With the festival circuit getting increasingly competitive, reports of poor sound engineering and set delays could never be more damaging, however with an incredibly soggy lead up to the Brisbane leg of Laneway Festival, these problems were disappointing but not surprising. The festival organisers did well to ensure that all stages would be undercover, but unfortunately our dry vintage threads came at the cost of sound quality and atmosphere as we were herded into the RNA horse sheds.

Filmed at Peats Ridge Festival and at Festival of the Sun, we find out the New Years Resolutions of bands from around Australia for 2012. Including The Brothers Grim, The Medics, Pigeon, The Holidays, The Delta Riggs, Microwave Jenny, The Snowdroppers, Benjalu, Hungry Kids of Hungary, Minnie Marks, Thundamentals, Sietta and Richard Cuthbert.

Here are the latest festival updates for a few festivals we can't wait for!

Backstage at Festival of the Sun in Port Macquarie, NSW, Larry Heath from the AU review catches up with Andrew from The Medics (QLD). They chat briefly about the festival, their year of awards (QMAs, Deadlys, Next Crop...) and more! Camera: Yaya Stempler, Interviewer/Editor: Larry Heath.

The Big Day Out 2012 just doesn't stop growing (in the eastern states, anyway) with the announcement of the local additions!

SUNDAY, 22 JANUARY, 2012 - GOLD COAST PARKLANDS

Queenslanders understand Summer. With the weather up North often frozen in this particular state, it’s fair to say that its inhabitants “get” the sun. Of course, the music also reflects this with acts like The Grates, Last Dinosaurs and The Medics boasting music that is bouncy, feel-good and the perfect summer soundtrack to a balmy day spent at the beach or park, rather than blistering in the sun.

What a journey it has been for The Medics, and it just keeps on going for these lads. Though their music is kind of like a combination of rock and all out mayhem, they manage to bring a sense of urgency and intensity to the mix.

Check one, two… Festival of the Sun is back to finetune your summer, with 3,000 mates, a surfside location and a rocking homegrown line-up.

After recently returning from their first national headline tour, The Medics have been invited to continue sharing their exciting live show opening for the widely acclaimed Australian alt-rockers, Birds of Tokyo. The Medics will play alongside BoT on five northern shows on their upcoming Closer Tour.

BIGSOUND CELEBRATES 10 YEARS WITH HUGE LIVE MUSIC ANNOUNCEMENT

Australia’s biggest celebration of breaking artists and industry networking has reached a new milestone with the first announcement today of its BIGSOUND LIVE program, boasting some of the country’s hottest acts.

Checking out The Medics has been a long time coming, and what better way to experience them for the first time than at their first ever headline show in Sydney - supported by The Honey Month and Babaganouj. I have nothing but great things to say about both support bands, so it pains me to say I missed them both. But my experience with The Medics more than made up for it.