Newtown Festival, CamperdownMemorial Park, Newtown,(12/11/06)

Tue 14th Nov, 2006 in Gig Reviews

Torrential rain and blistering heat dominate my previous experiences of the Newtown Festival and this year where the entertainment wasn’t as hot as the sunburn, it was no different.

A quick look around at the usual array of politics and posturing at the markets gave me a chance to absorb the atmosphere. The vast array of interesting food choices are always a highlight and the kids zone was a fantastically position little sanctuary for family fun. The Chill Out stage was something I was afraid to fall in, in the off chance I might never re-emerge so I decided to bass my day around the jazzy jubes of the Jugular stage and the guitar and microphone standards of the Essential Stage. The 2SER stage failed to inspire as much as in the past but it did get crushing following late in the day.

The Newtown Performance Poets opened proceedings in The Writers Tent hosted by local bookstore, ‘Better Read Than Dead’. Authentic, edgy, urban performances reminded us that “we work so that we can earn money so that we can buy food, so that we can have the energy, so that we can go to work so that we can earn money, so that we can buy food, so that we can have the energy to go to work…” well you get the idea. Executive Director of the NSW Writers Centre hosted ‘Get That Book Published’ with guests Suzanne Leal and Andrew O’Keefe who entertained would be writers with story’s about how they managed to publish their stories.

Meanwhile on the main stage, the Botanics set the groove for the day in front of a handful of watchful eyes. Sounding a little like Parliament and The Herd coming out of a blender, The Botanics were a potent cocktail of colourful rhymes over a delicious delivery of funk. The Elana Stone Band followed with an authentic jazz set. Borrowing from all forms of the genre to the pleasure of a small but enthralled audience, the eclectic mix of lyrical styles and rich rhythms a beautifully arranged performance of timeless pieces.

Over at the 2SER stage DJ two piece Ollo mixed up an erratic blend of electro funk and oldschool beats to shy audience who were happy just to soak up the sounds. Jesse Morris and the Projects’ folksy symposium of sound had onlookers engaged at the Essential Stage. Their compositions of pop and percussion were refreshingly welcome under a hot bath of sun.

Waiting For Guinness proved that they weren’t, with their seemingly drunken rampant party tunes, before Capoeira entertained the crowd with their flambouyant martial arts inspired dance.The stirring guitars of CODA were the surprise find of the festival for some. While the jazzy reggae of King Tide best articulated the funky theme of the Jugular Stage.Introduced as returning from a large tour appointment with Michael Franti, Blue King Brown emerged as the special surprise act. Bombing the airwaves on Triple J, this band seemed to be highly anticipated and they didn’t disappoint with their African drumming and earthy sounds.

The guys from Beautiful World presented some linear sounds which included some interesting violin supports and neatly woven arrangements. Sunburnt and sleepy it was time to head back into the city that spawned me and say hurrah to yet another Newtown Festival.