The award for most appropriately named festival goes to… Chill Island. Not that the constantly on and off rain or cold temperatures put people off. In its first year running, Churchill Island became Chill Island for a day; a place where anyone could come and relax or dance to a variety of pop, roots and reggae acts.



The only hassle for the day was at the very beginning. A one-lane bridge connected Churchill Island to Phillip Island, making driving a very slow task. Many opted to park elsewhere and walk while many kept pace with those wanting to park close to the action. On entering the festival, we were met a beautiful landscape of water; the stage appropriately positioned in front and at the bottom of a hill. No matter where one stood they could see the action.



Blue King Brown have established themselves as a stellar live pop/rock/reggae act and demonstrated in full force how their funky sound could so easily get crowds singing and dancing. Entering the stage one member at a time, BKB aroused great anticipation for Natalie Pa’apa’a, who entered in her usual fashion with megaphone in hand to the smooth sound of ‘Revolution’. The fast tempo to their first album track, ‘One Day’, had the crowd bouncing immediately, before ‘Stand Up’ raised loud voices chanting “Hey-O”. The rain held out for BKB and the weather provided rare, warm sunshine; very appropriate for their upbeat sound. Most of the crowd seemed to know all the words to ‘Water’ which stood out (both live and recorded) as BKB’s most powerful and energetic song. Gut-busting percussion solos blew onlookers away; both drummers had arms flailing madly amongst a plethora of different percussion instruments. As always, audience participation also played a great part in BKB’s set. The crowd was given eight bars to make as much noise as possible and let the whole of Victoria know what was happening. Everyone was also told to get as low to the ground as possible and then chant at the top of their voices “yeah, hey”. The group finished with single, ‘Come And Check Your Head’, as fans tried to get their final dose of reggae dancing.



The miserable weather was not all bad, as it provided a visual backdrop for the easygoing beats of The Beautiful Girls. As the trio casually played their acoustic rock tracks such as ‘Blackbird’ and ‘Periscope’, bolts of lightning opened up in the dark skyline behind the stage, whilst the rain again eased off. The highlight of the set was the faster track, ‘Music’, which sparked a loud sing-along.



The rain had to make one final appearance before headliners The Cat Empire came on stage; and the heaven’s really opened up. A sea of orange ponchos went up and over heads in an attempt to stay dry, but luckily for everyone the downpour eased with only moments to go. As all nine members of The Cat Empire walked out and began playing their feel good party-vibe tunes, the sea of jumping fans brought a thick cloud of dust to the air.
Felix Riebl, front man and percussionist, quickly dedicated ‘Days Like These’ to the weather, defining the attitude of the band and fans alike; the bad weather wasn’t going to stop anyone having a good time as everyone sang “Kicking back doing what we do”.



Whilst tracks such as ‘The Crowd’ and ‘Boogaloo’ had everyone jumping, it was CE hits such as ‘Hello’ and ‘Two Shoes’ that sparked mass yelling and singing. >Kieran Conrou, Ross Irwin and Carlo Barbaro danced away with their brass instruments, many in the crowd choosing to follow their lead. Jamshid “Jumps” Khadiwala (decks) and Felix also demonstrated their moves at the front of stage, sporting “rubber limb” movements, and sparking roars of approval. The highlight of the set was ‘Car Song,’ where most of vocalist/trumpeter Harry James Angus’ skills came into play. Using the microphone, Harry burst out into an array of sound effects, bringing smiles and cheers all round. The chorus also provided great audience participation as Harry passed the microphone back and forth between himself and the crowd. CE finished with ‘The Chariot’ which, not surprisingly, produced the loudest audience singing. Much stamping and chanting brought them back onto stage to encore with ‘Sly’, their last performance before heading off overseas to America and then back to the studio. Much more dancing and singing ensued to send the Cat Empire a fond farewell.



The Chill Island phrase ‘One Cool Day In Summer’ could not have been more appropriate as the day was ‘Cool’ in every sense of the word. The bands, the people and the scenery all played a vital part in creating a fantastic musical and visual experience. Organisers should be proud the day was such a great success in its first year.