Ripe Noosa Festival (03/05/09)

Mon 4th May, 2009 in Gig Reviews

After driving for just over an hour and a half, I found Doonan: the lovely little town in the middle of nowhere where Ripe Noosa festival was being held. The weather wasn’t looking too confident but the vibe was still positive. The line up system was a bit of a joke with the signs displaying what line you needed to be in at the front of the line where no one else could see them. We got through quickly though which is the main thing.

After briefly checking out the disappointing markets and amazing variety of food stalls, I headed to the main stage where Lakota is leaving the stage four songs early. Why you ask? A blown generator. Perfect. Its not looking good for the start of this new festival but after about an hour and lots of Pez chanting, the power came back. Dead Letter Circus came out with a bang and the crowd loved it. Although the vocals weren’t quite loud enough, everything else was great.

Next to grace the stage was Pez & 360 who were welcomed with an uproar from the crowd. They sang a few songs off the album A Mnd of My Own including the new single and of course The Festival Song which was a crowd favourite that even the rain could not ruin.
After the crowd sang happy birthday to 25 year old Pez they left the stage and The Drones came out next. I probably shouldn’t have stood so close to the speaker as my ear drums really did not like how high the bass was turned up but when I looked around neither did most of the crowd either.

Blue King Brown gained a better response from the audience with a fresh and unique sound that everyone seemed to be getting into. Lead singer Natalie probably shouldn’t have ranted so much in between songs though.

Next up were the kings of aussie hip hop Bliss N Eso. They received the best response from the crowd so far. Singing songs such as The Sea Is Rising and Bullet And A Target the crowd loved it and rightfully so.

The Potbelleez were next and the weather finally gave in and gave us a torrential downpour during the first part of the set. Songs like Trouble Trouble, Don’t Hold Back and Are You With Me were the standouts. The rain could not kill the incredible vibe that the audience was creating. After lots of jumping and dancing in the pouring rain, it finally ceased just in time for Faker. Singing popular hits such as This Heart Attack and Sleepwalking and even throwing in an old favourite Hurricane the Faker boys left everyone with smiles on their faces regardless of the weather.