Spending a week at Dark Mofo is like stepping into an upside-down alternate universe. The city revels in darkness, fire, lasers, confronting art, even blood. It’s a demonic, hedonistic celebration – and coming from Sydney, it feels so wild it can’t possibly be legal, let alone government mandated.

The centrepiece of Hobart’s alternative renaissance, Dark Mofo has just wrapped up its successful fifth year. There’s nothing quite like it. Here’s a few reasons why.

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The Musical Lineup

Dark Mofo’s musical program is notoriously diverse, challenging and unexpected. Each show I attended was entirely different in terms of genre, atmosphere and audience, so to describe it as “well-rounded” is putting it lightly.

There was the passionate, hyper-energetic hip-hop aggression of A.B. Original, who brought Reclaim Australia to Hobart for the first time ever. Scotland’s thunderous Mogwai mostly performed yet-to-be-released new material, alongside older favourites, to an endlessly appreciative crowd. Their ear-splitting post-rock resonated across the vast warehouse venue to tremendous effect.

There was the wild, six-hour metal throttle of Hymns To The Dead, the best sets coming from rumbling funerary doom openers Mournful Congregation, and the extreme, manic assault of Birmingham’s Anaal Nathrakh. (That MONA founder David Walsh was in attendance right up until Taake finished after 1am only made it better.)

You had Norway’s Ulver performing their recent synth-pop-for-metalheads album The Assassination Of Julius Caesar with the most mesmerising laser show I’ve ever seen at a concert, only to then perform their dramatic classical album Messe I.X-VI.X days later with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.

From Einstürzende Neubauten to Paul Kelly, Hiatus Haiyote’s Nai Palm to rapper GAIKA, Dark Mofo’s musical curation was equal parts indefinable and perfect.

And The Music That Wasn’t On The Lineup

The music didn’t stop outside the theatres. It was everywhere you looked; in fact, the subtleties and unplanned moments of Dark Mofo were precisely what made it so special.

You had buskers dotted around the waterfront, live bands entertaining crowds throughout the adult playland that was Dark Park, musicians providing the soundtrack to the nightly Winter Feast, and a musical component to many of the art exhibitions.

From Chris Levine’s spectacular laser display iy_project, soundtracked by gorgeous, atmospheric ambient sounds, to the daily Siren Song, perhaps the most haunting background prop to the entire festival.

Siren Song

Every day at sunrise and sunset (around 7am and 4:40pm) 450 speakers spread out across the waterfront and throughout the city would ring out with hypnotic, ambient operatic melodies.

Lasting around seven minutes, it brought the city to a twice-daily standstill, particularly around the waterfront, where you’d see a small black helicopter loom ominously up above, slowly closing in on the city like some kind of beautiful, musical UFO. Logistically, too, it was captivating and unique – it sounded different wherever you were in the city, adding a kind of mystic wonderment to each dawn and dusk.

The Mofo Atmosphere (It’s Pretty… Dark)

As much as I hate pulling out the “you had to be there” line, it’s difficult to properly quantify the Dark Mofo atmosphere in words.

Compare it, for example, to Vivid Sydney: the bright lights illuminate the city in stunning technicolour. The outdoor bars and food stalls pack an aromatic punch; the live music brings Sydney’s venues to life. That’s it, though; there’s little between the cracks. When you move from one venue to another, you might not realise there’s a cultural festival taking place. You certainly wouldn’t realise during daylight hours.

Dark Mofo, on the other hand, is a fully enveloping, citywide experience that you’ll feel even if you don’t plan to attend a single event. From the ‘paint the town red’ idea – literally, Hobart residents adorning their homes, buildings, schools and stores with bright red lights – to the live art installations peeking out from windows and disused churches, to the black-clad masses casting a gothic shadow over the entire city, to the signs and crosses erected in restaurants, bars and even retail centres.

Even the food stalls go above and beyond; the nightly Winter Feast is a massive, Pagan-inspired dining hall. On entry, you’ll pass these giant spiky triangles shooting huge flames into the air. Inside you’ll find a warehouse covered in red velvet drapes, long candlelit tables snaking down the middle, and a myriad stalls with all kinds of international cuisines (but mostly meat and hearty winter fare). Look up, and you’ll also see the musicians in a separate room above the feast, providing a sublime wine-and-dine soundtrack.

It’s intoxicating. You won’t want to leave.

From Twin Peaks To Tasmania

Twin Peaks fever is well and truly upon us, and you can guarantee the rebooted David Lynch series inspired the entire aesthetic and ethos of Dark Mofo 2017: a little terrifying, beautiful, mysterious and perplexing.

Of course, the obvious connect: experimental US trio Xiu Xiu performing the Twin Peaks soundtrack in full, twice, with scenes from the cult series accompanying the live performance. But it went much deeper than that.

Hobart, this tiny, isolated, slightly weird cousin of the mainland is the perfect real-world setting for such a vibe to materialise; you can easily imagine Dale Cooper setting up camp in Battery Point.

On any given day, there’s an otherworldly feel to the city, as though you’ve stepped back in time and into the future at once, with its heritage buildings, mountainous surrounds, ultra-modern hotels and surprisingly progressive attitudes. On top of this, you’ve got the surreal waterfront: eerily still, more mirror than harbour. Add a gothic filter, all open fires and red velvet, and you’ve practically stepped into an episode yourself.

There’s a whole lot more you could write about Dark Mofo, but ultimately, you need to just get there yourself. We’re lucky something like this exists in Australia, especially when you consider things like lockout laws and other archaic restrictions. From the concerts to the street musicians, the food to the fires, Dark Mofo is nothing short of brilliant.

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Lauren Ziegler is a freelance writer based in Sydney. You can tweet her @ZieglerLauren

All images: Dark Mofo/Lusy Productions