Event: Hemispheres Venue: Centennial Park, Sydney Date: September 9-10 2000 Report by: Trevor Connell Photography by: Trevor Connell Photo Gallery Production: List below

Fresh Global Sounds at Centennial Park

Hemispheres This event was staged by the Olympic Arts Festival at Sydney’s Centennial Park over two days. The programme commenced after lunch and concluded around 10 PM each day. The line up of entertainment was outstanding with the fantastic Afro-Cuban All Stars closing the event. Described as “Fresh Global Sounds” the other entertainment was sourced from Africa, UK, France, India, Venezuela, Egypt, Korea, Scotland, PNG plus quite a range from Australia. The range was certainly eclectic, and although I can’t get excited about listening to someone play records, a lot of kids were very much into the DJs who mostly featured in the Big Top. The venue Most of Sydney’s Centennial Park is a reclaimed swamp. The area used for Hemispheres is in the southern half of the park where once there was a spring which, in the early days of settlement, was a major water source for Sydney Town. Walking across this area one is struck by the sponginess underfoot and according to production manager Stephen Champion they had some trouble with access for the semis delivering the stages. There were still wheel ruts evident. Overall the layout worked well. Once through the entrance the first area was encircled with tea tree. The main feature in this area was the Big Top which offered plenty of shade. Nearby were food stalls and a kids play areas run by Reverse Garbage. The main arena area comfortably accommodated the 14,000 punters there on the Sunday. The Saturday program attracted 10,000. The main stage - the Adelaide Festival Sound Shell Three stage areas The main stage was the Adelaide Festival Sound Shell. A large, single canopy with a very springy stage under it. The Tomcat Stage is a brand new one which arrived in the country a few weeks before the gig. It is owned and installed by Scaff Form. The Big Top came from Lennon Bros Circus. Technically The biggest challenge was the sound. This precinct is notorious for problems with the neighbours. According to Michael Wilkie from Coda Audio they were restricted by the EPA to a level of 80 dbc at the perimeter of the park. (dbc is a sound measurement weighted at the bottom end of the audio spectrum – i.e. that which carries the furtherest). This meant that at the control desk they were limiting the level to around 80 dba. (Normally this level would be around 100 dba) No wonder the punters were pissed off, particularly during The Creatures set when they were demanding more volume. The sound levels at outdoor events is an issue ASE will be covering in more detail soon. Summary So how did it work as an event? I give it a 9 out of 10. The point lost for the slow access to the venue, we took about half an hour to get through the security check, and the low audio level. The acts were varied and with the two stage set-up there was no tedious wait between acts. Organisers were lucky with the weather. Considering the event was held in late winter, the days were very pleasant, however once the sun set the area got quite cold very quickly. About a month later would be a perfect time for such an event if it were to be staged again. Food and beverage stalls were adequate and not overpriced and served a good variety, including good coffee. There are activities for kids provided by Reverse Garbage. Toilet facilities were plentiful, with the only problem being that an existing toilet block on the site was not cleaned and was inadequately lit. Access was easy, with plenty of public transport and parking available at the nearby Fox Studios.

Photo Gallery
Over half an hour to get through the entry Stiff Gins on stage in the Big Top The Tomcat stage Part of the 14,000 strong crowd enjoying the Afro Cuban All-Stars. The Creatures straining to be heard on the Festival Satge The marvellous Afro Cuban All-Stars

Production Over 100 production crew worked on the event to move through almost 40 acts.
Executive Producer	Rachael Azzopardi
Artistic Consultant	Jaslyn Hall
Artistic Consultant	Joe Segreto & Tom Lang – IMC
Artist Liaison Coordinators	Alice Papademetriou Cecily Maxwell
Operations Assistant	Carmen Arquier
Business Manager	Gerry Cahill
Project Business Manager	Jon Prentice
Assistant Business Manager	Tim Robson
Marketing Director	Stephanie Sulway
Marketing Manager	Mark Sutcliffe
Marketing Coordinator	Alistair Graham
Publicist	Paula 'Jonesy" Jones – Jones PR
Catering Manager	Ann Jeffery
Production Manager	Stephen Champion
Production Coordinatior	Katie Goohind
Site Coordinatiors	Andrew Stewart Amanda Adam
Production Assistant	David Roberts
Production Secondment	Matthew Gronow – VCA
Production Runner	Michael Harrop Joe Ber
Stage Management	Mark Pennington Anne Driscoll Scott Fitzsimmons Bec Anderson Leonie Mark McIntyre
Assistant Stage Manager	Tanya Burke
Backline Coordinator	Tobias Ng
Back Line	Billy Hyde, Drum Craft
Back Line Crew	Roger Foote David Springer Christian McBride
Stage Crew	Anthony Burke Alan Anderson David Ash Tim Pack David More Chris Simpson
Front of House Manager	Jef Yorston
Site Electrician	Matt Dowd
Lighting Coordinator	Damien Oxley – Chameleon
Lighting Crew	Chris Upjohn Hugh Troantan
Audio Supervisor	Michael Wilkie – Coda Audio
System Engineer	Stephen Peereboom Brad Law
Stage Engineer	Jim Bowman Leigh Williams
Security	MAS

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