Foreshore Summer MusicFestival @ Commonwealth Place,Canberra (26/11/11)

Sun 27th Nov, 2011 in Gig Reviews

There’s a distinct lack of offerings in our nation’s capital, enough so to make the Canberra tourism advocates want to tear their hair out. Nonetheless, this short list does contain a few attractions. There are more galleries and museums than you can poke a stick at, including everyone’s childhood favourite, Questacon; there’s the scenic landscapes and bike paths, more than accommodating to the yuppies and elderly alike; and just recently, the music scene.
With The Summer Rhythm Festival gearing up for its second year and annual long stayer Groovin’ the Moo going nowhere in a hurry, Canberra’s own Foreshore Summer Music Festival, presented by Kicks Entertainment, is part of an impressive list of music festivals taking place in our lovely little town.

Such is the local hype surrounding Foreshore, it’s hard to go anywhere during the lead up to the event without hearing about it (this buzz is limited mostly to beefed up guys needing to ‘get ripped’ in time for the weekend). Stepping inside with the crowd of thousands however, reveals the true popularity of Foreshore, which is more than any juiced up gym junkie can attest to.

After Friday’s forecast promised a 90% chance of rain, the gods must have been smiling upon the usually dreary city of Canberra, because from the morning to the afternoon it was all sun.
Between the main Kicks stage, the Block Party tent, the Tiki Terrace, the Hi Top, the food marquees, the sideshow ally and the VIP section, it was hard to know where to start, but most made their way to headliners LMFAO.

LMFAO, slated for Stereosonic in Sydney the same night, played an early set at 2.00 p.m. and got the crowd going in the Hi Top tent. After kicking it off ‘party rocking’ style; SkyBlu and Redfoo played hit after hit, including Shots, I’m in Miami Bitch, Champagne Showers and an encore of Sexy and I Know It. Thankfully, no one in the audience followed SkyBlu’s lead and ripped their pants off.

Over at the Kicks main stage, the air was thick with nostalgia, with Salt-N-Pepa going all retro and dedicating their ‘fresh’ set to all the ‘80’s kids’ in the audience. After pushing through some slightly recognizable tracks including Let’s Talk About Sex, they finished strong with 80’s classic and crowd favourite, Push It.

Accompanying LMFAO on their Stereosonic date; Armand Van Buuren slotted in under the Hi Top at 3.00 p.m. The veteran DJ belted out his signature trance tunes to the vamped up crowd, even sliding in an amazing reworking of Mr Brightside. Meanwhile, Big Scary cranked out a raw, stripped back set within the confines of the small Tiki Terrace stage and bar.

Architecture In Helsinki and Gypsy and the Cat kept the pop sensibilities going at the Kicks Stage before a real switch in style saw Boy and Bear’s folksy twang ring out across the Parliamentary Zone just as the first few drops of rain began to fall.

After a lengthy half hour wait and some dragged out DJing, it was finally announced to the disappointed crowd that Ladyhawke was ill and unable to perform, making way for an early start to headliner Gotye’s set. After the rain began to pick up and the sky grew darker, most took the opportunity to head over for the rest of The Stafford Brother’s set. The Queenslanders were accompanied by Timmy Trumpet who, true to his name, belted out a bar or two of his trumpet while atop the DJ table.

The Stafford Brothers buzzing set gave way to Avicii, a clear crowd favourite. He blasted through his enthralling set, ending on hits Levels and My Feelings for You, setting off the worn out crowd.

Finally, Afrojack and PNAU battled it out on opposite ends of the park for the crowds final hour of attention with Shockone and Little Napier making up the numbers under the Block Party and Tiki Terrace tents respectively.

Respect is given where it’s due and Canberra is proving to be the perfect venue for some truly world class musical entertainment. Through even the most awful conditions, our small city has built quite a portfolio of amazing live performances; here’s hoping there’s plenty more years of Foreshore and countless other events to come.