MILESAGO - Festivals
| MYPONGA FESTIVAL
January 1971 |
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FESTIVAL DETAILS TITLE: LOCATION:
DATES: ORGANISERS: ATTENDANCE:
ADMISSION:
COMPERE:
FESTIVAL LINEUP: Overseas: |
| NOTES |
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The town of Myponga is situated on South Australia's Fleurieu Peninsula, about 60 kilometres south of Adelaide. Prior to the staging of the Myponga Festival in 1971, the town's main claim to fame was the 1953 discovery of a uranium ore deposit at Wild Dog Hill, just outside the township and between 1953 and 1955, small quantities of uranium ore were obtained from the site. The Myponga area was chiefly known for dairy farming. The Myponga Festival -- its proper title was "The Australian Festival of Progressive Music" -- was held on the traditional festival date, the Australia Day long weekend, from 30 January to 1 February. It was staged just a week after the Wallacia Festival in NSW and many of the acts who played at Myponga had come direct from performing at Wallacia. The main figure in the festival organising company, Music Power, was Hamish Henry, an young Adelaide millionaire entrepreneur who had a continuing involvement with rock music in the early '70s. As well as organising the Myponga festival, Henry managed one of the headlining local bands, War Machine. Ca. 1970-73 he also managed two other Adelaide groups, Headband and Fraternity. Although there is little information available today, the Myponga festival was important for several reasons. Myponga was the venue for the first Australian performance by leading British heavy rock group Black Sabbath and it is believed to have hosted one of the first performances by Hungarian jazz-rock group Syrius (led by the great Jackie Orszaczky), who had only recently arrived in Australia. Black Sabbath, then at the peak of their form, turned in a fine performance and it is reputed to have been by far the best of their several Australian appearances. The other major overseas act scheduled was Cat Stevens, but his appearance was reportedly cancelled just before the festival began. Stevens made his first tour here in August-September 1972. Myponga was also an important event in the careers of two leading Australian groups -- Daddy Cool and Spectrum. Spectrum's successful appearance was some months before their national hit breakout with I'll Be Gone, and according to Adrian Rawlins, they played a very impressive set, an opinion confirmed by Carl Belle (see Recollections). The same was true for Daddy Cool, which at the time was still part of Wilson and Hannaford's larger Sons of the Vegetal Mother project. DC had been warmyl received at Wallacia and when their Myponga set totally eclipsed the Vegetals it was clear that Daddy Cool were far more popular than their parent band, so Sons of the Vegetal Mother was soon shelved for good. Filmmaker Chris Lofven was on hand with a movie camera to capture some of the DC set and this footage (often mistakenly thought to be from Sunbury) eventually found its way into Chris' landmark film-clip for Daddy Cool's debut smash-hit single Eagle Rock. Adrian Rawlins noted that the festival was well-supported by the Adelaide media, so we hope that as time goes by more material about this important event will come to light. However, some recent information sent to us suggests that violence and excessive alcohol consumption were major problems during the festival, and that there were several serious incidents, including a number of rapes. A lively exchange about Myponga took place on the Milesago guestbook in May 2003 between Carl Belle and Terry Murphy, both of whom attended the festival. We've included their comments in the 'Feedback' section below. Although Terry evidently had a good time, Carl's memories are less than rosy and he speaks vividly about the violence, the generally 'heavy' atmosphere that prevailed there and about the negative effect the festival had on progressive bands in Adelaide. Milesago contributor John Low provided the following invaluable information, which adds considerably to what we know about this festival: ""Re: the discussion about the artists appearing at
the South Australian Myponga Festiva, recently I learnt that a friend of
mine (Ray Grieve) played at the festival in one of the Adelaide bands and
today he showed me his scrapbook containing a copy of a promotional flyer
and a newspaper list of bands performing and the times they were on. There
are a number of anomalies but here's what they say:" * * * * * *NOTE: Cat Stevens did not appear but Carl Belle's comments (see below) indicate that Syrius did perform at Myponga. (Ed.) Adrian Rawlins
"I
was ... sole compere at Myponga. This festival was held on a
far from perfect site -- a flat treeless farm not far from a
lovely beach, but quite a way from Adelaide. The event was organised
by gentlemen who were not without capital. They had arranged
for Cat Stevens and Black Sabbath to headline. Through no fault
of theirs, Cat Stevens failed to honour his agreement, but Black
Sabbath arrived, and delivered a performance of insane, unbridled
energy, such as they never did again -- neither in 1973, '74
or '80. But while Black Sabbath was the Big Name at Myponga,
Daddy Cool were the Big Hit. Ross Wilson's on stage persona,
the band's zaniness and raunch, their pure golden rock, their
elan and panache, captivated everyone and established them as
the nation's number one band. Spectrum's seriousness and creativity
were more completely appreciated in Adelaide than they had been
in Melbourne -- though before long the band notched up a sizeable
following throughout the country."
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| FEEDBACK |
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Vince Lovegrove "I
can well remember [Black Sabbath's] first-ever Australian performance
at Adelaide's historic and legendary, Myponga Festival. If you
have never heard of the Myponga Festival it is probably because
it has been all but forgotten by most of Australia's east coast
rock historians who seem to think that Oz rock exists only in
Sydney and Melbourne in their time only. But Myponga Festival
was one of the great Australian rock Festivals and close to the
hearts of all that attended - including the aforementioned Ozzy
Osbourne and many of Australia's mainstream acts. But it did
not include most of today's rock historians who either snubbed
the event or maybe were not even born." from Sam Pickering: The front cover (2 pages) of
the Sunday Mail dated 30/01/71 has a banner headline "10,000
FLOCK TO POP FARM". from Carl Belle I would like to comment on the
Myponga rock festival, held on Australia Day long weekend, January
1971. My recollections are very different from those of your record.
The festival was marred by drunkenness, acts of violence, and
several reported rapes. It was also boycotted by most of SA's
leading bands, due to discrepancy in performance payments.
from Terry Murphy
Its strange how people have different views of occurrences. I too was at Myponga but I had a great time and was impressed by Black Sabbath and still have visions of watching Jeff Crozier dancing on top of a bus as Black Sabbath played and did not see or hear of any problems during the event ... I have also read of people who had a bad time at the Mulwala festival, but I had a great time there also ... but I must be one of the lucky ones I suppose. from Carl Belle
"At the risk of exceeding the hospitality of the guest book I must
respond to Terry Murphy. I can remember two distinct incidents within the first three
hours of the opening day which must have been witnessed by the entire Myponga audience.
from Terry Murphy
"Well I did seem to hit a nerve with Mr Carl Belle It was not my intention
to slight your version of the events but just to give my view as I saw it ..I never witnessed
or heard of any of the things you mentioned that is not to say they may not have occurred but
we all know media reports can distort happenings O.K. from Carl Belle guestbook comment, 20 May 2003 "I will agree with Terry Murphy that it is the disruptive minorities that
have spoiled rock festivals. In 1969-1970 Adelaide had developed a really creative and
progressive rock scene, probably equal to any in Australia, and fairly closely linked to
elements of the counterculture. Musical influences extended from rock as theatre through
progressive rock to jazz/rock fusion and blues. Throughout 1969-70 there had been a number
of open air and other concerts at various SA locations, all of which had passed without
major incident.
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| REFERENCES / LINKS |
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Special thanks for their contributions to Carl Belle, Vince Lovegrove, John Low, Sam Pickering and Terry Stacey. Vince Lovegrove
Ian McFarlane
New Zealand Music of the 60s and 70s Highway To Hell AC/DC fan site
Adrian Rawlins Margret
RoadKnight Myponga
(Wild Dog Hill), SA Uranium
Mining In Australia
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