BRAD CHECKS OUT FOMO 2020

Three years on from its Sydney debut, FOMO has established itself as one of the few national touring festivals to survive after the untimely demise of Big Day Out, Stereosonic & Future Music Festival.
Following impressive headline artists such as Nicki Minaj last year and Post Malone the year before, FOMO organisers once again struck gold with the one and only Lizzo!
Establishing herself as a powerhouse in 2019 including a Billboard No.1 single with ‘Truth Hurts’, several viral award show performances and feature sets at Glastonbury and Coachella, it was a shock to me that Lizzo was in fact NOT the headliner!
Bright and early at 6:40pm, she still managed to perform a showstopping set as a prelude to three other headliners; Madeon, Brockhampton and Kaytranada. No shade intended, but it was clear everyone was there for Lizzo.
Opening with her infectious hit ‘Good As Hell’, we were all instantly blessed with her presence and danced to her messages of body positivity and self love.
She showcased her supreme vocals on the album title track ‘Cuz I Love You’, encouraged us to put a middle finger up to heartbreak on ‘Jerome’ and taught us to always put our hearts first on ‘Soulmate’.
She lovingly referred to her backup dancers as “the big girls” and proceeded to call out all the “thick bitches” in the crowd (which she said was all of us) and performed her body positive singles ‘Tempo’ and ‘Juice’.
After embracing her sexuality on ‘Boys’ and ‘Water Me’, she completed the show with her mammoth hit ‘Truth Hurts’.
Lizzo managed to impress Australia on her first visit and it’s abundantly clear she will return for even bigger headline shows next time.
Other favourites of mine on the lineup included the incredible international DJs Jax Jones and Meduza. If given the chance, I would totally see them again. Most known for his songs ‘You Don’t Know Me’ and ‘Instrumental’ (with Demi Lovato), British DJ Jax Jones exuded fun with incredible background visuals and an array of dance hits including Aussie DJ Fisher’s ‘Losing It’.
Italian trio Meduza showed potential to be bonafide stars, riding high on their hot right now singles ‘Piece of Your Heart’ and ‘Lose Control’.
Whilst the other artists at FOMO are all no doubt talented and each loved by a good portion of the crowd, I cant help but fault the very motto the festival prides itself on of “one stage, no clashes”.
Perhaps at the age of 29 I’m a little too old for their target market, but I just didnt recognize the rest of the lineup. I understand that rap and hip hop are underrepresented on Australian festivals but it’s not quite my style.
I would have liked an alternative to see a different artist playing at the same time – especially an Australian artist that this website so proudly supports.
I look forward to seeing what the 2021 lineup will bring and hope they promote more local talent like they did in 2017 with Peking Duk and Empire of The Sun.

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