Since its inception in 2003, the Marion Bay Falls Festival, the sister event of the long-running Lorne Falls Festival, has been the major event on the Tasmanian music calendar. 2005 promised to be the biggest yet and it sure delivered.

For a start a number of logistical niggles had been ironed out. The camping grounds had been enlarged and improved, the toilets were better, the main stage was slightly larger and more visible to more people, there were extra tents providing shade on the first day and shelter during the odd rainy patch on New Year’s Eve and the bar was much more accessible.

The program was also much more varied, with just the right mix of international headliners, Australian bands and different musical genres to guarantee everyone was in for a good time.

I arrived early on Friday and was immediately blown away by the scenery of Marion Bay. I had forgotten just how amazing this place was. From my campsite at the top end of the field the view was amazing. After ‘breakfast’ (I’m not sure that a dagwood dog and a beer really counts, but it felt right at the time), I tracked down the publicist and lined up a swag of interviews. Sprinting around backstage and diving in and out of cars, tents and caravans to talk to the bands was a really different way to experience a festival.

The interviews themselves ranged from laid back to incredibly intense and everywhere in-between. Ian Brown was ‘interesting’ (look out for that one!), Sarah Blasko was/is the nicest person in the world, Dallas Crane gave me a beach ball and Wolfmother gave me their opinions on spreadsheet programs (seriously), bears and concept albums. Stay tuned for the interviews, they will start appearing on Faster Louder shortly.

The backstage area itself was full of bizarre spectacles, to say the least. The Cat Empire horn players warmed up by playing crazy jazz improvisations along to Wannabe by Dallas Crane and while I listened back to the recording of my interview with Dave from the Hoodoo Gurus, I noticed that I had also inadvertently recorded Brad Sheppard jamming solos to Woman as the Wolfmother live set filtered into the dressing room.

Perhaps the weirdest thing was queuing for food in the VIP tent (God bless you Faster Louder for lining that up!) and realising that I was standing between Zia and Courtney from the Dandy Warhols. One minute I was watching the band on stage and then half an hour later I was chatting with them over a drink and a plate of vegetarian lasagne. Wally from Even and the Meanies was also floating around as part of the Dandys posse, and it is nice to hear that Even are back in the studio and half way through a new album.

The vibe on the first day was very relaxed. People were still arriving well into the afternoon and those that had been on site for the previous night’s film festival were nursing sore heads and soaking up the warm sunlight. Before the onslaught of live acts the crowds flocked to the shops, the skate-ramp and the food stands. The Healing Fields were also packed full of yoga and tai chi demonstrations, acrobats, natural healers and a large crowd.

But these two days were only ever about the music. Day one on the Valley Stage (the main stage) featured the Dandy Warhols, the Cat Empire, Dallas Crane, The Shins, The Beautiful Girls, Rolling Blackouts, Evermore, The Grates, End of Fashion, Little Birdy and True Live. The Field Stage (the smaller of the two stages) was host to Youth Group, Mia Dyson, Mess Hall, Kelley Stoltz, comedians Danny Bhoy and Adam Hills, 67 Special, White Buffalo, Dan Sultan and Scott Wilson and local acts the Embers and Jordan Miller.

Picking highlights is such a subjective thing and everybody there would have had their own favourite moments. For me, my two favourite bands were the Mess Hall and The Grates.

Seeing The Grates was particularly special because they had not played in Tasmania before and it was also my first opportunity to see them live. Patience, the lead singer for the group, is an amazing performer. Her clothes were pretty impressive – featuring a very floral green dress and amazing white and green boots. She had the moves to match too. Manic on stage, she gave every song her all and finished off most tunes with a nervous chuckle or two and a few kind words to the crowd. I found it impossible not to be really taken by her performance, personality and presence. She was by far the best performer on stage that day. Alana was just as good. I loved her drumming. It was strong and confident, but it never went over the top. I really can’t remember smiling as much during a set at a festival as I did while I was watching the Grates.

The Mess Hall competed with Evermore for attention, and while it was a difficult choice, myself and countless thousands of others headed over to the Field Stage to take in the Mess Hall. It’s fair to say that the Mess Hall were on that day, and they put on one hell of a show. Covering off on their more well-known singles, as well as album tracks and the occasional Nirvana cover, they left nothing on stage and really worked the crowd into a frenzy. 

Other worthy mentions from the first day include the Rolling Blackouts who gave a stellar performance to a rapidly increasing crowd at the Valley Stage. Youth Group also gave their usual sensational best.

Dallas Crane were another highlight. This gig was a virtual ‘warm up’ for a string of upcoming dates with Tim Rogers and the Temperance Union and was also a chance to road test some new material due out on a new album slated for release in 2006. An interesting interview with Pat and Shannon from the band will be up on Faster Louder shortly.

The Dandy Warhols took to the stage at about 11.30 and belted through an excellent set. Wading through a sea of dry ice and searching purple lights, Courtney Taylor-Taylor was the epitome of cool. He took the crowd through a parade of classic Dandy Warhols songs and really honed in on a laconic, psychadelic vibe. The highlight of the set was when the band effortlessly morphed Godless into AC/DC’s Hell’s Bells. It was a strange choice, but it sounded amazing.

With the final refrain of Godless resonating around the field, a large chunk of the crowd headed for bed and left the keener members of the audience to dance to Ugly Duckling and an great set by Katalyst and RuCL.

New Year’s Eve began on a low note. Shortly after 10am it started to rain. My friend reminisced about days spent wading through the mud at Glastonbury while we stood in line for the first of many coffees.

The New Year’s Eve line up featured TZU, Ozomatli, Hoodoo Gurus, Wolfmother, the Zutons, Pete Murray, Ian Brown, Sarah Blasko, Ash Grunwald, Faker, Eric Bibb, Lior, Dappled Cities Fly, the Vasco Era, Matt Walker and Ashley Davies and Rob Sawyer as well as local acts the Styles, Waiter, the Benjafield Collective and 3 to 2.

With the rain easing into a gentle mist, Launceston rock maniacs, the Styles, scared the hell out of the crowd and generally did their best to wake up anyone who was still asleep. To be fair, 11am is a difficult slot to play, but the Styles did their best and pulled off a great show. The Styles have had a lot of exposure recently and were selected by Triple J as a Next Crop artist. They are about to relocate to Melbourne and take on the scene there, and a story on the boys will be on Faster Louder shortly.

Another local act, Waiter, were up next. Waiter have a unique trance-folk sound and their lead singer, Stratos, was in such good form he barely needed the assistance of the massive P.A. Expect a big year from this band, and check back with Faster Louder for an interview with drummer James Gough.

The day really got kicking when the Vasco Era hit the Field Stage. In party mode, the band’s drummer, Michael, entertained the crowd by sculling a beer after the first song. Whether its in a small pub or at a huge festival, the Vasco Era really know how to engage an audience and are well worth checking out. 

I later found out that meanwhile, back at the Valley Stage the lead singer from Faker had nearly caused several of the stage crew to have heart attacks when he climbed half-way up the stage scaffold, which supported the stage lights. 

However, the outstanding band of the evening was the Hoodoo Gurus. They are up there as one of the quintessential Australian rock bands and they still have the same level of energy and appeal as when they first released Stoneage Romeos all those years ago. From the first song they had the whole crowd on side and there is no doubt that a lot of people went home converted to the Gurus cause. It’s remarkable how well their early work stands up, compared to their more radio-friendly hits.

Wolfmother were the crowd favourite and another New Year’s Eve highlight. You can’t help but like these guys. Along with a retro sound they actually have a retro stage presence, and watching them reminded me of watching grainy black and white footage of Deep Purple in their prime. Mind’s Eye, when played through a massive sound system is a real experience.

Sadly, the rain caused delays and unfortunately there was no countdown to midnight, much to the crowd’s chagrin. My friend joked that, like most of the bands, midnight had been delayed by half an hour as well.

TZU wrapped things up for most of the damp crowd with an entertaining performance, and by the time the Offcutts belted through their set I was perched under the main tent enjoying the light show and my first pizza for 2006. A perfect way to end an enjoyable New Year’s Eve.