Queenscliff Music Festival @Queenscliff (25 - 27/11/11)

Mon 28th Nov, 2011 in Gig Reviews

After 15 years, it’s fair enough to call the Queenscliff Music Festival the little festival that could. Never pretending to be as big as the touring festivals, or as cool as the New Year’s ones, QMF has perfected their come one, come all event (yes, even you folk over 50 who were there when festivals were born) .

QMF had a new location this year, and in a town as itty bitty as Queenscliff, that’s no easy find. The site worked well, with no sound bleed issues or bottleneck areas to get caught in. And plenty of pram access.

Due to the size of the festival, bands are relaxed and not worried about the large crowds or reviews the next day. None on the weekend could be accused of over performing (except for Eskimo Joe ) and many waxed lyrical about how lovely it was to be able to see for more than six rows into the crowd.

Friday

Friday night seemed like locals night, with groups of people made up of all ages standing around chatting as if it were just another night at the local pub. Standing in the crowd for The Herd and Eskimo Joe, it felt like a scene from a high school social. 15 year olds in all their pimply glory abounded, rubbing up against one another in their version of dancing. The excitable crew from The Herd hip and hopped through an energetic set which included favourites I Was Only 19 and The King Is Dead. Friday night headliners Eskimo Joe couldn’t quite match the natural energy of The Herd, but they tried to make up with it with a good deal of their version of earnest rock and roll.

It was all synthesizers and keyboard guitars as Pseudo Echo kicked off their set. Fifty percent of the crowd weren’t sure who they were watching until the open bars of Funky Town rang out. Once they realised it wasn’t just a cover band having a crack at their own originals, the tent transformed into an all in dance fest.

Saturday

Perhaps it was the mad dancing during Pseudo Echo that called the weather gods to bring the rain that would pour over night and well into Saturday.

And rain it did. Sideways. Big and fat. The kind that can land right in your ear. Geelong had 90 mm of rain on the Saturday of the festival; causing road closures, flash flooding, and festivalgoers to reach for their gumboots and ponchos. Numbers were naturally down, but those that defied the weather were rewarded with a musical hug.

Justine Clarke sang fittingly about raindrops to the under five set. To them she’s the equivalent of Kylie Minogue, with many children turning into nervous wrecks at the site of seeing Clarke on stage. The line up of kids’ entertainment had to up the ante Saturday afternoon to keep the focus of the littlies as most of them just yearned to go outside and stomp in the puddles.

Oh Mercy filled the requisite “look at me mum, I’m on stage!” role of the festival. Cutely self-conscious, they gushed about The Triffids, playing a cover of Memory as a tribute. The Triffids are mid way through a bit of a hap-hazard Australian tour of out of the way places, and Queenscliff thanked it’s lucky stars that it is situated off the beaten track. The band, including members of the Black Eyed Susans, played enthusiastically to the largely middle aged crowd.

If there was someone to blame for the torrential downpour, it was Tex Perkins. Headlining Saturday night with his band The Cruel Sea, Perkins openly admitted to the soggy crowd that it was all his fault. In his trademark double denim and thongs, Perkins made for the weather by rallying James Cruickshank and the other Cruel Sea members to perform a rousing set.

By this stage event organizers were banging in tent pegs that had come loose, chasing after bins that were being carried away with the wind, and secretly praying that tomorrow would bring sun.

Sunday

Sunday did bring better weather and larger crowds. It wasn’t quite all bluebirds and sunshine, but at least people no longer had to dress in plastic. Crowds soon wore muddy paths in the new festival site, but refrained from the usual sludgy revelry so often prevalent at an event like this. Face-painted kids lined up for the jumping castle and trampolines while weary parents tried to listen to the music from afar. The looks on their faces told a story of people remembering what it was like to attend a festival without a nappy bag over their shoulder.

Lanie Lane played songs off her debut album on Sunday morning. Proud as punch, Lane twirled her hair and spoke sweetly about her songs, showing there’s more to her than her hot red lipstick and tattoos. The crowd collectively approved of the use of Lane’s hit Bang, Bang on the Glee promos by singing along with the chorus. Hinting that she’d be signing things in the merch tent later on, the males in the crowd nodded, making a mental note to head there later to try to chat her up.

Kimbra’s performance on the main stage on Sunday afternoon was almost upstaged by her departure. Kimbra whisked away via helicopter shortly after she finished her set so she could attend the ARIAS. For all her crazy arms and alluring red taffeta dress, Kimbra upstaged herself. This girl can sing. Even if you’ve got no idea of what she’s saying a lot of the time. Kimbra and her band smashed out Good Intent and Two way street off her Vows album, and test ran news songs (including Marigold ) off her next album. Oh, and she had a spangley red tambourine. Everyone loves a tambourine. Especially at a festival.

Filled to the eyeballs with dumplings, jam donuts and the in drink of summer 2011 (apple cider, naturally) punters wandered into the main tent to watch four serious young girls play some very serious rock. Stonefield have something of the early Silverchair about them; keen to prove their mettle as mature artists despite their ages and doing so by being just a little bit cross and a little bit gritty. But the difference is that the Stonefield lead singer can actually sing. The front row of the crowd was filled with teenage Stonefield lookalikes, mouthing the words to Black Water Rising and secretly wanting to be them. The girls paid homage to one of their favourite bands, knocking the socks off the Sunday crowd with their rendition of Led Zepplin’s Whole Lotta Love.

My Friend The Chocolate Cake proved a favourite for the older age group that flock to Queenscliff every year (although a young 16 year old in the front row did her bit to bridge the age gap, bopping and texting her way through the set). Yuppies in the crowd could pretend they were at home in the warm reading the Sunday Age and sipping a coffee, David Bridie’s rich voice providing the background music. This outfit have been performing for so long that their ease on stage is noticeable, smiling warmly at each other and chatting freely. They didn’t even seem to notice that two thirds of the crowd stayed seated during their set, with some even choosing to catch up on the sleep they’d missed the night before. It would have been an extra treat to see Bridie free of the keyboard duties, but he seemed comfortable hanging back behind it , not once moving from his white plastic lawn chair.

By Sunday afternoon the crowds thinned, the prams cradled sleeping toddlers and only the diehards and the locals remained. Those still there were rewarded by a spellbinding set from Frente! Well, from Angie Hart to be precise. Having long ago embraced her sweetness and light persona, Hart showed what it was to be relaxed and with nothing to prove. She smiled, a lot, and genuinely. Something missing from Stonefield’s earlier set. If Hart is sick of singing Accidentally Kelly Street, she didn’t show, it, encouraging the crowd to join in.

QMF turns sweet 16 next year, and like most 16 year olds, it’s a little bit awkward, not quite in the cool group, but incredibly endearing and hard not to love all the same.