Rugs, ducks and lovers covered the hill in the Kings Park Botanical Gardens where, erected above the shallow pond, the stage basked in twilight, awaiting an all Australian line-up while recorded sounds of the Beach Boys, Crowded House and Marvin Gay amplified across the undulating terrain.

The sexualised textures of Abbe May’s guttural roars and howls and the upbeat rock nature of the Rockin’ Pneumonia’s blues infused tracks made this act an apt inclusion in the warm-up position. The Devil, (Alex Archer) of the Kill Devil Hills joined them, bringing greater depth to the performance.

Relatively unknown to this audience, the band was unable to connect as intimately as it usually does, and their performance lacked passion. Guitar amps still resonating at the set’s end, the harmony was disturbed by the first of many blaring advertisements for an upcoming dance event shown on a big screen.

Capitalising on the marketing opportunities present in such an event, was a major commercial radio station which had plastered its logo to the stage, merchandise tents and the backs of bubbly boys and girls. The event included radio djs as compares who were more familiar to the audience than some to the artists they introduced.

Second on the bill was commercial radio’s – œalternative’ darling Kate Miller-Heidke. The quirky little blonde flitted on stage like Cyndi Lauper with an operatically trained voice. Not to be initially written off as a construct of record labels the singer produced some powerful notes and interesting dynamics until breaking into choreographed head tilts and a jamming session with members of her band.

As teeth-decayingly sweet and as entertaining as watching back to back episodes of young talent time, Miller-Heidke became less quirky and more confusing in her style and performance. Incessantly eclectic, mid-song the band broke into Rage Against The Machine’s Killing In The Name Of with Miller-Heidke giving a vocal rendition of Tom Morello’s iconic guitar riff. Mashing John Farnham with Guns & Roses riffs and Queen’s Galileos One might have wondered whether it was musicians or a comedy cabaret troop giving a performance. Further on stage antics included the lawn mower, shopping trolley and sprinkler, sparking a rapturous applause.

As the spring sunlight lingered, the crowd returned to their afternoon activities with newspapers, romance novels and playing cards spread out on tartan rugs. With wine flowing freely, Bob Evans entered stage right with his own bottle to swig from. Opening with Sadness and Whisky Evans rephrased lyrics appropriate for the venue to “now I’m swimming in a pond at the front of the stage” as the ducks nestled against one another on stepping stones.

Bringing a softer simple side to proceedings Nowhere Without You gave the lovers on the lawn something to sing and snuggle to. A new track, Pasha Bulka, possibly inspired by the ill-fated bulk carrier that ran aground on a Newcastle beach, showed the subtle nature of Evans’ humour in stark contrast to the preceding set.

Rocks in my Head, Hand me Downs and Friend were delivered with charming clarity. Evans’ new band, including The Sleepy Jackson’s Malcolm Clark on drums seemed to feed the tracks new warmth and sincerity as they played into dusk.

By the time the second to last performer arrived on stage the natural light had given way to a sharply timed lighting rig. Ben Lee with keyboardist Nicolas Johns and drum machine Steve Jobs took up an off centre position and jovially launched into Numb.

Seeing the humour in the occasion and layout of the crowd, that included a fenced off dance area to the near right of stage and a media VIP section on an island to the left of stage, Lee declared it was time to get dancing in this an “arena rock slash picnic performance”.
Playfully mocking performers before him, as well as those still to come, Into the Dark included a sing-along about Kate Miller-Heidke and Tex Perkins being forced to procreate as the last two people left on earth.

The arena rock performance didn’t stop there, with an “essentially meaningless jam in which the musicians are having lots of fun but you have no idea what’s going on” consisting of Lee mashing keys on the keyboard, playing chopsticks, grinding his guitar on the mic stand and playing guitar with his teeth in a mock rock – œn’ roll star rampage.
In a state of pre-nuptial bliss and spiritual equilibrium Lee’s new single I Love Pop Music and Ripe’s Love Me Like the World is Ending are palatable to the outsider but Lee has now taken on feminism in I’m a Woman too. With the lyrics “hear me roar, I will not be ignored” and “the Palestinian man, he’s a woman too” oppression and the underdog meets femininity and womanhood in tactless expression.

Tex Perkins and The Cruel Sea sauntered in undetected until a blast of sound and light hit the audience with opening number It’s Alright (- œCause She Loves Me). Perkins’ steely glare and gyrating body teamed with squealing guitars and flashing lights finally brought rock to the somewhat sedate Saturday evening.

Since Perkins’ latest album sticks it to the man, it was ironic and amusing that The Cruel Sea had so much support from a commercial radio station. Nonetheless, with a history of tracks currently positioned as – œClassic Oz Rock’, The Cruel Sea have become radio musical fodder, despite many of their tracks being considered too risqué for commercial air play.

Fronted by an unrelenting Perkins The Cruel Sea drove a powerful and unyielding set including the highlights of Too Fast for Me, Better get a Lawyer, Hard Times and Cocaine. Rough and raw, The Cruel Sea were the thorns, strong, resilient and authentic against the pleasing yet fragile roses who adorned the stage of the Botanical Gardens before them. Such a contrast of artists at varying levels of commercial adoption and success gave an insight into the possible development of Australian artists on radio, if only a narrowly selected version.