Showcasing the local and the international, the well established and the fresh faced, variety was not something lacking at the inaugural Playground Weekender Festival, held at Del Rio Resort from the 9th -11th March.

The weekend kicked off with a nautical adventure up the Hawksbury River. Setting up camp on the field, the excitement started to kick in as the music drifted down from the ‘Uncharted’ shack – a stage cleverly disguised as a quaint beer garden complete with skeletons in sombreros. As I tend to be drawn to the indie rock side of music, the Shack became my first port of call walking from the tent to the bigger stages. Teenagers in Tokyo submitted an entertaining set – a mix of Grace Slick/Karen O vocals with an electro tinge. I also really enjoyed Cut off Your Hands set, their choppy drum heavy beats and energetic performance could barely be contained on the tiny stage.

The Cops struck me as a band that has very strong camaraderie between members. The band seemed to be taking the opportunity to trial a few new songs – one of which, The Message was a rocking blend of acoustic and rhythm guitar that the band obviously enjoyed performing. Mojada was the answer to the question of who would replace Dappled Cities Fly who had to pull out of the festival for ‘contractual reasons’. This was the first of a few annoyances with the organization of the festival. Dappled were still billed on the programs handed out at the gate and many seemed to walk away disappointed that the organizers had not made a) a point of announcing this or b) attempted to fill the spot better (Mojada had already opened the stage that morning and came out to do a second set).

The Valentinos aren’t the most energetic of bands, the musicians mostly happy to stick to their own space and perfect their sounds, with the exception of the lead singer, who seemed to explore the stage with child like curiosity, climbing on the drums and speakers. Normally this would be an interesting sight to watch, but he didn’t seem to enjoy aimlessly wandering with solemn expression. The most excited I saw any of the members was dancing frantically side of stage to !!! later in the night. The crowd knew when The Presets were arriving and arrive they did, pulling a massive dancing mass of people away from the Big Top Tent at least for a little while. The band kicked the nights proceedings off into party mode with lead singer Kim Moyes belting out the majority of Beams specially tweaked for the live set. Kim’s absolute enthusiasm never ceases to amaze me, however what has changed since I last saw them in 2005 is the enigmatic performance of drummer, Julian Hamilton, who frequently ventured out from behind the drums in order to join Kim on a second set of decks, or purely to crank the crowd up even further.

The kinda-cool-kinda-dangerous lack of security was most evident during the Presets set. A young man wearing a half -off pair of lime green overalls and a pair of shades with one of the lenses popped out began by laying on the speakers in from of the stage and ended up standing to dance nearly a whole song later before anyone came to lead him off. Then there were several girls who actually made it onstage and began dancing, again for a full song before anyone moved to do anything. Taking it in stride, Kim reassured security that it was “Alright, just make sure they don’t trip on any leads”. My respect only grew for them further when the main speaker cut out mid song, leaving just the fold back sound. Again, taking the hiccup in stride the band didn’t break their rhythm until the speakers cut back in, apologising before kicking into Down Down Down, closing out the fantastic set.

The enchanting Elbow took the main stage captive with their gentle yet dramatic songs, predominantly from the 2005 release Leaders of the Free World. Lead singer Guy Garvey had a lovely presence about him – incredibly humble, yet still able to work the crowd. He seduced the audience into participation, stating ‘Right, give us your hands’ in a thick Manchester accent. The best heckle of the set being ‘Play some beautiful music you beautiful boys’, to which Guy just smiled before complying with the request. I had been concerned about the reception of the mellow change of pace, I need not have worried though, the band showing why they have been playing together for over ten years.

The change in pace was only allowed until Nic Offer of !!!(Chk Chk Chk) broke the silence after the filler music to announce ‘You know what that means!’. Functioning as an eight piece they took over the main stage with a vengeance – intent on utilizing every square meter of space. They enforced their confronting electro-funk-jazz fusion with authority. Nic strutted the stage pulling Napoleon Dynamite style dance moves with Jagger-esque confidence, occasionally taking time to grind on his partner in rhymes/percussionist, John Pugh. John was not to be outdone, jumping unto the crowd at one stage to the delight of punters and the horror of security. It’s no surprise that many of the acts that had shared the main stage before them raved about the band that’s too cool for alphabetical acknowledgement – they were an incredibly tight unit. They closed out the main stage amongst fevered cried for encores, apologising (in their own attitude filled way) that they had to catch the last ferry back.

There was no shortage of things to play with when there wasn’t music pumping away. Giant jenga and giant chess found a cozy corner, a volleyball net was set up as well and a swimming pool and a movie tent. People just seemed content just to sit in the shade and take in the surroundings as well. I must say, the relaxed atmosphere and minimal line-ups were a redeeming aspect of the lack of people.

It must have been a late one for many of the punters because PTY LTD opened the playground Stage on Sunday playing to a handful of people. While the music didn’t really catch my ears the way many of the acts did over the festival, it was a mellow way to start what was going to be a massive day. New Zealand reggae-flavored group The Black Seeds drew a sizeable crowd who grooved in unison in the shade of the stage. The band’s smooth sound was well crafted utilising a variety of live instruments (including a brass section) and samplers. Similarly Incognito who took the stage directly after The Black Seeds attracted a crowd who seemed happy to have a bit of a dance. To me it was too similar to adult contemporary funk for me to really get excited about it. Although the female singers had great voices and dance moves to match.

Boundary Sounds artists Richard in Your Mind and Sparkadia were my pick of the Uncharted Shack on Sunday. Richard in your Mind because the lead singer kept pulling out random things and incorporating them into the set – he began by hitting a gong and asking how everyone was feeling. Sparkadia have some really pretty tunes and the track Morning Light from their EP Things Behind the Sun got a rousing reception from the laid back crowd.

For the longest time, Australian two piece The Mess Hall have been in my conscious but I’d never seen them live, thinking they were just a rock band with some fuzzy vocals. My pre-conceptions were absolutely knocked out when the blues driven rock duo shook the main stage with a moderate attendance of festival attendees. Belting through songs from their most recent release, the Notes from a Ceiling EP, it seemed Jed (understandably) was a bit disappointed with the turnout, but determined not to it hinder his ability to perform for the steadily growing crowd. As for drummer Cec, well he seemed just content to do what he does best – beat the skins with such a flowing movement that you wonder how he is mustering the force he does.

After seeing the baby faced Operator Please as support on the recent Dappled Cities Fly Grand Dance tour I was eager to see how they would translate to the main stage. The young band played with experience beyond their years. Though hidden behind a thick fringe, Amandah sang with force, while Timmy kept the catchy beats coming, I really hope that the small crowd didn’t discourage the newcomers as I think they have a good chance of cracking the market if the success of their EP Cement Cement is any indication.

Who Made Who was the surprise find of the festival for me. Not being able to get much information about them before I left for the festival, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I didn’t expect The Incredible Hulk, Robin Hood and Pocahontas to come on stage though, the first of many awesome surprises from the Danish three piece. The drummer took every opportunity to come out from behind the kit to drum on the bars supporting to the main stage or just to run around, amping the crowd up even more. The fan support was almost ridiculous, a man in a full monkey suit made his was towards the band in Monkeys, making the band crack up and the drummer come down to the front of the stage showing him how to really act the part. You can’t really describe Who Made Who’s music. It’s an electro dance beat with completely organic music, if you closed your eyes you could believe the guitar sound was a keyboard as the notes were plucked so poignantly. All three of the members had so much crazy energy, interacting with each other almost sexually; it was definitely one of the most intense performances of the weekend.

Closing out the festival, The Dears had everything you could really ask for in a rock band. Two gorgeous porcelain-esque keyboardists, a thunderous drummer, a bass player and guitarist not afraid to smile at the audience and a mysterious lead singer complete with vocals that ranged from sweet to screaming. Racing through tracks from Gang of Losers the band proved they were anything but. Admirably political, they displayed their Make Poverty History t-shirts with pride. Closing out the set with Hate then Love they left the stage one by one, leaving lead singer Murray the last man standing, perfecting the climatic end with a frenzy of knob spinning and swirling synth noise.

Although the set seemed somewhat condensed due to the fact that the stage was running at least 20 minutes late, no-one could say they didn’t get their value out of the Dears, with the band coming down after the performance to sign autographs and have a chat to those who stuck around. Speaking to guitarist Patrick Krief, I asked if the numbers in the crowd has any effect of the band, he enthusiastically (and democratically) replied ‘No, you could really see the people getting into it, we played to 1500-2000 people last night and they didn’t get into it as much as you guys’.

This was the highlight of the festival for me; I mean how often do you get the opportunity to chat to a headlining international act? The Playground Weekender was unique in that the lack of people didn’t really detract from any of the performances I saw. The fans that came were not disappointed, but I could not help feeling that the experience of being in a huge crowd, singing along with 5000 of your new best friends was the only thing missing from this great weekend.

Check out the pics from Playground Weekender here