Introducing Supersonic, the all-nighter music takeover of the West End
One night, eighteen artists, seven venues – on Saturday, July 19, Supersonic will turn the West End into a late-night sound, light, film and movement adventure as the latest addition to Illuminate Adelaide’s genre-blurring music program.
Supersonic joins Illuminate Adelaide as the citywide winter favourite heads into its fifth year.
“It’s the kind of event we’ve wanted to build into the program for a while,” says Illuminate Adelaide’s co-founders and creative directors, Rachael Azzopardi and Lee Cumberlidge.
With both free and ticketed events, the night is for anyone keen to indulge their senses and music taste to the next level across fresh new sound.
Those after a specific vibe can build their own adventure with single venue tickets, while the more ambitious can nab a multipass to experience all the program has to offer across techno, experimental post-rock, surrealist digital art, interpretive dance, documentary screenings, large-scale ceramics, lights and more.
Read on for what to get hyped for across the stacked lineup.
Motez, curator of Lion Arts Factory lineup. This picture: Thomas McCammon
Lion Arts Factory
Nowhere will flow with radical soundscapes more than Lion Arts Factory.
Supersonic’s largest venue features a special line-up by Motez Obaidi, who says he was thrilled to be asked by Illuminate to curate the event.
“My goal was to uphold the festival’s spirit of showcasing the intersection of art, immersive experiences and cutting-edge music while introducing a fresh and exciting new wave of music producers, DJs and tastemakers, who I believe are making an impact in the music scene both locally and nationally,” he says.
Standouts include FUKHED, who has a firm grip on Australian club and dance scenes, and Memphis LK, a bold artist making strides in Australia’s new wave of femme voices in dance music.
Motez, bringing his signature genre-blending sound, will also make his mark with an unmissable midnight set.
MBODJ will perform at Ancient World
Ancient World
Dancing – and plenty of it – is on the cards at Ancient World, Hindley Street’s artist-run bar, as it blasts globally infused club beats until the early hours of the morning.
Queer and diasporic voices power the lineup, with the night’s energy peaking with MBODJ – Senegalese-Spanish artist Maguette Dieng known for her visionary and emotional sound.
Plastiq are one of three acts at Jive. This picture: Capital Waste
Jive
The night will come even more alive with movement and music at Jive, an iconic spot that’s been shaping Adelaide’s music scene for almost two decades.
Three acts – Kuiper, Plastiq and Polito – will deliver experimental tunes, striking visuals and emotional intensity across post-rock, surrealist electronica and hypnotic audiovisual performance, keeping you hooked on contemporary soundscapes all night long.
Wash My Soul in the River’s Flow will show at Mercury Cinema
Mercury Cinema
For a different kind of escape, head to the movie theatre and catch The Sound of Revolution, a free cinematic program curated by Shalom Almond, award-winning two-time AACTA-nominated Australian documentary filmmaker.
The night kicks off with Wash My Soul in the River’s Flow, a feature on the lives and love story of the late celebrated Ruby Hunter and Archie Roach.
But it doesn’t finish there: documentaries on music and social change roll until 2am, making for a perfect chill out zone between more loud Supersonic events.
Catch Tiny Hole Inside Me at The Lab at ILA
The Lab at ILA
If you’re in the mood for the experimental, you can also check out Tiny Hole Inside Me.
The Australian premiere of the three-hour performance by video artist Andrea Illés and musician Marcus Whale blends sound, dance and live-feed video with interactive elements to dive into themes of impossible perfection, bodily failure and surveillance, with inspiration from Greek mythology.
Noriko Tadano & Adam Ritchie, aka YASHA will perform at Nexus Arts
Nexus Arts
It isn’t only about going big until sunrise, with shorter events like Nexus Arts’ fusion of heritage with contemporary music adding to the evening’s pulse.
YASHA – Japanese vocalist and award-winning virtuoso master of the shamisen, Noriko Tadano and dark ambient modular synthesist Adam Ritchie (AKA r.domain) – will perform an hour-and-a-half of tradition-defying, immersive soundscapes.
After the duo, Frank Yamma – an initiated Pitjantjatjara man and one of Australia’s most vital Indigenous songwriters – will take the stage with his raw vocals and guitar to perform his powerful cross-cultural songs.
At ACE, experience Input/Output from Mark Valenzuela, Miles Dunne and Alycia Bennet
Adelaide Contemporary Experimental (ACE)
In a program full of sound, ACE brings visual thrills with Input/Output, an installation by Mark Valenzuela, Miles Dunne, and Alycia Bennet blending electronic composition, a lighting state, performance and experimental ceramics.
Inspired by structures common to public space in the Philippines, the large-scale steel structure asks for reflection on connection and isolation.
With free sessions every 30 minutes from 6pm, there are plenty of chances to take in the multisensory sculptural artwork throughout even the most jam-packed night.
FUKHED – playing at Lion Arts Factory
Illuminate Adelaide 2025
This is just a taste of Illuminate Adelaide’s music program, with buzz also building for Icelandic techno duo Kiasmos and electrifying experimental music at Unsound Adelaide.
But if you want the ultimate night out, Supersonic is where it is at.
“Supersonic is something that amplifies the late-night energy of the city,” Azzopardi and Cumberlidge say about the event created in collaboration with local venues.
“It offers an electrifying program focused on Australian artists.”
Check out all venues and artists on Illuminate Adelaide’s website.