Any BTV line-up is a big deal, but it’s especially the case for a landmark celebration like this 10th outing. Now that the new slate – featuring Dom Dolla, Addison Rae, Kid Cudi and more – has dropped, Untitled Group co-founder Nick Greco shares his highlights from the festival’s history – and why it’s become such a rite of passage for music lovers.
Dom Dolla played the very first Beyond the Valley in 2014, when the festival was based on Phillip Island. Now one of Australia’s most popular musical exports, the superstar producer is returning for the crucial countdown-to-midnight slot on New Year’s Eve on the occasion of the festival’s 10th anniversary – it’s his eighth appearance at BTV.
He’s part of a blockbuster line-up that includes Addison Rae, Kid Cudi, Spacey Jane, Mallrat and 2000s teen-pop icon JoJo. But having Dom back feels extra special for Nick Greco, co-founder and managing partner of Untitled Group, which organises BTV.
“That will be a big full-circle moment for us,” he says. “He’s had such a big 12 months globally, and we did a tour with him last year where he sold 170,000 tickets. So we’re excited to bring him back to where it all began.”
Another full-circle moment will come courtesy of American pop star JoJo, who’s celebrating 21 years since her 2004 hit Leave (Get Out) – it topped the US chart when she was just 13 years old.
“We love our big pop moments in the Valley Stage,” says Greco. “We’ve had Natasha Bedingfield and The Veronicas and Nelly Furtado over the last few years, and JoJo is gonna be a huge sing-along moment for us in there.”
Other highlights for Greco this year? “We’ve also got Addison Rae, who’s coming out for her first-ever festival performances [here],” he says. “She’s someone we’ve had our eye on for so long. Kid Cudi hasn’t been to Australia in years, and it’s going to be iconic, singing Pursuit of Happiness.”
Returning champions include Mallrat and Spacey Jane, who have fostered a close relationship with BTV over the years. Newcastle and London label Steel City Dance Discs is doing a takeover that includes Irish producer KETTAMA, DJ HEARTSTRING, club-pop artist Juicy Romance, Glasgow/Berlin duo Clouds and Melbourne producer SWIM. American multi-hyphenate Jane Remover will also showcase their hotly tipped blend of hyperpop, rap and shoegaze.
And that’s just the official line-up. There’ll be plenty more that punters can discover for themselves on the sly. “We’ve got a lot of secret sets over the four days,” confirms Greco. “That’s something we introduced a couple years ago, and it was really well-received. There’s a lot of little Easter eggs hidden amongst the line-up, which we’re really excited for everyone to uncover.”
This will be BTV’s fourth year at Barunah Plains, Victoria, 1.5 hours’ drive west of Melbourne. After starting on Phillip Island, and a stint at Lardner Park, the current site allows the festival to accommodate 35,000 attendees.
“This site is so much bigger,” says Greco. “It allows us to bring in so much more that we want: extra stages, extra moments. It feels like home for us.”
Ringing in BTV’s 10th anniversary is also a major milestone, especially when so many other big festivals have struggled or shuttered in the years since lockdown. “The audience shifted very quickly,” Greco recalls. “A lot of festivals that had been around for a long time didn’t move quickly enough in re-establishing what they were as a brand. We’ve paid a lot of attention to developing our brand and our line-ups, really homing in on understanding what that audience wants. And that’s a really big New Year’s Eve celebration over the summer in Australia.”
For a lot of people, BTV is their first festival – and a priceless chance to create lifelong memories while pitching a tent with mates. Organisers have worked hard this year to make it stand out as an experience, with this year’s campaign theme, “The Great Escape” featuring cheeky pop-culture references to Groundhog Day and Severance. Beyond other cool touches like The Lounge Room, a space for podcasts, conversations and film screenings, punters can even get married on-site, thanks to an inflatable wedding chapel that’s been a perennial drawcard.
Looking back on 10 years of line-ups, Greco has some personal favourites. “Last year we had Natasha Bedingfield, who had never performed in Australia,” he says. “She did her first performance at Beyond the Valley, and it was an exclusive. She was so excited that it created the most amazing energy. STÜM closed the festival a few years ago, and it was one of the most iconic closing sets we’ve had. Kaytranada played the first Beyond the Valley in 2014, and he’s played two more since then. We’ve toured him at the Australian Open and around Australia, including some big headline shows last January.”
Because Untitled Group tours artists throughout the year – and even bolsters the New Year’s Eve circuit with another festival, the multi-city Wildlands – the organisers build lasting relationships with both national and international artists. And that allows those overseas acts to develop long-term strategies and a lucrative market in Australia.
Greco would like to see even more of that development over the next decade of BTV.
“I’ve loved seeing how the artists we’ve worked with have grown in the 10 years since we started, and how much bigger they are every time they return to BTV,” he says. “Hopefully there are a few opening artists or artists playing side stages that come back in 10 years’ time and do the countdown or close the stage or headline. That’s what I’d really love to see.”
