Bassinthedust is an Australian music festival. It is the second largest music festival in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

, and has been held annually since 2004 in

Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...

. The festival is an offshoot of

Bassinthegrass Bassinthegrass (styled as ''BASSINTHEGRASS'') is an Australian music festival. It is the largest music festival in the Northern Territory, and has been held annually since 2003 in the territory capital. The festival is operated by the Northern ...

and is operated by the Northern Territory Government through the Northern Territory Major Events Company, part of a project of the previous

Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...

government to bring prominent bands to the territory and showcase local talent. Bassinthedust has grown rapidly since its inception. It is a sister festival of

, replacing an Alice Springs leg of Bassinthegrass which had been held at the first festival in 2003.

History

Bassinthegrass was first held in 2003, to fulfill a campaign promise by the

government to hold a

Big Day Out The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typi ...

-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.Burton, Alice. "Local acts signed for big day out". ''

Northern Territory News The ''Northern Territory News'' (also known and branded as the ''NT News'') is a morning Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper based in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published every week from ...

'', 4 July 2003. 5000 people attended the Darwin leg, with a further 1500 in Alice Springs, listening to headline acts

The Living End The Living End is an Australian punk rock band from Melbourne, formed in 1994. Since 2002, the line-up consists of Chris Cheney (vocals, guitar), Scott Owen (double bass, vocals), and Andy Strachan (drums). The band rose to fame in 1997 after ...

, 30 Odd Foot of Grunts, and NoKTuRNL. It was widely hailed as a success in the territory media, and became an annual event. The Alice-only Bassinthedust festival was first held in 2004 at the Memo Club on 11 September 2004 to an audience of around 1200. The 2005 festival, featuring

Spiderbait Spiderbait is an Australian alternative rock band from Finley, New South Wales, formed in 1989 by bass guitarist and singer Janet English, drummer and singer Kram, and guitarist Damian Whitty. In 2004, the group's cover version of the 1930s Lea ...

, Frenzal Rhomb, The Flairz, Screaming Jets, and Dallas Crane, was held at Anzac Oval (where all but the first festival have been held) on Saturday 10 September. The 2006 festival, featuring End of Fashion, Pete Murray and

, was held on Saturday 23 September with an audience of around 2300.

Hilltop Hoods Hilltop Hoods are an Australian hip hop group that formed in 1994 in Blackwood, Adelaide, South Australia. They are regarded as pioneers of the " larrikin-like" style of Australian hip hop. The group was founded by Suffa (Matthew David Lambert) ...

were meant to play but were unable to make it to Alice Springs for the show. They later put on a show to make up for missing the festival. Jet headlined the 2007 festival on Saturday 22 September.Jet to Headline Bassinthedust
Bassinthedust 2008 will be held on 4 October at Anzac Oval.

Artist line-up by year

2008

* Paul Kelly *

Jebediah Jebediah are an Australian alternative rock band formed in 1994 in Perth, Western Australia. They were formed by Chris Daymond on lead guitar, Bob Evans (musician), Kevin Mitchell (aka Bob Evans) on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, and Vanessa T ...

* The Getaway Plan *

Bliss n Eso Bliss n Eso (formerly known as Bliss n' Esoterikizm) are an Australian hip hop trio based in Sydney. The group consists of emcees Bliss and Eso, and DJ Izm, and they are currently signed to Melbourne record label Illusive Sounds, and are manag ...

Kid Kenobi Kid Kenobi or Jesse Thomas Desenberg is an Australian DJ, sound mixer, music journalist and dance music artist. Together with Hook N Sling (a.k.a. Anthony Maniscalco), he was nominated for the 2007 ARIA Award for Best Dance Release for their ...

and MC Shureshock *Local NT Acts: *Miazma *Unbroken Expanse *Glasgow Smile

2007

* Jet *

The Waifs The Waifs (originally styled as The WAiFS) are an Australian folk rock band formed in 1992 by sisters Vikki Thorn (harmonica, guitar, vocals) and Donna Simpson (musician), Donna Simpson (guitar, vocals) as well as Josh Cunningham (guitar, vocal ...

TZU TZU (pronounced "Tee Zed Yoo") were an Australian hip hop group, formed in 1999 by Joelistics, Yeroc, Seed MC and Paso Bionic. Duzy What joined in 2005. The band used live instruments in their recordings and live performances, giving their sho ...

*Lowrider * Behind Crimson Eyes *

Mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

*Exit Earth *Bloom *Tara Stewart *Nights Plague *Through Bullets and Bravery

2006

* End of Fashion * Pete Murray *

*Blistered *Nights Plague *Sweet Surrender *Zenith ASP *The Moxie *Eternal Crusaders

2005

* Frenzal Rhomb * The Flairz * Screaming Jets * Dallas Crane * Letterstick Band *Tashka Urban *Exit Earth *Zenith ASP *Robotik Coq *Teknikal Onslaught *Super Raelene Bros *Wild Weekend's Samah n Grab *RnB DJ Lenno and MC Jaz

2004

The Superjesus The Superjesus are an Australian rock band formed in Adelaide in late 1994. Their debut album, ''Sumo'' (February 1998), peaked at No. 2 on the ARIA Albums Chart, their second album, ''Jet Age'' (October 2000) reached No. 5 and their ...

* Christine Anu *

Resin Dogs Resin Dogs is an Australian hip hop group, formed in Brisbane, Queensland in 1996 based around the founding trio of DJ Katch (Andrew Garvie), produceBlunted Stylus(Geoff Boardman), and drummer, Dave "Acosta" Atkins. The group is a loosely str ...

*C-Kalibration *Tecoma *Blacktide *Cinco Locos

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official BASSINTHEDUST site
Music festivals in the Northern Territory Music festivals established in 2004 Recurring events established in 2004 Alice Springs