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Back again for round two at Luna Park, and it seemed that there was a
significant divide between those who were there yesterday and those
exclusively there for the Sunday.
Bleary-eyed folk with red wristbands
and grumbling regrets of having stayed up to watch Nigeria versus
Argentina (not naming names) stood alongside fresh-faced kids that were
stoked to see bands they'd normally have to flash their fake ID for at
their local venue. As a matter of fact, the underage factor was massive
for day two of Come Together - the over 18s there on the dot were in
the venue within five minutes, whiles the under 18s door was flooded by
a line that stretched back for at least three quarters of a kilometre.
Not that anyone was complaining - after all, the Sunday was home to the
better line-up of acts, and the kids bring the energy to these kind of
festivals that us old folks can't. What have we got to lose? Let's do
this.
Up first were Triple J Unearthed winners Step Panther. The
main problem facing the band is their uncertainty - both of the
direction of their music and of their own abilities. Still, when it did
come together (the first AND last time you will see that pun), the band
stuck together a slew of punchy rock & roll numbers that hinted at
greater things a little further down the road.
They could definitely
learn a thing or two from Deep Sea Arcade, who followed them and
charmed the early arrivals to the show with their Kinks-y brand of
melodic guitar pop. Seasoned live performers, the quintet are
completely at ease with what they're doing, as evidenced by the
bookends of their set - the delightful "Don't Be Sorry" and the
irrestisible "Lonely in Your Arms", which perked the ears of a few
Triple J fanatics. Always a pleasure to watch those sharply-dressed
gents strut their stuff, and perhaps you should follow suit this
Saturday at the Annandale, dear reader.
Up next were the hotly
anticipated Parades, which saw the first of two appearances for the
prolific Jonathan Boulet. Up the back and on the drums, he and the rest
of the band immersed everyone within immediate radius of the stage. The
expanded sextet - including vocalist/keyboardist/percussionist Alyx
Dennison - proved to be one of the highlights of the entire weekend,
their recreations of Foreign Tapes' finest moments an absolute marvel.
From the multi-faceted vocal arrangements ("Loserspeak In New Tongue")
to the explosive dynamic shifts ("Dead Nationale"), it's hard to fault
Parades in anything they're doing right now. This all-too-brief set was
no exception.
Brisbane's Last Dinosaurs were up next, who seem
to be validating the hype surrounding them every time they step on
stage. The likable lads tore through their upbeat post-punk-revivalist
schtick as if they were in their garage - and looked the part, too,
save for frontman Sean Caskey's dorky-chique poncho. "As Far As You're
Concerned" was an early-on hit with the kids, but the biggest cheer was
naturally reserved for current Triple J staple "Honolulu". Rarely a
band to disappoint, it seems these kids are on a roll for a very strong
remainder of the year.
The Snowdroppers pounced on an unsuspecting
audience as the Dinosaurs made themselves extinct, leaping forth into
their distinct take on swampy blues-rock. Johnny Wishbone and co. might
have been a little out of place on such an indie-oriented bill, but at
least they had a sense of humour about it (much unlike Circle Pit from
the day before). They won over a crowd initially off-put by their style
of music, and by the time their finale "Do The Stomp" rolled around
they had assembled an en-masse singalong and whooping cheers at their
every move - and there was plenty of movement going on to keep us
enraptured and engaged. Everything you've heard is true - they are a
must-see live.
Anything would have seemed flat after the performance
that the Snowdroppers gave, but there was a little more to it than that
when it came to Ernest Ellis. The gentle, hirsute singer-songwriter
played a set of light, dreamy indie rock. It was pleasant enough, yet
developed an atmosphere that was sleepy to the point of boredom; and
this wasn't assisted by the unenthused backing band and repetitive song
structure. Not overly bad, but certainly a disappointing introduction
to the young singer-songwriter.
Boy & Bear emerged quietly,
unassumingly and continued on their roll from a show at the Annandale
the night before. What's there to say about this remarkable little band
that you haven't already read in the past six months? The harmonies are
glorious, the arrangements are tight and the more times you see Dave
Hosking and co. live, the more likable they become. There's just
something so authentic and earnest about what this band is doing, it's
no wonder they've been catching all the right breaks this year.
The
same can be said for Melbourne's Calling All Cars. Though they're
hardly alike to Boy and Bear, they're still working their arses off on
the back of a debut and are establishing a solid live reputation.
Hayden Ing's energy and enthusiasm was of unparalleled proportions,
rousing the crowd through big singalongs and kick-drum clappings. Not
Like Anybody and Animal were massive in their execution, but the band's
most impressive performance came in their big finale of current single
Disconnect. One of the years' catchiest songs, the band gave it their
all and the supportive crowd was entirely caught up in the moment - and
this is exactly what CAC thrives on. Meanwhile, there was not a great
deal to report on The Jezabels. Aside from the fact that they were...
well, loud. Really, ridiculously, unforgivably loud. Maybe somebody
fell asleep at the mixing desk and flicked all the volume knobs to
their very top decible, but it was because of this struggle to be
properly heard that detracted from their entire performance. It's hard
to even comment on the songs themselves, it was too painful to make
out. Sorry guys, we'll try again some other time.
The pain was
soon to float away - almost immediately, in fact. Even before the
lights came on for the other side of the stage, Jonathan Boulet and his
six-piece band were pounding through the song that introduces each
Boulet live show - a non-album track you'd suspect is entitled I Will
Soldier On, given it is the only lyric sung. Oh, but how it is sung -
Jonathan's vocals are doubled, tripled and even quadrupled on occasion
throughout the set, expanding the sound even further than the multiple
instruments and layered percussion had already allowed. As the teenage
girls up front continued to swoon and squeal (when exactly did he
become Jonas Boulet?), the band faithfully recreated tracks from the
excellent debut album.
Highlights included the bombastic Ones Who Fly
Twos Who Die and what is possibly the finest song in Boulet's arsenal,
A Community Service Announcement - anyone who wasn't singing or dancing
when this track dropped couldn't have been listening. Simple as that.
Another great performance, making Boulet two for two on this fateful
day.
Horrorshow followed this, and were a little unsure of their
reception on account of being the only hip-hop act on the bill.
Legitimately this time, none of this HvH crap from yesterday.
Thankfully, the confidence and energy exuded from the duo was enough to
get the majority of the crowd on side. "No Rights Left" was an
unexpected hit, as was the appearance of touring buddies Spit Syndicate
helping out Solo MC with a couple of tracks near the end of their set.
Australian hip-hop certainly gets a lot of flak these days, but it's
hard to deny that an act like Horrorshow are the genuine package.
The
time had finally arrived for one of the most anticipated acts of the
day - soon-to-be expatriate Bertie Blackman. We've seen Bertie go
through a lot of changes over the past year or so, and her current form
has seen her once again fall in love with her guitar. As she
passionately screeched through several hits - all from her brilliant
Secrets and Lies record - it was evident that she intended to get as
much noise out of her guitar whenever it was strapped to her. She also
got very annoyed with the roadies loudly soundchecking across from her,
with this frustration seeping into her writhing, passionate
performance. The best thing about Bertie as a performer is that you'll
never see or hear the same thing twice from her, and tonight's set saw
her a little crazier than usual. Not that there's anything wrong with
that.
Something still wasn't right when it was time for Dead
Letter Circus to start up on the other side - was the soundchecking
really worth it through Bertie's set? Regardless, whatever the problem
was on stage was quickly rectified, and the nearly-chart-toppers were
on their way. Kim Benzie is an outstanding frontman, equal parts
space-cadet and bouncing wildman, who would proceed to either dive
headfirst into the audience ("The Mile") or lead the very same punters
in a game of Simon Says moshing (particularly during "Disconnect and
Apply" and "Next In Line"). New album tracks like "Big" were also a
huge treat, surprisingly well-known by the audience considering their
comparative freshness to older favourites like "Reaction". Closing with
the incredible title track, DLC were the perfect act to throw one last
hurrah for the heavy rock acts performing over the weekend.
Moving on -
remember how there were a shitload of under 18s lining up in the
morning? Well, most of them were there for one reason and one reason
only - the infectious pop of Kisschasy. The technical problems that had
just plagued DLC were moving their way onto the Melbourne lads, with
guitars blowing out and the bass often being indecipherable when not
being played on its own. In spite of this, the band kept up good
spirits and delivered exactly what we wanted of them - the hits. From
recent ballad "Dinosaur" all the way back to "Face Without a Name", if
you've heard it on the radio and it's by them, they played it. Not
their best performance - a bit too much time spent pandering to the
squealing girls and the like - but Kisschasy sure know how to do
likable. It was around this time, when Kisschasy wrapped up their set
with "Do-Dos and Whoah-Ohs" that many decided now was a perfect time to
take a toilet break and freshen up. This may or may not have had to do
with the fact that British India were starting up. Firstly, why on
earth were they billed so high? They haven't had an album debut at #2
in the charts (DLC) or have a radio hit (Kisschasy) anytime recently,
so what's the deal? Regardless, the band did what they know only how to
do - make lots of ugly noise and get kids to jump around in time with
it. Declan Melia undeniably has a lot of energy, but it's the kind that
you'd find more in a troublesome toddler who has discovered the art of
banging pots and pans together. Mummy and daddy need some rest,
sweetheart. Stop playing Beastie Boys covers and go to bed.
At
long last, the final act of the final day. "Welcome to the Jungle"
blared out of the PA, Phil Jamieson strolled out casually before
spastically flailing into early-career favourite "Ready 1". This was
incredibly vexing. Why? If anyone saw them play the Enmore just a month
or two beforehand, you would have bore witness to the exact same
thing. And the same songs that followed. As a matter of fact, some
slight banter aside, there was nothing to separate what was happening
here at Come Together from what had happened at the Enmore. Are the
band just phoning it in now? Is this what it's come to? Ahh, who cares.
It's bloody Grinspoon - even if you're noting their transparency,
they're never ones to let up on the energy. Big, dumb, harmless fun is
what Grinspoon are all about, and this is exactly what we got from them
this evening.
And, with that, it's all over. Come Together still
has no idea what it wants to be, and there's still a few niggling
problems of having a two-in-one stage setup. Even so, they are probably
closer to the mark than ever before with this year's festival. Nice one.
