Words by Cecilia Pattison-Levi
Pix by Sarah Gilpin Photography
After a huge day yesterday, Day Three at the Mundi Mundi Bash kicked off and then went off. The day was grabbed by the balls and delivered with all the acts smashing it! It was a great line-up, and every act was on point.
For the first time at Mundi Mundi Bash were NSW South Coast based band 19-Twenty, and they set the place on fire with their big rock sound. Virgin had lost the band’s luggage and equipment. They had to borrow everything down to their undies. Even though they had no “tools” – they had their skills and with borrowed gear from Caitlyn Shadbolt, Dario Bortolin, Jak Housden and with help from the guitar tech Randall, the 19-Twenty took the day by the throat and delivered an amazing rock set. The 19-Twenty are Kane Dennelly, Jeremy Berg and Johnny G Gwilliam and this band just exploded as a ball of pure energy on stage.
The high-octane blast performed by 19-Twenty came through their songs Big Love that had the KISS song I Was Made For Lovin’ You, Dead or Alive‘s You Spin Me Round, and the White Stripes Seven Nation Army mashed-up through it. Johnny G had an “electric bass” and with no double bass, he was compared to a decaf coffee. But he showed that was a lie as he played a bass solo like a demon and spun on the floor while doing his solo. It was incredible.
It was big fun all the way with 19-Twenty as they gave the crowd singing lessons and blasted through Stop Me Now, Just Don’t Understand It, Drivin’ With The Brakes On, You’re Not My Problem and Wasn’t For The Beat. There were so many great songs mashed with classics like Deep Purple’s Smoke On The Water and Rednex’s Cotton Eye Joe. 19-Twenty were one of the best starting bands I have ever seen. Their performance was just stunning!
After that, the borrowed material was returned to its owners. Those owners took to the stage to support The Chantoozies. And girl groups collided on stage as the house band had Robyn Lau (Girlfriend) and Miranda Carey’s fabulous voices matched to The Chantoozies’ Ally Flower and Eve von Bibra. It sounded great. Their fabulous (and I do mean fabulous, sparkly blue booted guitarist, Jak Housden was just great at helping fill out the guitar melodies underneath the singer’s delivery.
They started with Stephen Still’s cover Love The One You’re With and got the crowd singing along. They followed it quickly with the Redbone cover of The Witch Queen of New Orleans, which was a hit for them in the late 1980s. It was a very quick set as they brought a few of their original infectious hit songs like Kiss ’n’ Tell and Wanna Be Up out for an airing, and they sounded good. The Mundi Mundi crowd were singing along at full volume.
The Chantoozies had the phenomenal backing band in bassist Dario Bortolin, the amazing drummer Gordon Rytmeister, guitarist Jak Housden, and keyboardist Colin Coorie. The girls finished their set with a cover of Promises’ Baby, It’s You, as produced by Brian Canham from Pseudo Echo and Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While). They brought the bop, and the Mundi Mundi Bash faithful were pop heaven.
The stage was then reconfigured, and a destruction-proof microphone stand was put in place as it was time for Mi-Sex. Mi-Sex’s band members were Dario Bortolin (bass), Jak Housden (guitar and his blue boots), Colin Coorie (keys) and Gordon Rytmeister (drums) and they joined Steve Balbi (lead vocals) and Murray Burns (master musician and keyboards) to deliver Graffiti Crimes and six other amazing songs.
Steve Balbi did the first song with his fly down, but as he said: ‘I got away with it” as he zipped it up. He then addressed the “rock’n’roll travellers” as the true believers and then launched into Falling In And Out With You – the crowd loved it, and it was gold!
Mi-Sex followed with their outstanding, powerful songs, But You Don’t Care the crowd favourite Blue Day, the fun Castaway and the classic Computer Games. Balbi performed, and then he took off up to the big Caterpillar truck and sang People. The response from the crowd was enormous. Mi-Sex were tight, and they got the crowd rockin’ and “glad to be alive” and loving the flame of great music alive.
Next, Queensland’s Brad Cox brought his amazing songwriting, his golden voice and his signature blend of country-rock swagger to the stage. His banner said: Who The F**k Is Brad Cox, and I did want to know. I found out that Brad Cox is an amazing singer-songwriter of country-adjacent tunes and melodies with the swagger and drinking from wine bottles (glasses, who needs them?). He is a must-see for any music or country music fan with his raw storytelling and big-hearted ballads.
His songwriting was gold: Acres, Now She Ain’t, his song about Queensland Sunset Psalm, the amazing flipping the bird classic The Boxer, the rock ballad of Remedy, the song about his girl and his dog Beau, Lakehouse and the powerful and revealing Everything I’ve Got were all magic. Top quality songs! Cox’s singing voice is filled with raw emotion and his band (Hunter, James and Jai) were tight. They provided a solid backdrop to his powerful vocals, and having Matt Smith (Thristy Merc) playing with them was just a fantastic bonus – he is an amazing guitarist. With his bottle of red wine in his hand, sitting on the drum riser, the final song of his set, Beer And Fishing, filled the Mundi Mundi venue with his humour and sweet melodies.
After a short break, keyboards were placed into position, and Birds Of Tokyo did a short sound check. It was time to hear them perform their first-ever set at the Mundi Mundi Bash, and the Perth alternative rockers smashed it!
Birds of Tokyo hit the stage with purpose as the lead vocalist Ian Kenny led the band of drummer Adam Weston, bass player Ian Berney, guitarist Adam Spark and Glenn Sarangapany on keys to deliver their opening song Silhouettic. The crowd roared as the band quickly played Smith St, an ode to the beloved Melbourne street by the same name. The following songs were fan favourites: Plans, Two Of Us, Brace,Lion, Unbreakable and The Great Mistakes. It was one huge sing along after another. Weston never missed a beat as he slid seamlessly between the songs, one after the other. The crowd were eating up every bite.
Birds of Tokyo finished the set with Lanterns, which saw everyone (that’s over 15000 people) singing along with them as the sun set. It was a beautiful and spectacular sight to see, and an incredible moment to be a part of at the Mundi Mundi Bash. Then, the stage was re-arranged as the DJ revved up the crowd for Missy Higgins, which even she thought was odd as: “my music is not quite like that”.
Higgins was very young when her mix of folk-pop and indie music hit the Australian public. Her raw and vulnerable lyrics, paired with strength, gained her a huge following, and she demonstrated that with her headline set. She opened with Watering Hole, a raw, introspective track about personal struggles. She followed up with Going North and Set Me On Fire, which is a fiery anthem about yearning for freedom and release from emotional burdens; its soaring chorus ignited the crowd with energy. Next, Higgins started to play songs from her extensive back catalogue as she mixed in Don’t Ever and Katie from the Sound Of White album. The songs Ten Days and her new song, the country-tinged Craters followed. There was a transition with a cover of Sabrina Carpenter’s Coincidence, and then she performed her revenge songs Peachy and Futon Couch, which were all upbeat, feel-good tracks that injected a sense of joy and carefree spirit into the performance reflecting her playful side. She then performed the dance track with cowbells Nothing To Hide before returning to the piano to play, This Is How It Goes which is a song filled with introspection and emotional depth, capturing the bittersweet nature of life’s uncertainties.
Higgins performed some eclectic songs such as: The Inbetween, New Year’s Eve and the Special Two before she got to delivering the magnificent song, Scar. She thanked her band: Sarah, Matt, Alana, Leigh and Zoe as they kept everything grounded before they finished and closed out the set with Steer.
The last band to grace the stage was a combination of the terrific house band and the singers Iota, Steve Balbi, and Bryden Stace, with guitarist Kathleen Halloran and a lovely saxophone player. They delivered an amazing performance of Ziggy – 50 Years of David Bowie. The show was a musical journey through David Bowie’s iconic catalogue of songs.
The Ziggy – 50 Years of David Bowie set was so good – it smashed it! The house band were fantastic as Jak Housden provided the guitar riffs. The singers channelled David Bowie’s music with their own interpretations, and they brought his fabulous songs to life. I saw David Bowie when he toured his Serious Moonlight show, and I wish I had a time machine to see it again. But this version gave the crowd the opportunity to sing these fantastic rock songs out loud and together.
Personally, I think every David Bowie song is a winner, from: Heroes, Let’s Dance, Fame, Young American, Diamond Dogs, Rebel Rebel, Moonage Daydream and more. But the highlights were Steve Balbi delivering the opening song Ziggy Stardust and the superb rendition of Life On Mars. Iota’s delivery of Blue Jean was awesome, and Bryden Stace’s performance of Changes and Space Oddity were very good.
The whole band Dario Bortolin (bass), Jak Housden (guitar), Colin Coorie (keys) and Gordon Rytmeister (drums) and the saxophone player whose pants must have been tight to get that high note, along with Robyn Lau and Miranda Carey, performed an awesome set that no one wanted to see end. But it did with the amazing Heroes.
The Mundi Mundi Bash put on the best day of music for fans of Australian pop and rock. Will Day Four best it? We will see.
