Handpicked Festival @ Loxton,(14/10/06)

Mon 16th Oct, 2006 in Gig Reviews

After the morning cloud parted to reveal a warm and sunny day the scene in Loxton was set for the Riverland to get its annual taste of a live music festival in what is known as Handpicked. With a main stage dedicated to rock, and two other areas for the DJ’s there was plenty to see and hear all day long.

Kicking off the main stage for the day with a short half hour set was Panacea followed in quick succession by Last Night’s Dream and local band Third Best. Despite the relatively small crowd in the early hours, these bands still relished their time on stage and provided all those who saw them with a reason to have got up early.

By 1:30 Brisbane 4 piece, Bad Day Down, had taken to the stage providing a blend of past paced punk/hardcore for the growing crowd to enjoy despite the sound techs still ironing out the kinks in the system. And while adding nothing new to the genre they blasted out a very satisfying set and it is easy to see why they have, and still are, making a name for themselves in Brisbane’s local scene and across Australia, with airplay from Triple J’s Short Fast Loud program.

Despite being known by the more dedicated music fans of Adelaide, Kasavett realistically would have been little known in the Riverland. They quickly changed this providing a Faker-esque performance playing songs off their Mexican Jesus EP along with what proved to be a very popular cover of The Bangles Walk Like an Egyptian. A better sound set-up and clear vocals provided what had to be the surprise packet of the day with just what they needed to cap off an excellent set.

Next up was another local Adelaide band, Liability of My Own. Provided with a solid set list, these guys played an above par screamo gig to excite the crowd. Songs such as So Sings the Nightmare showcased the fact that they are very comfortable within the emo/screamo genre.

During the changeover a local Loxton crowd had gathered waiting to cheer on home town favourites, Sector 7 G. Providing a ‘metal feast’ to the crowd in the form of massive riffs and rolling solo’s, these natural performers really seemed to enjoy playing in front of their home crowd and for the first time of the day a real cheer erupted. Songs such as Let It Burn and Demonical provided ‘the G’ with plenty of support, and it was nice to see them getting amongst the crowd and rocking out to the other bands later in the day.

Formerly part of the 80’s band White Lion, the United States Mike Tramp has now gone solo. His blend of country pop rock provided the older crowd with something to reminisce and was a needed break from the full on sounds of bands like Bad Day Down and Sector 7 G. after Mikes set, chick rockers, The Spazzys took the stage as the sun began to set. While they never seemed happy with the sound throughout the entire set, they still played what has almost become a trademark, that is their own brand of ‘chick-rock’ which will also be available for your ears at the 2007 Adelaide Big Day Out.

Getting towards the business end of the day, or what was now night, an enthusiastic crowd gathered in order to see The Hot Lies. As usual the boys did not disappoint providing a highly energetic set with plenty of crowd interaction. Playing a range of songs such as Bullets & Blacklines and Promise Me from both their previous EP’s they even sampled a new song, Down and Out on the Loxton crowd. With an excellent lighting show and a cameo appearance from Bodyjar’s Grant Relf, spraying beer over the entire band, The Hot Lies provided everyone with a good time.

Veteran Aussie rockers Bodyjar were next to take the stage and the crowd lapped up all the songs ranging from One in a Million to Not the Same. Despite a few early tech problems these boys are made for the stage and never once looked out of place, but that comes from 10 years worth of experience. With plenty of antics and crown interaction, Bodyjar appeared to be the crowd favourite of the night.

After rocking out, the crown waited patiently in order to see Butterfingers. The Brisbane 4 piece took their time to appear, only furthering the crowd’s eagerness, but when they did show it was worth the wait. Belting out old and new tunes alike, such as Everytime and Get Up Outta the Dirt their blend of electronic hip-hop and guitar based rock certainly got the crowd bouncing. With a play list of 13 songs every Butterfingers fan had a chance to lap up the kind of music that only appears once a year for the good folk of the Riverland.

Finishing off what had turned out to be a cold windy night was the electro trio Vandalism, who had played on another stage earlier in the day. It was an extremely successful day overall from the crowds perspective and we can only hope that this event continues well into the future, giving the country a much needed dose of music and festival spirit every year.