Digbyfest 3 @ Woden YouthCentre, Canberra (12/9/09)

Tue 15th Sep, 2009 in Gig Reviews

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Oh joy, the return of Digbyfest! Boasting – œDigbyfest 3 will be bigger and better than its predecessors’, the advertising for the festival was highly successful looking at initial ticket sales. All pre-release sale tickets were sold and Canberra, it seemed, was eager for the return of Ska giants, Los Capitanes! Not to mention all the other acts of course such as Paqman all the way from Melbourne.

They joined together at the Woden Youth Centre to present Digbyfest 2009. The doors to the Woden Youth Centre opened relatively on time with pre ticket holders allowed in first as promised. The crowd quickly lined up to follow suit in an attempt to escape the early Spring weather.

Scaramouche opened to a nervous crowd. A small mob of people entered the floor but placed themselves well away from the stage. This was a wise decision as the relatively unknown band began to blast their tunes. The Woden Youth Centre was a fantastic venue for Scaramouche, they even provided ear plugs to protect patrons from the band’s shrill vocals. The crowd didn’t warm up to the band much and instead amused themselves with the venues other facilities. The band wasn’t disheartened and powered on through a solid set of possible Guitar Hero material. Their thumping bass and catchy beats impressed the few who took a moment to listen.

People continued to flood in, and soon the Centre was filled with people conversing and playing pool. The stage was stripped and replaced with some fancy looking stuff. The curious crowd edged closer and wondered who was next. Soon Captain Cooper was sitting behind the drum kit pumping the kick. The crowd clapped along to the beat as the other members pranced their way onstage. The most smartly dressed band by far interested the stragglers still playing pool and soon the room was almost full.

The crowd jumped and screamed when Astrochem played a cover of Give It Away by The Red Hot Chilli Peppers. The twangy guitar and the fantastic drums gave the crowd something to dance to. They made good use of a smoke machine to great effect as they directed the crowd into an emotional ride in the form of a slow ballad. The light show gave photo opportunities at every angle. It was late in the evening and the lights were dim. The band rocked out onstage and the guitarist was lit up by the strobe. Soloing crouched on the floor guitarist controlled the crowd. They swayed from side to side before Astrochem’s set was finished and the stage was replaced by Digby’s presence.

After a swift interchange the crowd welcomed Slovac to the stage. Pulling the biggest crowd at the time they entranced the mob. The unembarrassed people at the back pulled some wild moves that were unnoticed by the main mob who were too distracted as Digby performed a cameo during Slovac’s cover of Killing In The Name by Rage Against The Machine, who are an obvious influence in the bands song writing due to their similar bass riffs. The local band were well received by the warming crowd who enjoyed the fun loving music they played.

The stage was cleared and the crowd swallowed up the floor as Los Capitanes made their most welcome appearance. The mob chanted for old favourites such as Big Boys Don’t Cry and Don’t Mean Jack. Instead they played a large selection of their upcoming album, which they hinted would be more mature than No Fun Intended. The crowd enjoyed the unfamiliar but pleasant tunes and finally after much persuasion they obliged with Scene Queen and a fantastic cover of Scar by Missy Higgins. The band had seemingly lost their fun loving attitude giving the audience a much more rigid performance than their old selves until the guitarist climbed the speaker stack and hung off the roof while playing Surfin’ ACT. Los Capitanes are back in action.

Pleased To Jive You were next to try win the crowd. The funky band put on a brilliant show full of lights and incredible dancing. Mother*****’s Everywhere sent the crowd into a jumping frenzy. Body collided with body as the five piece from little old Berra jammed out to a packed out Youth Centre. The bouncy drums and catchy guitar made the crowd salivate and when they exited the stage unfulfilled, but Paqman wasn’t too far off in the future.

Some pretty sophisticated looking equipment occupied most of the stage and that could only mean one thing. Paqman was in the building. As the two men entered the stage the crowd was ready. The five bands before had loosened the tension and they were ready to dance to some groves. The Melbourne duo pumped out their tunes while the crowd moved to their beat. The bass was thumping, the synthesisers where whistling and the crowd was loving every second. The lights illuminated the men behind the machines as they continued their set and by the end of the night the crowd was soaked with sweat and eager to feel the fresh air on their faces, happy to have experienced such a night.

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