyone moving.

***JAGUAR JONZE - PHOTO BY PARIS GOROZIDIS***

Following on from King Stingray was Jaguar Jonze, the alt rocker who, following on from Day 2’s trend, had massive stage presence and was great at crowd work.

They closed their set with their Like a Version cover of Nirvana’s ‘Heart Shaped Box’, which got a massive crowd reaction, and sent the day into overdrive.

After a few rock orientated bands, it was time to move into the electronic world with Boo Seeka, who had insane energy from the second the pair walked out on stage. They were equipped with a limited set of instrumentation, but their power, vocals and fast paced music made up for it.

***BOO SEEKA - PHOTO BY PARIS GOROZIDIS***

Then after that was brother and sister duo Lastlings, whose unique blend of electropop with folk elements showed everyone why they are the next best thing in Aussie music.

***LASTLING - PHOTO BY PARIS GOROZIDIS***

Now it was time for everyone’s favourite Aussie rockers, Ball Park Music. So far, the energy from the audience hadn’t been as big as it was for the Brisbane based indie stalwarts.

***BALL PARK MUSIC - PHOTO BY PARIS GOROZIDIS***

They played songs from early in their career like ‘It’s Nice to Be Alive’ and ‘Everything Is Shit Except My Friendship With You”, to songs from their recent album like ‘Day and Age’ and ‘Spark Up’, each song getting a bigger reaction than the last.

Front man Sam Cromack was truly born for the job, his energy was picked up by the crowd, and he made you want to keep watching.

Next up was the amazing Cosmo’s Midnight, performing the first time with a full band, which gave a new life to a lot of their music, these were hits like ‘History’, and ‘Get to Know’.

***COSMO’S MIDNIGHT - PHOTO BY PARIS GOROZIDIS***

Then the highlight of any of the days was next, the mammoth performers known as Lime Cordiale. These Northern Beaches boys are a well oiled machine, straight from the start of the set, their stage show was impeccable, there was a grand entrance and big bows, just increasing the excitement for what was to come.

***LIME CORDIALE - PHOTO BY PARIS GOROZIDIS***

It was hit after hit after hit, beginning with ‘On Our Own’, they went through songs new and old, ‘Reality Check Please’, ‘Robbery’, and ‘No Plans To Make Plans’, complete with Louis’ Kazoo solo that got the audience crazy. The song was also complete with a chorus singalong that was the best feeling in the world. They also featured their catchy cover of The Divinyls ‘I Touch Myself’,’.

Then for the midnight countdown, we got to see Hayden James, who played hits like ‘Just Friends’, and put a smile on everyone’s face.

***HAYDEN JAMES - PHOTO BY PARIS GOROZIDIS***

Then closing out the Beyond the City festival, Hot Dub Time Machine brought massive beats to the audience and left us all feeling happy with the world of music in Australia.

It was a great two days, bring on 2022!

PHOTOS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER

ALL PHOTOS BY AND REMAIN THE PROPERTY OF PARIS GOROZIDIS

ALLDAY