Myponga Pop Festival

The Myponga Pop Festival was a music festival which took place on a farm near Myponga, South Australia from 30 January to 1 February 1971.[1] The main figure in the festival organising company, Music Power, was Hamish Henry, a 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 several of the headlining local bands, War Machine and two other Adelaide groups, Headband and Fraternity.[2][3] Its promoters were Music Power's Trevor Brine and Alex Innocenti.[4][5][6] The festival was headlined by heavy metal pioneers, Black Sabbath. Cat Stevens was advertised as co-headline artist at the festival but he cancelled to perform in Los Angeles.[4][5] The compere was Adrian Rawlins, who wrote of his experiences at Myponga, and other festivals, in his book Festivals in Australia: an Intimate History (1982).[4][5] Another international act was Syrius, (from Hungary, see Jackie Orszaczky).[4]

Myponga'71 Pop Festival
Genre
Dates30 January 1971 (1971-01-30)–1 February 1971 (1971-02-01)
Location(s)Myponga, South Australia, Australia
Years active1
Founded by
  • Hamish Henry
  • Trevor Brine
  • Alex Innocenti
Attendance39,000
Websitehttps://www.facebook.com/mypongamusicfestival

Alex Innocenti tells a tale that perfectly illustrates Hamish Henry's desire to fund the venture at any cost:

"We went down to the farm at Myponga in Hamish's great American sports car with no roof, like movie stars," he recalls. "The farmer says, `What do you guys want?' and Hamish says, `I want to buy your farm.' He gave him a $1 deposit and paid him the next week." Innocenti says he has no idea what's happened to Henry.[7]

Australian artists included Daddy Cool, Spectrum, Fraternity, Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs, Fanny Adams, Jeff St John's Copperwine with Wendy Saddington, Company Caine and Chain.[4][8]

The Canberra Times' correspondent reported that the "festival rocked to a close tonight after taking l​1⁄2 days to warm up. The pop crowd, estimated at 8,000, started arriving at the 62-acre farm at Myponga early on Saturday morning. Most of them had brought plenty of alcohol and, although violence did not erupt, the atmosphere at the festival was tense at times."[1] The promoters did not make any profit.[9]

Author Clinton Walker in his book 'Highway to Hell: The life and death of Bon Scott' described the Myponga Festival: "With a bill boasting an exclusive appearance by Black Sabbath as well as the cream of Australia's progressive bands, Myponga - bankrolled by Hamish Henry was the biggest thing to hit Adelaide since the Beatles..."[10]

In March 2013 Black Sabbath's Ozzy Osbourne recalled the group's debut Australian performance, "That was the Myponga Pop Festival if I remember right? Management told us we'd have an exact copy of our amplifiers there, which we thought was great, but when we got there they were nothing like our amplifiers! But you know what? You get up there and do your best and I had a good time. I remember we had a big party at the hotel and some chicks there got absolutely shit-faced and were throwing up everywhere and we had to send them home. I don't remember much on the sex front after that..."[11]

See also

References
  1. "$6,000 Missing as Pop Show Ends in Chaos". The Canberra Times. 45 (12, 724). 2 February 1971. p. 3. Retrieved 15 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. "MILESAGO - Performance - Music Festivals - Myponga Festival, 1971". www.milesago.com. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  3. Huxley, Martin (1 September 2015). AC/DC: The World's Heaviest rock. St. Martin's Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-250-09652-4.
  4. Kimball, Duncan; Belle, Carl; Lovegrove, Vince; Low, John; Pickering, Sam; Stacey, Terry (May 2003). "Performance – Festivals – Myponga Festival, 1971". Milesago: Australasian Music and Popular Culture 1964–1975. Ice Productions. Archived from the original on 24 June 2003. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  5. Rawlins, Adrian (1982), Festivals in Australia: an Intimate History, D.T.E.-Q. for A. Rawlins, ISBN 978-0-9592131-0-2
  6. Music Power (1970). "Music Power presents at Myponga, South Australia a festival of progressive pop music: January 30-31, February 1". Music Power. Retrieved 16 May 2017. Summary: Information leaflet promoting the first Australian Festival of Progressive Music, held at Myponga, South Australia, January 30-February 1, 1971. Also known as the Myponga Festival. Includes location map, general information and a list of international, interstate and South Australian performers.
  7. "Myponga part of rock history". www.adelaidenow.com.au. 19 June 2010. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  8. Davies, Nathan (20 June 2010). "Myponga part of rock history". Sunday Mail. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  9. McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'Festivals'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 6 August 2004.
  10. Walker, Clinton (2007). Highway to Hell: The Life and Death of Bon Scott. Picador. ISBN 978-0-330-42363-2.
  11. McLennan, Scott (14 March 2013). "Black Sabbath: Ozzy Osbourne Interview". Rip It Up!. Archived from the original on 24 July 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
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