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The Fat As Butter festival at Newcastle Foreshore was an experiment in many ways. Negotiations with the local council meant that the event was only allowed to take place on a Sunday (reportedly to curb binge drinking). In my mind, this resulted in less messy punters and a general vibe of goodwill. The line-up consisted of electro staples (Ajax, Kid Kenobi), hip hop’s hottest (The Herd, TZU), indie rockers (Faker, Regurgitator) and radio friendly internationals (headliners Dandy Warhols). Creative timetabling meant all of this was split between two stages, with relatively short sets until nightfall, making for few clashes to complain about.

Newcastle’s most recent export, The Seabellies, were in fine form as their hometown crowd swayed to the gentle melodies and musical mix – œn match that has had industry types drooling in the last year. Rocking their high rotation single, Heart Heart Heart Out, the – œBellies (as us locals like to call – œem) showed why they were toted as the best band of CMJ on their recent American tour.

Beats Working did their set to a small but enthusiastic crowd early in the day. The boys commanded attention with lightning speed rhymes over classic beats in Don’t You Know. It was a fun introduction to the band for me, and the boys seemed very appreciative of the fans who came out to see them.

Touring their brand new offering, Computer Love, TZU rocked through their set, even offering some cheeky spoken word at the end that poked fun of plastic surgery, before finishing strongly with Step with the Pressure.

After seeing Grafton Primary at Sydney’s Parklife earlier this year, I thought I knew what to expect from the Sydney lads, who have found themselves riding high on the success of the Relativity EP release. However, the Garden brothers surpassed all of my expectations. Sweeping through live keytar enhanced versions of I Can Cook, Relativity and Change with the ease of a much more established act, the set passed far too quickly for my liking.

If this article wasn’t saturated in puns already, Butterfingers would be where I could really lay it on thick. These boys put in a solid performance at the festival and had the whole crowd kicking into call and response mode for I Love Work and Yo Mama. Having to cut a song due to time restraints, the band very democratically let the crowd yell out what they wanted to hear. Now that’s participation. Closing the set with FIGJAM, the festival was well and truly underway.

In talking to some punters, The Herd were on many – œmust see act of the day’ lists – and crowding the Fat stage with eight members it soon became apparent why. There’s a lot to watch when these guys take the stage. The band is a very tight ensemble, with every member adding to the overall sound. Feeling very patriotic, I sang along to their cover of I Was Only 19 with the rest of the crowd as the weather cooled.

I’m just gonna put it out there…I love Regurgitator. Always have. There is an energy that the trio brings to the stage that is electrifying. It has obviously been perfected over their many years of performance. Taking the main stage in the windy afternoon, their set was a staple diet of classics (who would have thought you could mosh to Polyester Girl?) with a sprinkling of the newer material ( Spunk and Blood was my favourite). The boys (plus a lady keyboardist) knew exactly what the crowd wanted and teased them with the riff from Sweet Child o Mine, seemingly for their own amusement. The band closed out their set with Kung Fu Sing, leaving the crowd wanting more.

Playing one of the few shows on their Australian tour that is not sold out, The Dandy Warhols took the stage to rapturous applause. In a setting dominated by electro or DJ acts, the Dandys ran the risk of being a bit too – œ90s indie/crossover for the crowd. However, dressed in a skinny white Doors t-shirt, Courtney Taylor-Taylor soon had the crowd in the palm of his hand.

The band was set up in a row across the front of the stage on a raised platform, with no focus on one member more than any other. This seemed to be representative of the Dandys, who waved and smiled at the audience like old friends. They were also exceptionally tight, even taking time to get their sound right to prevent first song sound mix syndrome. The band got through every radio single of their career to the crowd’s delight, but seemed to relish playing the new material. A slight chord slip at the start of their new single by Taylor-Taylor was quickly forgotten, as the band kicked into overdrive, zooming through ...Earth to the Dandy Warhols tracks The Legend of the Last of the Outlaw Truckers and Wasp In the Lotus.

It’s never pretty when the band has to say goodbye and the lights come up, but the confusion at the end of the Dandy Warhols set could have left the crowd booing the band offstage. Organisers cut the set short (presumably because they started 15 minutes late), which was obviously news to the band. It seemed for a minute the band was going to leave it there, with keyboardist Zia McCabe explaining, “We want you to be able to have this festival again next year.” Fair enough. However, Courtney came to the rescue, soothing the crowd like a stern school teacher talking to a child throwing a tantrum. His impromptu encore compromised a very special (very quiet, so as not to upset the permit) acoustic version of Every Day Should be a Holiday.

The well-behaved crowd filed out of the foreshore, and as it began sprinkling I couldn’t help thinking the experiment had gone well. There were only minor infractions by organisers (stopping the bar service for 10 minutes every hour, sound off at 9:30pm), which were more than likely council conditions of the event licence. Good weather, good people, good acts. You can’t ask for much more from the new kid on the block. Hopefully Fat As Butter will be back next year for another taste.