Homebake @ The Domain, Sydney(2/12/2011)

Mon 5th Dec, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Homebake is back! With a volatile festival industry that’s throwing out new events as quickly as it’s swallowing them up, Homebake’s return to the Domain felt borderline nostalgic – despite last happening only two years ago. And as Sydney’s most iconic (almost) all-Australian festival, it’s a more-than-welcome return.

That nostalgic feeling probably comes from the festival remaining much the same, despite the break. The stages are still in much the same configuration, and there’s a strong focus on upbeat, triple j-endorsed, festival-friendly acts.

But it’s also changed. The dirty guitar riffs that greeted punters from the mainstage as they entered were mostly gone, replaced by beats – Aussie hip-hop had a huge presence at this year’s festival. It’s indicative of a larger shift in mainstream “alternative” music and it worked with varying success. Vents, for example, didn’t work so well – placed early on the main stage, he had a pretty typical skip-hop flow that was upbeat enough to work, but didn’t impress.

Later on, Drapht would suffer the same fate. He may be one of Australia’s biggest rappers, with a #1 album and some ARIAs under his belt, but it’s hard to get excited about his set – full of overly earnest raps about partying that are actually pretty hard to party to (unless your idea of a party is swigging Bundy and doing burnouts). And way too much scratching.

But 360, the Short Stack-beefin’ loose cannon that he is, was the day’s first surprise packet. Wedged between the two, he was having a blast up on mainstage, and his obvious enthusiasm and lack of posturing allowed a charisma to shine through that’s ironically often missing from an Aussie hip-hop scene still obsessed with “keeping it real”. Sure, it didn’t always work – there were a few obvious crossover attempts that seemed to cramp his style – but his personality mixed with a clear flow and some festival-targeted beats made it surprisingly easy to get on his side.

Then there’s Killaqueenz, the rapid-fire, beat-heavy duo that are unlike any other Australian act. They’ve skipped the Aussie hip-hop sound entirely in favour of booty shakin’ bass (literally, as their dancers would prove), and they do it remarkably well. By the end of the set their audience has swelled, and for good reason – they’re one of the day’s highlights.

Rock still had a strong showing, and Jet side project Damn Dogs played early at the Rowland S. Howard stage – a classy retitling for the old Hopetoun stage, whose namesake is now long gone. Their beat-heavy, percussive sound is interesting, and the songs are impressive at times, but there’s something missing.

Over at The Dome, CW Stoneking oozes likeability. Dressed in an all-white outfit, he method-acts early-1900s blues remarkably well, allowing him to avoid the cheese factor that creeps into acts like this so often. Sadly, he’s up against a huge amount of sound bleed from mainstage, in what will become a recurring theme throughout the evening. In fact, following act Gurrumul is affected more severely by it. His set does hold up well at times, particularly in songs where his band get more involved, but generally it’s undermined by everything else going on. His music demands a quiet attention, and hearing Do The Whirlwind in the background of his set makes it hard to focus.

Of course, if you’re at main stage for Architecture in Helsinki, you’ve got no such concerns. AiH have changed a lot since they first played in 2005 – back then they were up at The Dome, playing twee pop and collaborating on-stage with The Go-Betweens. Six years later, they’ve cut down their lineup and managed to kill it in front of a big crowd on the main stage. It’s far more electronic now, and it works remarkably well. Even bigger are The Jezabels, who play a couple of hours later and sound absolutely huge on the main stage. They’re remarkably confident for a band who’ve only just released their debut, and Hayley Mary has become a commanding frontwoman. It may have threatened to become samey after a while, but try telling that to their huge audience.

Back to the Rowland S. Howard stage, and Unknown Mortal Orchestra are in Sydney for the first time. Fronted by ex-Mint Chick Ruban Nielson, their concise pop songs get messier and jammier live… but it still sounds great. A Portland-based band fronted by a Kiwi, they’re one of the most tenuously “local” acts on the bill, but it’s a great addition to the lineup – they prove to be one of the day’s best acts.

Another hyped Kiwi by the name of Kimbra impressed a little earlier in an absolutely packed Big Top, closing with Cameo Lover in a stunning red dress that proved the ARIA’s suggestion that she’s our best-dressed pop star. It wasn’t just style, though – she’s got a great live voice and a tight band, and she can nail her recorded output on stage.

The Big Top would later be filled with an older crowd, most of whom were catching their first taste of the reformed Icehouse. They were there to perform their debut record Flowers in full, something that worked with mixed results. Songs like Icehouse, We Can Get Together_ and Walls sounded great, and they were clearly having a lot of fun on stage. But the set was also padded with other songs from the era, including a bunch of ill-advised covers. The intention of bringing out the Icehouse (or Flowers) of 1980 was admirable, but didn’t need to extend as far as the bad cover of China Girl that dropped early in the set. It probably would’ve worked better in a longer headline show, as a festival set it wasn’t the best choice. The highlights suggest that a more conventional set could’ve been incredible, what we got is better described as a fun trip down memory lane.

With the “legends” part of the evening phased in, it was over to The Dome for two iconic Australian acts – The Triffids and The Church. With original singer and songwriter David McComb having passed away decades ago, the idea of a Triffids reformation could evoke a tactless disaster, INXS-style. So the fact that they’ve approached it so tastefully is a relief, but even better is just how joyously it’s been interpreted. The band are fronted by various singers including Mick Harvey, Rob Snarski and Alex Gow, all of whom do a great job with the material. Not to mention the thrill of seeing Jill Birt perform her songs. Now add that they’re playing their classic record Born Sandy Devotional in full, and you’ve got not only the set of the day, but an unforgettable performance period. A menacing version of Lonely Stretch was a particular highlight.

The Church follow after a long delay that sees their set cut down, and seem a bit shaky at first – as though they still haven’t quite got everything sorted. But once they do it clicked wonderfully, a loud sonic journey that favoured lesser-known, jammier tracks like Aura and You Took. It wasn’t quite a crowd-pleasing set, at least at first, but it was also the only set of its type all day – getting lost in their loud psychedelics was a great change from the rest of the day’s pop song-oriented music. Ending with Under The Milky Way followed by Reptile didn’t hurt either, taking the set from engrossing to celebratory.

And then it was time for Grinderman. It was interesting to see the group known as being Nick Cave’s stripped back project headline such a huge stage, and at first their set – designed for smaller venues and stages – seemed to lack the confidence of a festival headline set (especially one that Nick’s at the helm of). Part of the reason could’ve been the sound – it was all vocals, drum and bass, leaving Nick Cave’s guitar and Warren Ellis’ various instruments almost non-existent in the mix. It stripped them of a lot of their power, and made Nick’s famous rockstar posturing seem a little less believable. Not for a lack of trying though – he spent a lot of time at the front row of the barricade, engaging with a crowd that were otherwise a little more cutoff than usual at a Grinderman show.

It picked up though, and mid-set favourites like Honey Bee and No Pussy Blues seemed to lift both the crowd and the band. The sound gradually seemed better, too (though it never sounded particularly good), and slowly it all came together. Still, it was a bit of a muted end to a diverse and exciting day of Australian music, one that had its problems (particularly sound-wise) but nonetheless showcased the range and talent of our music scene both past and present. And even when Grinderman aren’t at their best, you still get to see Nick Cave and Warren Ellis in full rockstar glory. That’s something to be experienced.