Review: Blak Nite @ Carclew 01/05/26
The beautiful community event Blak Nite celebrated Aboriginal culture, performance, music and the strength of community.
Words Ella Bruce // Images Samuel Graves
Review: Blak Nite @ Carclew 01/05/26
Carclew partnered up with Indigenous Languages and Arts Australia and Create SA, supported by Balya Productions, for Blak Nite, which not only included live music and performance but also an abundance of family-friendly activities.
Set up around Carclew House were market stalls, with beautiful, handcrafted goods like traditional Aboriginal dot paintings by Nays Art, face painting with Zoe Kopp, roaming native wildlife encounters with Animals Anonymous and jewellery making workshop with Haus of Dizzy.
The afternoon was opened with a Welcome to Country, followed by dance performances by Whyalla Plaza Youth and WAYIN:THI, which had a focus on storytelling and culture through contemporary style dancing.
Most attendees surrounded the stage with picnic rugs to enjoy the incredible live music on show, while children were dancing and running around carefree. We were treated to a range of different opening acts from pop to country and dance to soul, with DJ SVVLO, Sandy Abbott, Katie Aspen, Cringetrender and Nathan May and his band. Each musician was particularly captivating and authentic in their own way.
Singer-songwriter Aspen played a stripped-back set with just her and an acoustic guitar, performing songs that were close to her heart. She shared how her last song was written with her grandparents one day before Survival Day, and how it continues to be the most special song in her set.
Cringetrender described how the genre of their songs is “as fluid as (their) gender.” They brought an incredible energy to the stage and openly reflected on challenges faced as a queer, disabled Aboriginal person. They announced that every time they get on stage, they feel an obligation to “show up as the person they needed to see when they were younger.”
The headliner for the evening, powerhouse R&B rapper and proud Barkindji woman BARKAA, took to the stage, telling everyone to “put their fists up”, immediately unifying the crowd. Her connection with the audience was instant, and the energy at Carclew House was palpable. The picnic rugs were abandoned and everyone attending was standing before her on stage.
BARKAA opened her set by bringing out her eldest daughter, 15-year-old Alinta, to everyone’s delight, surprising us with a very special mother-daughter duet. BARKAA started with the opening lines of ‘Fight For Me’, opening up so honestly and bravely about her past struggles with addiction. She shared how now she “owns her story” and that she just “wanted to do better for her kids.”
When Alinta sang her chorus, “Fight for me, mama”, I had to pick my jaw up off the ground. Her angelic voice carried such a vulnerable power, I shivered with goosebumps. It was such a moving performance to witness between the two. BARKAA beamed with motherly pride, singing alongside her daughter.
The duo performed two more heartfelt songs, ‘Alinta’ off BARKAA’s 2024 EP Big Tidda, and an unreleased track, ‘I Know I Can’. BARKAA shared that she was inspired by the song ‘I Can’ by Nas, which gave her the strength and belief as a little girl that she could do anything she wanted when she grew up. She then extended that to her daughter and every young person in the crowd: “Dreams come true because we’re from the land of the dreamtime.”
But that wasn’t the only surprise feature she had in store for us. Without warning, Tulampanga Kooparoona Niara Pakana musician and former footballer RULLA burst through the stage door with an explosion of energy and fast rap verses, stalking the stage and putting on a real show for the crowd.
BARKAA then took a moment to talk politics. She spoke on “lore over commonwealth law” and the devastation felt by herself and the community over the untimely death of Kumanjayi Little Baby, who was tragically murdered in Alice Springs last week.
She followed with two politically charged songs: ‘Our Lives Matter’ and ‘Division’. The songs highlight the systemic racism in Australia and the injustices that Aboriginal people have and continue to face. In the songs, BARKAA references police brutality, deaths in custody, mass incarceration and genocide experienced by Aboriginal people throughout history and currently at the hands of white Australia. BARKAA’s confronting lyrics and fierce raps exude the frustration felt by her and the community over the continuation of these abhorrent crimes.
She then decided it was time to “bring the energy back up”, suggesting a dance circle, which the crowd immediately opened up. Playing the opening notes of her 2024 single ‘We Up’, BARKAA proceeded to run into the circle on the grass in front of the stage, pumping out verse after verse while encouraging dancers to show off in the pit, including one lady who casually flexed on us by doing the splits. BARKAA assured her she won best dancer and that she would be awarded $50.
She returned to the stage to play her iconic track “King Brown” before closing the set with the beautiful ‘Ngamaka’. She was glowing with excitement and adoration for her audience and couldn’t stop saying, “I love you, mob.”
The reason why BARKAA has such a strong and powerful presence is that she is completely authentic. She is fearlessly vocal about her opinions on Aboriginal business, the detrimental ongoing impacts of colonisation, advocacy for land rights and her own story.
She’s fierce, she’s passionate, and she “knows who the fuck she is and where she comes from.” Her energy is not only felt by her audience but also radiates empowerment and connectedness.
Even though she’s blown up big time and is clearing up at the ARIAs, BARKAA has made it abundantly clear how important family, community and culture are to her. She is truly a special artist of our generation.
