Pix by Mark Bodna
Well, they got one thing right, it’s Hotter Than Hell here already as The Bennies kick off the show at 12:45pm. There are some serious Woodstock ‘99 vibes with this festival setup on a bitumen carpark with very little shade, bar a couple of umbrellas on every second park bench, and about 198,000 less people. But hey, it wouldn’t be a Festival if we weren’t here to sweat our asses off, would it. There is plenty of water available though at $4 a bottle, which strangely enough was the price of water at that doomed festival 25 years ago. The inside bar offers free cold top up’s though, which is pretty mint, and the Air Con is a nice touch too.
The Bennies get into sweating their asses off straight off the bat while they claim to be the best band in the world. Well, I’m not too sure about that, but they are a good bit of fun to get the party started, and the growing crowd quickly fills the front of stage. And then frontman Anty Horgan removes his shirt, and I’m quickly reminded why middle-aged men should always keep their shirts on. At least me anyway, because I don’t have anywhere as many tough stickers to show off as Anty does.
The Bennies are a fun band, and after every song they ask, “who is the best band in the world?”. The answer from the crowd of course every time is The Bennies. They are interesting, I’ll give them that. While primarily a punk/ska band they also add in hip hop influences as well as the odd breakdown and shredding guitar solo. They may have even dropped in some unnecessary Slayer riffs. Like I said, they are a fun band, and they were a great way to start the day, a Party Machine even!
A little birdy told me that a band called Little Birdy is up next. Now, I remember the name but for the life of me I don’t remember the band. As they kick off, the sound is familiar, and I am sure I’ll eventually know one of their songs. It’s very early 2000’s JJJ sounding which isn’t surprising amongst this line-up. It’s almost the sequel to the TISM show I reviewed just a couple of weeks ago. No Ben Lee this time around though, thank fuck.
Much like Ben Lee though, this is the exact kind of JJJ music that I avoided like the filthy Rona. So, I’m going to have to put aside my musical preferences and report on this one purely from a performance point of view. The crowd seems to like it so far although all pretty motionless in the pit except for a soft sway. I might know this song that tells me You’re Beautiful to Me. Well, thanks. I don’t get that compliment much, so I’ll take it.
My honest opinion here, of which it always is, is that this is a major mood killer after the party jams of The Bennies. This band may have been a better opener to settle everyone in, or maybe a late closer to bring everyone back down. That approach didn’t work at Woodstock 99 either, but I can’t expect any raging fires or merch tent looting at the end of this day. It’s only early though …
This is a bit better. Jebediah take the stage and launch straight into Leaving Home which instantly picks up the pace and energy of the crowd. Rumour is they are playing this album in full, but I wouldn’t know because I’ve never listened to this album in full. Whatever this album is I’ll probably look up a little later.
This is much better than that last dreary stuff, and if I know more than two songs in a bands set that I’m not a massive fan of, then that’s generally pretty impressive. And I can say by halfway through this set I already know three. As for the ones I don’t know, they are pretty rocking too. And the now packed “mosh pit” agree. We get a warning that the next song contains a tantalising solo by “mwah”. Well, I wouldn’t call it as solo, but I guess it was kind of tantalising, kind of.
All of a sudden Anty from The Bennies appears back onstage to let us know that the band forgot to give a shout-out to The Bennies and the crowd cheers in appreciation. The set keeps slipping along like Teflon and the crowd keeps bouncing along to the catchy tunes, and the Ghostbusters theme. The next one is their last one, which must be the last one on their album Slighly Odway. Oh yeah, that’s the name of the album they just played in full.
Now, it’s time for another longer than needed changeover. I’ll note here that the changeovers seem to have been in excess of half hour, which would have been just enough to enable a second stage for bands in between each set. Maybe a local band stage to fill the gaps instead of the really low volume tunes which are sometimes playing through the PA. Something to think about next time, maybe.
Welcome To Rockview is announced over the PA along with some booming background effects. Less Than Jake then launches onstage and lays down some rocking punk tunes amongst smoke and flames. Shortly after the first crowd surfer makes his way over the front barrier. This bands’ sounds is very familiar, as is the name, but I haven’t heard a song I know yet. I know it’s not far off though.
For some reason I thought these guys were another alt-rock JJJ band, but it turns out they are a punk/ska band from Florida which in hindsight I believe I already knew. All that really matters though is that they are a whole heap of fun. I’m not sure about the relevance of the fire cannons, seems like something meant more for all of your metalhead friends.
A newlywed couple Cam & Tara join the band onstage with a sign reading “we left our wedding early for this”. Good on them, I hope they’re enjoying themselves. The band comments at the end of the next song that “at least two people are getting laid tonight”. They then launch into a song called The High Cost of Low Living which apparently is about taking drugs at festivals and was also apparently written for The Bennies.
The Bennies jump up for the last song which is possibly called “I Swear It’s the Last Time”. It wasn’t the last time, but this next song might be as a masked B-Boy in a sweat suit with a fat gold chain enters the stage and gets his ska hop on. As they play another song, a new one called Sunnyside, I realise that I was way off the mark and these good times still have some legs left in them. Two songs actually, as I just found out.
And here I am at the end of the set realising that I didn’t know a single one of their songs. It didn’t matter though because they were such a fun band with a whole heap of rocking up-tempo punk/ska songs.
Finally, it’s the Kung Foo Sing, I mean it’s Regurgitator with the Kung Foo Sing. So, now what do I do since they’ve opened with my favourite song of theirs? I guess I’ll have to stick around and wait for them to possibly sing another song I might know. Playing a new one ain’t gonna help with that, but at least they asked for the audience’s permission first.
That last one, the new one, was surprisingly heavy. Then they smash out Polyester Girl and all the girls in the VIP section jump up and run to the front for a dance. The Gurge are a super fun band, and the crowd is now bouncing along to every tune.
They seem to now have an extra member. A female multi-instrumentalist that takes on guitar, bass and keytar as the other band members switch out between vocals. She also has a literal shit ton of hair. I’m not sure of the relevance of that, but it somehow seemed worth a mention. The hair I mean, the multi-instrumental skills are definitely worth a mention.
It must be noted here that I do like their old stuff better than their new stuff. Not that I’ve heard too much of their new stuff, or even that they have any new stuff apart from that heavy one earlier. They play a really old one after telling us they’ll probably fuck it up cause it’s that old that they haven’t played it for a long time. I have no idea what it was called, but it had some pretty serious punk rock vibes.
I wonder what’s at the end of Satans Rainbow, and apparently there’s a sandman about to enter. There’s still two to go though, or so we get told. Things do get the better for you and me as we get a mid-song INXS tribute. We don’t get an encore though which is a bit disappointing.
It was a fucking fun show though, and a great way to end the weekend.
