Friday night saw the biggest acts in the underground come together for a unique spin on the music festival genre. Based at Sydney’s definitive hipster venue, The Oxford Art Factory, Summertones helped a plethora of American Apparel-clad indie kids say goodbye to everybody’s favorite season. It was all done a style and quirk that wouldn’t out of place in the most artsy neighbourhoods of Greenwich Village, Pittsburgh or Brooklyn.

The fact that Dan Deacon was the headliner for the event inevitably brought together a crowd open to having fun and looking stupid. For those who haven’t seen him live, it’s one of those – œyou had to be there’ scenarios.

Curated by Mistletone Records, Summertones attempts to show Aussies that for every Future Music Festival there can be a cooler alternative. While the event was not a sell-out, the electric atmosphere was enough to rival the feel of any epic mainstream music event. The artists on Mistletone are quirky, emerging and have a die-hard following. Will these artists ever go mainstream? Probably not – but that doesn’t mean they’re not must-sees.

There were a couple of standouts in the diverse line-up and one major disappointment. Brooklyn act High Places brought a degree of quirk and serenity to the OAF. Their experimental, electro, folksy sound reminded me of a more raw and slightly inconsistent variant of – œit’ group Animal Collective. The duo, consisting of Mary Pearson and Rob Barber, managed to keep the audience engaged with their unpredictable noise (beats?), calming instrumentals and Mary’s impeccable soulful voice.

After High Places, Beaches took the stage. Their music can be described in three words: bass, guitar and drums. The four sassy blondes and one sexy fringed brunette failed to ignite any excitement in this reviewer. The semi-responsive crowd was treated to a lot of instrumentals and feedback. The first lyrics were not heard until the third song – and let’s just say it was not worth the wait. To be honest, I really wanted to like this band and hoped they would maintain the momentum of the other acts. Unfortunately they just did not live up to their hype.

The unequivocal highlight of the evening was Dan Deacon. It is with no exaggeration that I say this one-man show is the most fun you will ever have at a gig. Being at one of his shows results in the inevitable unleashing of the kindergarten child inside us all – you know, that kid who is fun, carefree, excitable and curious.

Dan Deacon – a 27-year-old who looks about 40 – is the type of artist who’s all about the audience. He chooses to perform in the mosh with his deck (which looks adorably homemade), a bright light and a glow-in-the-dark green skull. His show involves constant audience participation. His most impressive feat tonight was getting the entire venue to form a tunnel. Audience members were asked to create a tunnel using interlocking hands – punters would dance through the tunnel and join the human train at the end. The line ended up stretching well outside the venue to Oxford Street.

This music was fun, with lots of heavy electro beats – the type of sounds that you can inexplicably lose your shit too. I defy anyone to stay still to tracks like Wham City. Despite the fun of his show, it didn’t go off without a hitch. His set was delayed by about 30 minutes as he frustratingly tried to set up his equipment. He apologised to the audience, declaring it was his fault. Later, it appeared a speaker blew out during a song as well. Despite this, Dan has an uncanny ability to bring the audience into his whimsical world.

As Dan played his last beat, Summertones ended – as did summer, and the punters were transported back to reality. So long summer, see you next year.