Bassinthegrass

BassintheGrass

Location(s)	Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
Years active	2003 - present
Date(s)	Mid to Late May
Genre	Rock, Hip hop, Electronic, Indie
Website	http://bassinthegrass.com.au

Bassinthegrass is an Australian music festival. It is the largest music festival in the Northern Territory, and has been held annually since 2003 at the Darwin Amphitheatre in the territory capital. The festival is operated by the Northern Territory Government through the Northern Territory Major Events Company, part of a project of the previous Martin government to bring prominent bands to the territory and showcase local talent. Bassinthegrass has grown rapidly since its inception, resulting in the imposition of cap on ticket numbers in 2007. A sister festival, Bassinthedust, has been held in Alice Springs since 2004, replacing an Alice Springs leg of Bassinthegrass which had been held at the first festival in 2003.

History

The festival was first held in 2003, to fulfill a campaign promise by the Martin government to hold a Big Day Out-style youth concert in the territory. It was held in both Darwin and Alice Springs in its inaugural year, with the Alice Springs leg later becoming the Bassinthedust festival. 5000 people attended the Darwin leg, with a further 1500 in Alice Springs, listening to headline acts The Living End, 30 Odd Foot of Grunts, and NoKTuRNL. It was widely hailed as a success in the territory media, and became an annual event.

It became a Darwin-only festival in 2004, with the creation of Bassinthedust, and a crowd of 6000 turned out to a hear a larger lineup, including Grinspoon, Frenzal Rhomb, The Dissociatives, The Superjesus, Jebediah, Even, Shannon Noll, Human Nature and Sophie Koh. Radio personality Jackie O had been meant to MC the event, but arrived nine hours late, and stormed off stage after being booed by the crowd and played over by Frenzal Rhomb in an incident that received national media coverage. You Am I, Little Birdy, Evermore, Regurgitator and Anthony Callea headlined the festival in 2005.

The festival switched to a two-stage format in 2006, with The Living End, Hilltop Hoods, Pete Murray, Something for Kate, The Herd, 28 Days, Slinkee Minx and Gerling appearing at the festival. Ticket sales increased dramatically, with all presale tickets selling out, and a total turnout of 9000 - a 40% increase on previous years. The high turnout resulted in a cap of 7000 tickets being introduced for the 2007 festival because of safety concerns. Presale tickets sold out a week before the event, with a capacity crowd turning out to hear Jet, Eskimo Joe, Hilltop Hoods, TZU and the Young Divas.

Bassinthegrass 2008, was held on May 24, 2008 at the Darwin Amphitheatre. It's lineup included Powderfinger, Wolfmother, Gyroscope, Twisted Metal Heart and The Potbelleez.

Tickets

Tickets for the event are found on sale throughout the Darwin suburbs roughly a month before the event each year.

A unique aspect of BassintheGrass is the ticketing system. Rather than a conventional event paper ticket as seen with most music festivals, logo-branded caps are given out as a proof of purchase. This helps organizers to distinguish any unpaid entries and to ensure efficient entrance to all patrons, and also serves as protection from the sun.

Local media

BassintheGrass is advertised in many forms of media within the Northern Territory including the NT News newspaper, and Southern Cross (The local distribution of Australia's Seven Network, the Nine Network, along with posters around Darwin.

Artist lineup by year

2010

• Silverchair
• Hilltop Hoods
• Empire of the Sun
• Jessica Mauboy
• Children Collide
• Short Stack
• Horrorshow
• Redcoats
• Sleeveheads (Battle of the School Bands Winner)
• DJ Fish
• Sweet Amber
• Semishigure
• Leigh Chisholm

2008

• Powderfinger
• Hilltop Hoods
• Potbelleez
• Wolfmother
• Gyroscope
• Mammal
• The Audreys
• Hercules of NY
• Front House
• Roymackonkey
• The Moving Targets
• Terracotta Pigeons

2007

   *Jet
   *Eskimo Joe
   *Hilltop Hoods
   *Shannon Noll
   *Young Divas
   *Little Birdy
   *Behind Crimson Eyes
   *TZU
   *Mammal
   *Lowrider
   *The Strikes
   *The Weathermen
   *The Moxie
   *Enth Degree

2006

   * Stokes Hill
   * Neo
   * Zenith ASP
   * Flesh Petal
   * 28 Days
   * Gerling
   * Faker
   * Lee Harding
   * Worldfly
   * The Herd
   * Something for Kate
   * Pete Murray
   * Hilltop Hoods
   * The Living End

2005

   * You Am I
   * Regurgitator
   * Anthony Callea
   * Little Birdy
   * The Flairz
   * Thirsty Merc
   * Nabarlek
   * Evermore
   * Vanessa Amorosi
   * The Spazzys
   * Black Chapel
   * Test Theory
   * Pop Fantastic
   * Storm Riders
   * Vassy

2004

   * Grinspoon
   * Frenzal Rhomb
   * The Dissociatives
   * The Superjesus
   * Jebediah
   * Human Nature
   * Shannon Noll
   * Even
   * Hairy Lemon
   * Sophie Koh
   * World Fly
   * Lifted Mace
   * Plonker
   * Roy Mackonkey
   * Elusium

2003

   * The Living End
   * Machine Gun Fellatio
   * 30 Odd Foot of Grunts
   * Sophie Monk
   * 28 Days
   * Selwyn
   * Endorphin
   * NoKTuRNL
   * Three on a Tree
   * Plan B
   * Leon Spurling
   * Culture Connect
   * Cinco Loco
   * Llypente Apurte
   * Shelley Morris
   * Public Holdup

External links

• Official BASSINTHEGRASS site