Livid (festival)


Livid was an Australian alternative rock music festival held annually from 1989 to 2003. Created by Peter Walsh and Natalie Jeremijenko, the original idea of showcasing both the arts and music in the one event was standardised as late as October/early November from 1991 until 2003. While it has never been officially cancelled, no festivals have been held since 2003 and neither the organisers or promoters have announced any intention to restart Livid in the future.
Headline artists for the festival's most recent dates included Linkin Park, The White Stripes and Yeah Yeah Yeahs in 2003, Powderfinger and Oasis in 2002, and Butthole Surfers, Billy Bragg and Ash in 2001.
The festival began in 1989 with a 1500-strong audience at the University of Queensland in Brisbane. Its growing popularity saw it move to Davies Park in the Brisbane suburb of West End and later the RNA Showgrounds. Until the establishment of the Homebake festival in 1995, Livid was the only major Australian rock festival apart from the Big Day Out. In 1990, the Livid festival became the first of the recent "touring" festivals when it was held at Harold Park Paceway in Sydney's Glebe. This event was infamous for the non-appearance of Red Head King Pin, whom refused to come out of the toilet in his hotel to appear. An ad hoc band consisting of members of The Go-Betweens and other musicians reappeared to attempt to quell the crowd. In 2002, the festival attempted a national move and held events in Sydney and Melbourne. Despite the reasonable success of this move, Livid was now in direct competition with Sydney's Homebake festival and the nationwide Big Day Out, and citing a "scarcity of headline acts on this year’s international festival touring circuit", the event's promoters announced that the show would not he held in 2004. Livid has not been held since, despite initial promises that it would return in 2005.

Selected annual line-ups