FUTURE MUSIC FESTIVAL

Doomben Racecourse

With the Doomben Racecourse as the venue, and an impressive line-up of local and international DJs, the day was sure to be an interesting one. There were so many acts to choose from and the quality was so high that it was easy to just wander around and drift from area to area to see what each act was like. The venue was so large that it took a while to get one's bearings, and with there being no pass-outs, you had to make sure you had everything you needed with you at all times. New Dutch superstar Sander Van Doorn played an excellent trance set to a quickly-filling tent. The next big-name that left an impression was Felix Da Housecat, with his electro-house goodness moving the crowd well. Speaking of the crowd, it was pretty packed already by about 2'ish, but people just kept on rocking up until it was jam-packed by the evening. Dirty South are a local group worth a mention as their brand of (I hate to use the term, but) eclectic breaks and dance really had the crowd smiling. One that I was not going to miss was one half of Way out West, Nick Warren. His brand of progressive housey-trance was just what I needed to keep grooving as the sun was setting. A big disappointment was Carl Cox. His set was uninspired house and that's it. I've seen him before, which made it even more disappointing. I guess he's just getting a bit old. Ferry Corsten, on the other hand was absolutely superb and people went nuts, dancing away atop a multi-layered floor of flattened Smirnoff cans. All in all, this was a great day out and clever venue, but the traffic out of there was nightmarish (Ryan Taylor - Davis).

ST JEROMES LANEWAY FESTIVAL

The Zoo and Winn St

Despite the scorching heat and lack of cool refuge, an amazing local and international line-up ensured a massive inaugural turnout for St Jeromes Laneway Festival. Dan Kelly took to the Zoo stage minus the Alpha males for a strong solo set.   Between tracks he entertained the audience with comical explanations of the songs, and continued to muck-around, thriving on the terrible mid-afternoon heat.   He belted out one of the standout performances of the day, proving that laughter and fun are an integral part of music.   Holly Throsby was next up to tackle the suffocating Zoo heat, and put together a trademark sombre and majestic performance.   Her music, mixed with the weather, provoked some dreary eyes and as the alcohol was consumed at a fierce rate, eyelids began to get heavy with the soothing music.   As the heat began to subside, the lane began to sizzle with festival sluts The Sleepy Jackson taking on the last throws of daylight.   Similar to their BDO set, they put on an incredibly self indulgent affair, with songs mixed with interludes of noise and distortion.   Still, they finished with classic 'Vampire Racecourse', which left the whole performance with a phenomenal buzz.  

The International show took hold outside, with New Yorkers The Walkmen producing a surprisingly stirring set.   Their dreary straight up 'n' down laidback rock soothed the heat-exhausted crowd yet threw enough curve balls to keep their set lively.   There was quite a buzz surrounding Peter, Bjorn & John's performance.   While major acclaim has been gathered through 'The Young Ones' (aka 'The Whistling Song'), little was known about the rest of these Swedes' catalogue.   Their set proved highly satisfying, as they displayed a harder-edged and psychedelic backbone not found on the hit track.   Camera Obscura singer Tracey-Anne Campbell joined the boys for 'The Young Ones', but one couldn't help feeling a little ripped off when they used a backing track for the whistle section.   Elder statesmen Yo La Tengo brought things to a close on the outside stage by launching into an assault on their extensive 23-year back catalogue.   I failed to see the fun in continually playing the same steady bass line for 15 minutes while the off-his-face guitarist took out war on my eardrums so I retreated back inside The Zoo.   Midnight Juggernauts were the perfect choice to wrap up The Zoo stage.   The mixture of electro dance and indie was a fresh change from a day dominated by rock sounds.   The 45-minute set flew by as the trio leapt from rarities to hits including the toe-tappin' '45 and Rising' and 'Shadows'.   Packed full of bodies, The Zoo was still a furnace but it didn't seem to deter people as the venue broke into a dance pandemonium rarely seen at the predominately-rock joint.   St Jeromes Laneway has made a successful expansion out of Melbourne - let's hope it will be back bigger and better in 2008 (Nate Shea).

OVERCRANKED

RNA Showgrounds

Dead Letter Circus started proceedings early on the Triple J stage and displayed the charisma and skill of a band twice their age.   The band look destined for big things, however my only gripe was their originality as their sound and image was dangerously close to that of Karnivool.   Following them were Beijing Tank, who had some chunky-arse riffs and a singer who looks like he drinks tallies as if they were throwdowns.   Western Decay showed moments of brilliance in between the clichéd beatdowns as their young Leonardo DiCaprio look alike frontman thrashed about the stage like Gilbert Grape on speed. From there, it was to the stoner rock trip of Fort, who reminded me of Alice in Chains (a little) and also cranked out some fat riffs.   Next was the Daylight Curse, who were belting out some killer new tunes in their matching basketball outfits.   These guys are still easily the best metalcore band in the area.   Then it was off to Blowhard.   Picture your local pub's 40 year old Aussie regular; now picture him wearing nothing but glad-wrap while his mates with horns (the musical kind) dance around behind him - not pretty, but entertaining nonetheless.

Relative newcomers Mammal were an early highlight.   The band entered the stage as a somewhat unknown quantity and left it as everyone's new favourite band.   Frontman Zeke commands the stage and could probably make a decent living by teaching Stage Presence 101 classes.   Bassist Nick Adams, on the other hand, produced a few wry smiles with his funky monkey dance moves and questionable mermaid pants.   Then it was to the Red Octopus stage for Lord, who were pretty cool even if they are a pirate worshipping power-metal band. After that, I went to enjoy Sunk Loto but ended up bored out of my brain.   These guys are so talented but just don't seem to know what they want to sound like.   They've already been the Deftones and Mudvayne and it seems that they've now turned into Lamb of God.   They should just be Sunk Loto.   Other highlights from the afternoon included the metal karaoke (including a crushing rendition of Cannibal Corpse's 'Hammer Smashed Face'), Rollerball and Against dominating the Faster Louder stage and Pathogen and The Rivalry on the Red Octopus stage.

It has to be said that despite the high quality of our local scene, God Forbid easily blew all that had come before them to dust.   They opened with 'Forcefed', from the Gone Forever album, then tore through the main tracks from it and IV:Constitution of Treason.   Awesome soloing and fierce beatdowns impressed the assembled crowd and a dust-storm was kicked up as the mosh became fiercer and fiercer. Their flawless sound had the entire venue pulsing with energy and they exited the stage as one of the highlights of the day.   The Butterfly Effect put on their trademark flawless live show, which just about everyone in Australia has seen at least once by now.   Shihad returned from studio hibernation to air some of their notably lighter and more atmospheric new material.   John Toogood may have looked out of place with his new short back and sides, but he still managed to get a rise out of the crowd by playing a 'Master of Puppets' teaser.   Terrorust were just one of the bands in a long line of extreme acts that suffered from the terrible sound that plagued the Red Octopus stage.   Valiantly appearing minus their second guitarist and original singer, the band played Morbid Angel's 'Chapel of Ghouls' as promised in Tsunami, however their new vocalist struggled to recreate Ludbrook's rapid-fire vocals with his slower death/grind vocals.   Psycroptic took care of the metal contingent while Helmet played and managed to battle through the turgid mix with their precise drumming and riffage.   Helmet were an unexpected highlight of the day.   Sure they are regarded as one of the biggest bands of the '90s, but I don't think I was the only person thinking they might be a bit past their prime.   Only seconds into 'The Tic' it quickly became apparent that the band had lost none of the edge that tore the Livid festival apart more than 10 years ago.   Page Hamilton provided hilarious comedic relief throughout the songs but it was the crunchy as fuck sound that did all the talking.   Before too long it was curfew time and 'In the Meantime' signalled the end of another successful chapter in Overcranked's history (Captain Feathersword and Longschlong Silver).

V FESTIVAL

Avica Resort

Richard Branson's dream musical showcase arrived in Australia with a line-up tempting enough to get most punters past the crippling $130 price tag.   A tense excitement resonated among the bus-loads of patrons flocking to Avica Resort as the inaugural event kicked off with some ominous clouds gathering in the distance.

A modest early turnout saw The Mercy Arms playing to a small yet enthusiastic crowd.   The Aussie four piece have been slowly forging a name for themselves and their electrifying set was received well by a markedly unfamiliar crowd.   Their performance led one satisfied onlooker to announce them as 'the band to watch next summer'.   Softlightes were a bit of an anomaly on the V Festival bill.   Their laid-back pop is probably more suited to a gig scenario than the festival and, overall, it was fairly well received but definitely a minor attraction.   French four piece Phoenix soared onto the 'This Stage' and astounded the building's audience with their tight indie-pop tunes.   The set flowed heavily from their latest offering It's Never Been Like That, including hits 'Long Distance Call' and 'Napoleon Says'.   Singer Thomas Mars was resoundingly appreciative of the receptive crowd, and immersed himself in the audience to finish the set.

The French connection Nouvelle Vague seemed delighted to be performing to a small crowd. Their smooth, exotic style breathed new life into an array of new-wave and punk covers. 'Blue Monday' and 'Bela Lugosi's Dead' took those willing into the darker reaches, however it was 'Too Drunk To Fuck' that received the greatest response from the crowd.   New Young Pony Club got the crowd pumping at 'The Other Stage', although the vibe seemed to be more about being seen in the crowd at NYPC than just being in the crowd at NYPC. 'Ice Cream' was the highlight of a very energetic set.   Anticipation was bubbling among a sprawling crowd as New York indie-dance pioneers The Rapture prepared to hit the stage.   The crowd launched straight into dance mode on 'The Other Stage's uneven gully as the four-piece slammed through the hits found on their two studio albums.   The guys treated the audience to stunning performances of their new singles 'Get Myself Into It' and 'Whoo! Alright Yeah ... Uh Huh', while they also treated their older fans with a gem in the form of dance floor hit 'House of Jealous Lovers'.

Fully clad in formal school wear and accompanied by the sounds of Pink Floyd's 'Another Brick in the Wall', Gnarls Barkley made an impressive entrance. They were the first band of the day to receive a massive response from the crowd and the 12 piece band wasted no time in securing their grip on the crowd as they launched head-on into a set that spanned most of their greatest tracks. Each song was superbly translated into their live counterparts, yet the greatest thrills of the show came from 'Who Cares', 'Just a Thought' and 'Storm Coming'. 'Crazy' threw a bone to the ravenous mouths and 'Smiley Faces' sent everyone on their way with... well, smiley faces.   

The Beck stage show was a sight to behold.   Band members and instruments littered the stage as did a puppet show of band member marionettes. The set mixed new releases from The Information with a journey through his rich back catalogue. The band left the stage after five songs and returned dressed in bear suits for '1000 BPM'. The show was hindered a touch by some sound problems and Beck's voice was a little thin due to a cold, but the performance as a whole was exceptional.   A dinner table made it to the front of stage for 'The Golden Age' and the band then provided wine glass/dinner plate/salad bowl percussion until they were joined by the man himself for a spectacular finish.

The infamous Pixies created a sense of excitement that was unmatched by any other band on the day.   This was most likely due to their perpetual absence from these lands, or perhaps it was because their quirky pop-rock approach is still unique after all these years. Though presently looking a bit worse for wear, they maintained their stamina and sentiment as they blasted through their classics. Each and every number received an ultra-ecstatic response from their fanatical followers (Nate Shea, The Professor and Jake 3).