Festival of the Sun – Sundowner Breakwall Tourist Park (09-10.12.11)

When it comes to music festivals in Australia, so many are too keen to expand, try and make more money and move away from their roots. Though still arguably boutique, in many cities there isn’t a laneway to be seen at the Laneway festival (not that this is necessarily a bad thing, in this particular instance, mind you). Others festivals have tried targeting larger markets and as a result have lost the people who made them a success in the first place. Many of these festivals are no longer around. And then there are the festivals which are perhaps too ambitious the first time around and never get their chance to shine.

Enter Festival of the Sun, a small festival in Port Macquarie which takes over the Sundowner Breakwall Tourist Park for two days every December. First established in 2001 as a draw for the Tourist Park, Festival of the Sun – or FOTSUN – became a ticketed event in 2006 and has been a sell out every year since 2008. The reasons are simple:

1. The event is one of the few BYO events in Australia, allowing campers and cabin stayers to enjoy themselves to whatever state of drunkeness their bodies will allow, for limited cost.
2. The event holds one stage and a small side stage for acoustic performances between main acts, meaning you never miss a performance.
3. Bar the token DJs who were playing before the main act each night to suitably pump up the crowd, every other artist on the lineup was a band or a singer/songwriter. This means that you’re actually hearing live music. In the age of the Stereosonic Festivals, it’s refreshing to see a festival full of guitars (yes, even Art vs Science)… and as a sell out success too!
3. The event is held right next to the beach. This no doubt makes the above music category wholly suitable.
4. The food is affordable and I don’t think I ever saw a line. Though when you can leave the festival at any time to get food in Port Macquarie, it’s easy to understand why that’s the case….
5. Only 3000 tickets are sold to the event, and you’d never even know there were that many. Everyone has room to dance, party and live the weekend as they see fit.

Combining all of the above, alongside the fact that the music choices are inspired, makes for one of the most laid back, enjoyable weekends you’re likely to have on your musical calendar. And for us, it was no exception.

The event kicked off on Friday afternoon at 4pm, and by the time we arrived the camp site was already full of people enjoying the start to their weekend – and possibly the end of their degree, semester, high school, work year… whatever it may happen to have been. The Pixiekills, meanwhile, were just kicking things off and sounding fantastic. The Lyrical followed, a duo who throw a unique, Michael Franti-esque take into popular tracks from “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King” to “Get Low”. Eclectic song selections and great stage presence – not to mention simple but well set out instrumentation – make this duo one to check out at any event they may be appearing. It’s no surprise why they were rated an audience favourite at Byron’s annual Bluesfest.

With a sand pit in front of the stage, this may be the first barefoot festival I’d ever been to, and with bands like King Cannons, who were up next, in tow, it couldn’t have felt more appropriate. They even have a track about a rock and roll beach! As always, a truly enjoyable live experience from the Melbourne based rockers. The high energy rock and roll continued with Perth’s Young Revelry, who never disappoint, while Canadian Colin Moore – who’s been touring with fellow Canadian Jeff Martin over the last couple of months – brought the international flavour to the festival, with some energetic guitar moves and some exciting harmonica moments, all encompassing well written tracks.

FLOATINGME were perhaps the only disappointment of the day, as they couldn’t replicate the energy of the record, and the crowd proved unresponsive. Given this was their first performance at a festival as a collective, perhaps it’s not indicative of where they’re going, though it was a pity to feel they didn’t excite in the same way the album has done so successfully.

After a great selection of tracks from the Surecut Kids DJs that got everyone dancing on the sand, Sydney’s Art Vs Science – headliners of the night and the festival (and ARIA winners!) – saw the crowd get messy in a way that wouldn’t be replicated the next day. They got the crowd dancing like no one as they pumped out all their favourite tracks – “A.I.M Fire”, “Parlez Vous Francias?”, “Flippers”, “Friend in a Field”, as well as a rollicking cover of Electric Six’s “Gay Bar” they seem to love cranking out at festivals (I last saw it at Coaster in 2010). They proved once again why they are one of the most well regarded and enjoyed live acts in the country.

As we woke up to a slightly overcast, though still beautiful day, on Saturday, Pigeon were getting the crowd dancing early, with the unique electronic-rock-meets-brass-section approach to their music. I’m definitely going to be following these guys closely… something tells me there are great things to come for the Brisbane based quintet. Larissa McKay sounded beautiful on the acoustic stage, next, and would play again later in the day – as would the wonderful Claude Hay, the always entertaining Microwave Jenny (who pumped out some great covers including “Fuck You”, alongside their own beautiful music), and we saw the returns of Colin Moore and The Lyrical from yesterday, once again pumping out the sweet tunes.

Next up was a one-two-three punch with The Delta Riggs, The Medics and Guineafowl, with all bands delivering high energy sets. Good pals The Brothers Grim and The Snowdroppers followed, with Johnny from Snowdroppers gracing the stage during the Brothers Grimm’s set, and both filling the ‘Rockabilly’ portion of the festival with style. Would you expect any less? These are two of the hardest working, most energetic bands in Australia!

Speaking of which, The Brothers Grim pulled out another performance during the day, held on the beach to serenade one of the 30 competition winners. A great enterprise from the festival organisers, 30 winners were selected over 30 days to win a selection of prizes that included Ping Pong with Pigeon, signed albums, camping upgrades and indeed… a very entertaining beach serenade. You can see a photo from these escapades below. We might have some video from it online soon, too…

Hungry Kids of Hungary and Dan Sultan both sat well with the crowd, and closing up the festival was New Zealand’s Ladyhawke who has been busy preparing her new album Anxiety, due for release next year. “My Delirium” was the easy highlight of the set and proves to be the most energetic song from both band and the crowd. New track “Blue Eyes” also went down well, as did “Professional Suicide”. The rest of the set, even “Paris is Burning”, felt more weighted at the other end of the spectrum – Pip definitely doesn’t have the same stage presence of someone like Art vs Science – but with a full band behind her she manages to pull out some well orchestrated tunes with just enough energy to keep the crowd moving, and ultimately served well as the festival closer.

All in all this was a phenomenal day and a half of music. My only gripe is that it’s not longer! But if that’s as bad as your complaints get, you know you must be doing something right – so why try to fix something that’s not broken? Hope to see you in Port Macquarie same time next year! Don’t go changin’ now…

Larry Heath

Founding Editor and Publisher of the AU review. Currently based in Toronto, Canada. You can follow him on Twitter @larry_heath or on Instagram @larryheath.