Chill Island @ Philip Island,Victoria (03/02/2008)

Tue 5th Feb, 2008 in Gig Reviews

What a glorious day it was down at Philip Island Nature Park. The sun was out, the atmosphere was positive, the food was plentiful and the drinks were flowing. I don’t think there could have been a better location for the third year of the Chill Island festival and judging by the sell out of the event, ticket holders would have to agree.

2006 saw Paul Kelly and Clare Bowditch headline this festival, and in 2007 the stage was manned by The Cat Empire and The Beautiful Girls. For this year, it was the John Butler Trio and The Waifs who were also joined by some unbelievable local and national acts.

Knowing the day wasn’t to begin until noon, I arrived around 11.30am with some delightful female company and assumed we would have landed a front row. But the evidence was clear that many others had similar ideas to mine and we were beaten to it. Either way, we were travelling in style and comfort with our chairs, picnic rugs to relax on the grass and some nibbles to keep the appetite suppressed.

Prior to the first act to perform, we were sincerely greeted with the original owners of Churchill Island with members from the Bunnerong Clan. The preservation of this piece of land is highly regarded and this was certainly expressed to everyone throughout the day.

Shortly after, island locals White Summer jumped on stage to kick off with ‘Dial tone’. As they continued their set ‘Called Down South’ was another beauty that opened with some impressive bongo rhythm. After their half hour set an interval followed with the event DJ who spun some restful folk electronic beats. I was quite lackadaisical at this point of the day and it was merely 1pm. In the back of my mind I was thinking I had to take it easy on the drinks as the warmth was very inviting for a few beers.

I was ready for the funky rasta/rock beats of the amazing Dan Sultan and his six instrumentalists. Throughout his career, Dan has been successful with various music awards and chart-winning singles that is not surprising as his unique style has captured the hearts of many not only in his genre but also across the board. Their debut album, Homemade Biscuits, was vocally displayed with passion bringing the likes of catchy love song ‘Whip My Hide’ and the ‘06 Deadly Awards single of the year; ‘Your Love Is Like A Song’. ‘Caroline’, ‘Money’ and ‘The Door Is Still Open’ where certainly some of the other stand-outs. If you missed Dan Sultan and his crew at Chill Island, be sure to catch a glimpse of them at the St Kilda Festival on February 8.

Approaching the final moments of Dan’s set, long time legend Archie Roach was willing to give us a show and was joined on stage with Shane Howard, co-writer of their latest album; Journey. Together with some of their older classics was also many off the – œ07 LP. This was a first for me to have seen Archie and it may seem odd, but it did give a slight sense the spiritual healing and appreciation to those of the indigenous community. His words of wisdom were by all means taken in.

The second interval gave the DJ a rest but was replaced by further words from political environmentalist Bob Brown. His expression of interest to the rejection of Kilcunda’s desalination plant was intense but also very interesting. The politicians who favour these environmental monstrosities merely scratch the surface of information of its purpose but we don’t seem to realise the real damages that can be done to our ecosystem. Bob’s information personally gave me a totally different perspective of the plants environmental effect.

Enough said. It was time for the Latin grooves of Melbourne based eight-piece San Lazaro who was simply keen down and dirty and where too eager to impress.

They were followed closely by the second last support of the day, The Waifs. With the strength and agility of the two related female vocalists Vicki and Donna Simpson, the beginning of their performance was exceptional as the sound travelled across the jam-packed grassy fields with precision. Tracks from their current LP Sun Dirt Water included the album title itself, ‘Without You’ and ‘Pony’. Onlookers where enjoying the enthusiasm as much as they were enjoying the performance. Punching beach balls two and fro and mild crowd surfing where just some of the entertaining shenanigans that took place. The Waifs topped their show off with ‘Lighthouse’, taken from the 2003 LP Up All Night.

The final interval encouraged me with motivation so I hopped up, travelled to the bar and had a brief look around at some of the food stores that were set up. From home-made curries to pasta and vegan delicacies to nachos, the food was fantastic but I simply couldn’t go past the magnificent aromas of the wood fired pizzas. Once I had thoroughly enjoyed my snack, John Butler Trio was all ready to rock. They opened with the popular number, ‘Better Than’. This was soon to be followed by ‘Gov Did Nothing’ where John showed his true talent but with his mouth on his guitar fret, singing through the chords – amazing. Still strumming at the same number bought additional support from guest vocals Vika and Linda Bull, who were to see the track out. Some small talk and brief compliments to the crowd then carried on with ‘Peaches And Cream’, ‘Treat Yo Mumma’ and, as the weed was literally passed around, ‘Used To Get High’ also found itself on their list. A decent hour had passed and by sounds of the deafening applause their wasn’t a trace of dissatisfaction. At the closing stages of their act, there were no encores, just continuous enjoyment from the three fun loving fellas who sadly ended their evening with ‘Funky Tonight’.

Apart from many other events at Philip Island, I can only assume that this nature park will continue to hold the Chill Island festival and why not? It’s becoming more and more popular every year.

Check out the photos from Chill Island here courtesy of asmithy_87.