Nevereverland @ BelvoirAmphitheatre

Wed 24th Dec, 2008 in Gig Reviews

Find yourself in Stuo’s Gallery

Considering our first taste of the Modular fuelled festival of fun that is Nevereverland featured the almighty Daft Punk, this year’s instalment of the festival had a lot to live up to. It was difficult to predict how the day would pan out with the considerably shorter bill of the Perth chapter and venue change stirring mixed reactions.
Earliest was the fantastic Tame Impala who continue to better themselves with every gig. They played a solid set with Desire Be, Desire Go and Half Full Glass of Wine being of particular enjoyment. Next up was Ladyhawke. Front woman Pip Brown oozed indie-rock chic as the band opened with From Dusk till Dawn. The crowd danced wildly along to the perfect pop anthems, bringing the mosh pit to life so early on in the day. The 80’s inspired melody of Paris is Burning had punters screaming along, with the band closing with crowd favourite, My Delirium.
And the Punter’s Choice Award goes to the most underrated act on the bill; Whitest Boy Alive. The band was giving off the nerdy napoleon dynamite look as they breezily bopped about on stage. The boys from Berlin induced the kind of enthusiasm unknown of for so early in the day and usually reserved for the headline acts. The sprightly performance of the band went down well with the crowd, the keyboard-cum-guitar of particular note. Burning, Golden Cages and Inflation were all musical delights and it’s safe to say the band now has a few thousand new fans.
The eight members of Hercules and Love Affair looked like one big happy family on stage as they entertained the crowd in an impressively dynamic and animated fashion. They exclaimed the day had been “the most fucking fun we’ve had all year”, much to the crowd’s patriotic delight.
Everybody’s favourite festival veterans, Cut Copy, played a typically energetic and upbeat set. From the effervescent feel of Far Away to the swirling synths and gleaming melodies of Feel the Love, the crowd was a sea of air punching, head tossing bodies, a magical land where loud claps prevailed. The band launched into the stadium sized Lights & Music with the disco chorus being the catalyst for a sea of jumping punters taking in every beat. Due to daylight savings the accompanying lighting effects were lost, but the enthusiasm the band incited remained. Closing their set with pop anthem Hearts on Fire, the Cutters left the content and amped crowd pining for more, and set the tone for the acts to follow.
The general consensus was that Klaxons were bound to take things up a notch with their crazy onstage antics, but the reality was considerably less vibrant. Nevertheless, the band pumped out their songs with the same rock-star charisma they’re known for, with From Atlantis to Interzone, Golden Skans and Gravity’s Rainbow crowd favourites.
As the sun set, The Bang Gang Deejays pumped out big beats to bring the energy level back up. Their remix of MGMT ’s Kids, who played at the venue only two weeks prior, was met with nostalgic delight, as the crowd surged in anticipation for the widely acclaimed Presets. The crowd went wild as they opened with Talk Like That, and despite the unusual lack of charisma from Kim and Julian, hung onto every beat of the songs including Are You The One?, This Boy’s In Love and My People. By that stage everyone was fully immersed in the magic of the amphitheatre, the place resembling a giant pulsating bowl of extended arms. The boys encored with classic club song I Go Hard, I Go Home.
Although it wasn’t the hottest of festival days – reaching only 23 degrees at its peak – there was no shortage of buffoons sans shirt and sans shame. I was also previously under the impression that fluoro had finally died… someone please inform the masses. Having said that, the amphitheatre, arguably Perth’s best live music venue, made up for any shortcomings in the crowd. All Modular-centred controversy aside, Nevereverland was a great day with punters definitely getting their money’s worth, maybe even a little more.

Find yourself in Stuo’s Gallery