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The line-up of bands, while perhaps less important to having a good time at Southbound these days, was full of surprise gems and a few disappointments. Most notably Yeah Yeah Yeahs who seemingly left the crowd wanting much more despite their kaleidoscopic stage show and Karen O’s outlandish wardrobe. There just wasn’t any sense of risk about their set which an innovative band like that should have.

Those lucky enough to be camping were treated to one of the sets of the festival on Friday night with Rodrigo y Gabriela. The Mexican duo’s fusion of flamenco technique with metal timing structures and riffs captivated a big top and drinking area full of curious punters. They took their audience through some of the most recognizable riffs of contemporary rock music, always sticking to the precise manner in which the tunes are played and never improvising. The crowd thrived on the familiarity and when Jack White’s Seven Nation Army stomp was given a surprise berth towards the set’s final moments, hand clapping pandemonium ensued.

This hand-clapping pandemonium and crowd participation was only bettered by that which Xavier Rudd and his South African rhythm section Izintaba inspired on Sunday. This was such an amazing experience to be a part of. Rudd created a 10,000 member strong jam with the punters forming an integral part of just about every one of his songs. His staple festival closer Let Me Be morphed into a 12 minute epic of crowd-performed Africa-inspired backing vocals, seas of spine tingling arm-waving and possessed dancing.

Rudd and bandmates were in states of euphoria on stage and friends from backstage were joining them in the fun. The set went way beyond its 5pm finishing time and then the crowd was still wanting more so Rudd and friends returned for another 10 minutes of jamming. This meant most of Future of the Left’s set had to be missed on the OTHER STAGE, but it felt justified for one of the most memorable Southbound sets ever.

While this was the pinnacle of Sunday, there were impressive acts happening all day. Locals Boys Boys Boys were aptly suited to the big stage which allowed their bubblegum choreography to flourish. Their Le Tigre-inspired pop was perfect for a festival and it would also be perfect for Japanese radio. They should save money and tour there. The quietly spoken Kaki King followed them on THAT STAGE and she was yet another fine example of how good New York music is. She is one of the best female shredders in the world and the crowd lapped it up. Later on The John Steel Singers romped it up on the OTHER STAGE and confirmed it as the good time rock stage of the festival.

A lot of the best sets were seen on the OTHER STAGE. On Saturday a little-known French band tore up it up with some two-piece grungy power rock. Hardly anybody saw The Inspector Cluzo but those who did had a mad time. There was a little Tenacious D about them but with less novelty and toilet humour and more politics and dry humour. They had members of the crowd on stage singing – œfuck the bass player’ in a song called Fuck the Bass Player (there’s only a guitar and drums in the band) among other crowd participation activities. They also informed everyone about how much they hated French president Nikolas Sarkozy and why everyone hates Americans. It was surprise festival entertainment at its finest.

In complete contrast to the Cluzo set, Grizzly Bear’s OTHER STAGE appearance was refined, thought provoking and complex, just as a lot of their fans might like to consider themselves to be. While not easily accessible for most, their set was an intriguing watch and no one could ignore the precision of their surf-rock harmonies. Their regularly rotated Two Weeks took the mood of the other stage to happy heights which continued when King Khan and the Shrines took the stage.

There must be something about Europeans because like The Inspector Cluzo, Germany’s King Khan and the Shrines just knew how to entertain. With the flamboyancy of a Machine Gun Fellatio live show, they put on the biggest spectacle of the festival. Complete with a brass band it was like a cabaret in some smoky metropolitan bar, only the venue happened to be a sports oval in a small regional town and the clientele were in shorts, singlets and bare feet rather than tuxedos.

Catching all the surreal magic of King Khan wasn’t possible for Editors fans though and a few drifted over midway through the set to THIS STAGE to see the brooding British four piece. It was an engaging and tight set. It was obvious they weren’t going beyond themselves but their songs sounded particularly haunting live and singer Tom Smith was the consummate performer. He had that ability to mesmerise people with his movements that defines great frontmen.

It must have been heartening for the band that one of their new tracks, Eat Raw Meat=Blood Drool, turned out to be the best song of their set. Its industrial production was laid on thick and cut through the cooling air as the sun was going down. Munich and Smokers Outside The Hospital Door were predictably received with the most open arms and their anthemic qualities felt good in a festival setting. Smith exited by thanking the crowd and telling them to enjoy – œwhat’s their faces’ (*Wolfmother*) and Moby.

Moby’s set on Saturday night was one for the Southbound ages. Everyone was just hoping it wasn’t going to be a massive disappointment like his 90s rival Norman Cook the drunk’s was at Good Vibes last year. It sure as hell wasn’t. Backed by a live band Moby’s set had everything the crowd wanted and everything they didn’t know they wanted. No one thought they’d be singing the trumpet part to Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire, while Moby strummed it on his acoustic nor did they expect to be singing doo doo doos to Lou Reed’s Walk on the Wild Side but they all loved it. He even threw in a hardcore punk tune he once wrote as a youngster and had people moshing.

It was the people’s setlist with world-wide favourites like We Are All Made of Stars and It’s Raining Again. The latter’s heavy euro-trance chorus pulsated through the brains of many a mashed mortal. The ambience of Porcelain was most appreciated after some high energy dancing, except by some who were leaving and could be overheard saying it was getting too boring?!? This was not at all true, back up singer Joy Malcolm singing fills on hits like Honey and Why Does My Heart was not at all boring and nor was noticing just how much of an influence the violin has in Moby’s production. His violinist was kept busy for the whole set.

He closed the set by reminiscing on his time as a raver- “I think you’ll agree there’s nothing like standing in a field and seeing hundreds of people dancing to early 90s euphoric techno as the sun comes up”. The sun wasn’t coming up but everyone understood exactly what he was talking about when be burst into some early 90s euphoric techno of his own and ended the set on a heavenly high.

The quality of this Southbound line-up was heavily debated amongst local festival goers in the months leading up to the gig, but it proved to be a winner. Not because of an abundance of big names but because of the surprises and quality of the small ones.

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