Southbound 2011

Fri 7th Jan, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Campers arriving at the Southbound Busselton grounds for the first festival of the year escaped into a stress-free atmosphere tinged with excitement. Setting up their tents to the folk, indie and rock sounds, coming from the Scissor, Paper and Rock stages.

Goodnight Tiger, a fairly recently formed local band, originating from duo Jill Crisp and Perrin Date, has now expanded to a four-piece band, introducing Perth’s only three-day festival. Their music set up the perfect vibe for the upcoming days with their wispy voices and assorted additional range of instruments such as the xylophone, maracas and tambourine. Their song Tight Arse Tuesday with its fairground theme perfectly enhanced sunset events’ provision of rides next to the stage and the market stalls selling tie-dye and henna.

The afternoon was filled with music from the likes of alternative Brisbane group Ball Park Music, who have been earning their own radio time after supporting headlining bands such as Hungry Kids of Hungary. Sad Rude Future Dude was a great hit for the day.

Kitty, Daisy and Lewis provided a quirky mix of R&B, country and roots, whilst looking as though they have just stepped out of the 1950’s, inspiring the crowd to engage in some form of swing dancing. It could be a hard task to identify Kitty or Daisy individually as they were constantly switching positions as drummer to lead vocals and guitar, whilst Lewis and the other band members subtly swapped their instruments between songs which were becoming more novel each time, from the large double bass to the accordion. Great festival music, entertaining performance, and snazzy style.

The nightlife really kicked off when The Novocaines walked onto stage powering up their guitars and kicking in the drum beat, drawing not only their fan base to the stage, but anyone attracted by their high energy performance, wild rock, or insane tempo. The Novocaines have been progressively drawing attention and interest to themselves and they did not disappoint, only added more girls falling for their powerful lyrics, and seductive beats.

The beautifully enigmatic brother and sister duo that sings of destructive, uninhibited, powerful, idealistic love; Angus & Julia Stone received the first massive applause as they entered the stage. They played the majority of their latest album Down the Way and at times were hard to hear over their passionate, unified fans.
A couple of their ‘classic’ songs received an amazing response especially as Angus strummed the intro to Just a Boy. Their performance was outstanding, their music could take you away to remember a past relationship, dream of a future one or just allow you to be absorbed into their voices, lyrics, and array of instruments.

Later in the night Muscles kicked the tempo up a few gears as he blasted his dance/techno music, the young crowd drew in and the glow sticks and whistles came out. Playing all his hits such as Sweaty, and Ice Cream which created more energy in his audience than the biggest can of Red Bull you can find. In the last minute of his set however, the power cut out and amazingly he did not miss a beat continuing his track without his music, proving that there is more to Muscles than his techno beats. His connection with his fans and the crowd was made stronger as they supported him singing and clapping loudly along with him. Muscles demonstrated his talent and ability as a performer, and set the bar for the nights ahead.