My great escape

Tonight I’ve decided to blog. Maybe only because for once I have something worth writing about. I went to the Great Escape Festival on the long weekend and it was mostly a positive experience. I haven’t really been to a big festival before. The only one before this was The Feelgood Festival on New Years Day. That was much smaller. Here are some of my thoughts on the weekend. There’s a lot to go through so just feel free to skim through to parts you might wanna read about.

Friday

Mostly crap, really. Started out poorly too. Our prepaid Moshtix tickets allowed us to line up in the exclusive Moshtix line, which was actually much longer and slower than the line to buy tickets on the spot. The wait was about 40 minutes or so. Oh yeah, we also saw our friend Shuai in the line, laughed in his face for having pre-bought tickets, went to the Ticketek line, got rejected, then had to join the back of the line that he was in. Great start. Here’s the rest of the day.

The Fumes: we heard two songs. I loved it. Hard blues/rock. Awesome vocalist/guitarist and energetic drummer. Actually got a called for an encore. I only saw two other acts who got asked to come back. More on them later.

Unkle Ho: We came into the Bunker, saw a guy starting up his laptop and walked out.

The Dawn Collective: First song – this is ok. Second song – eh, alright. Third – I’m bored. Out of here. There’s a guy playing an electric cello in the band, if that says anything.

Dave Graney: Walked passed his stage. He was telling a joke. Or maybe he was singing.

Arabesk: The ONLY act all weekend that started late. Then when they started, they got my attention for about 10 minutes. Half the stage was taken up by the drummer, and guitarist and whichever other musicians where there. The other half was left empty so that the fiddler could jump around and act like Danny Bhoy doing an impersonation of an Irishman.

Hawksley Workman: Played all 3 days. He’s actually not bad. Like Adam Duritz on weed. Halfway through the show the jumping kangaroos invade the crowd and he goes ‘Oh my god, it’s just like my dream!’ and someone shouts ‘Look, they’ve got testicles!’ and then Hawksley starts unbuttoning his shirt. I get up to leave not long after.

Something for Kate: Solid standard rock band performance. The kind of band that built Triple J’s rep back in the early 90s, when they grew on trees. I find their bass player sexy (NB. Their bass player is a woman).

Mia Dyson: The highlight of Friday for me. Started out a little slow built it up and by the middle of her show, she’d packed out the Grove. She’s like Australia’s answer to Melissa Etheridge but more bluesey and less angst. Very energetic performance.

The Darling Downs: I can’t remember them. That’s how good they were.

Silverchair: I’ve never been a fan but they were pretty good. And really packed out the Village Green like no other act on Friday. I left after hearing Open Fire, which is my favourite Silverchair song. I was satisfied.

Blue King Brown: They played some percussion thing, which was cool. Then the girl said ‘This is a song about freedom. So that we can one day have freedom in this country and not have to tolerate our evil government blah blah blah…’ Are you kidding me?! Do you know what country you live in?! Freedom?! From what?! Bad trains?! I left.

Martha Wainwright: ‘Be kind,’ she says. ‘It’s a folk festival after all.’ Er… no it’s not. Are you sure you know where you are? Granted she got a raw deal by getting a lot of feedback but continually going ‘Sorry I have to stop this song. Can we get more vocal? Can we get more guitar?’ got a bit annoying. When she played she was pretty good though.

From here, it’s all downhill…

Sigur Ros: Headlining? Are you kidding?! Over Silverchair? Really? Where are they from? Iceland? Melodramatic to the max. The guy plays his guitar with a bow and from the silhouette it looks like he’s murdering someone. Slowly. I know some people worship this band but I found them excruciating. I’d describe them as a castrati singing to chill out music. Or a whale trying to impersonate Chris Martin. Here’s a question: They’re from Iceland and they sound weird. Bjork is also from Iceland and she sounds weird. Would Icelandic people listen to Shannon Noll or Delta Goodrem and say ‘Man, what is this weird sh*t?’

Waiting for Guinness: Like Arabesk with singing. Bohemian. I think. I dunno. Didn’t stay long enough.

Stephen Cummings: Pretty good, but man he looks old.

Connie Chang’s Cabaret Roadshow: Three things you need to know about the Connie Chang Roadshow, should someone one day ask you to come see their show. One, Connie Chang sings cover numbers like ‘Fame’. Two, Connie Chang is not Chinese. Three, Connie Chang is a man. I’m not placing any judgements, but you just gotta know these things.

DJ Skoob: We thought he was a guy doing a sound check. For serious.

We went home. It was cold.

Saturday

Better start. No lines.

The Vasco Era: Another rock/blues outfit. Australia’s answer to the White Stripes. Absolutely awesome! The front has real star quality. Works the stage, excellent guitarist, great percussionist, great screamer. And he tends to stick his index finger up in a ‘wait a minute’ kind of sign as he sings. I hope to watch them again real soon. The surprise find of the weekend for me.

Joel Plaskett: Entertaining skinny geeky guy with a guitar of the Mraz mold. Also played all three days. He talked more than he sang, which was fine. Set was ruined because some hippie group about 20 metres away was paying their respects to the sun or a bunny or something. Really loud. The jumping kangaroos came again. Someone says ‘Hey look, they’ve got testicles!’

Eskimo Joe: I like them. Melodic, light, pleasant. I never realised how much like Matchbox 20 they are.

Liz Martin: Girl with guitar. I don’t recall too well.

The Audreys: I’m a fan. Not a big fan but a fan. Light whimsical country/folk. The lead singer, who I think is named Tasha (or I could just be making it up because it’s late), is quite sassy. I dig her.

APRA sessions: These were just Q&A sessions with songwriters about stuff. I just went because Lior was there.

Andy Clockwise: I skipped Juan de Marcos’ Afro Cuban Allstars because generally I’ve never understood the fascination with Latino music. Andy Clockwise turned out to be good value. He looked a bit like Dr Who or Where’s Wally, just scruffier. I wouldn’t pay much to see him but I was borderline impressed.

Femi Kuti: African guy with a sax. I wish I skipped this. Because…

Rodrigo y Gabriela: These guys were the most impressive act of the weekend. Hands down. I wouldn’t buy their CD (but would welcome a copy if someone downloads it…) Just a guy and a girl playing guitars. No singing. Absolutely awesome. He’s the picker. She’s the powerhouse. Combinations of strumming and slapping. Wow. They’re awesome. The Riverside filled up and people were standing on chairs and tables. It was like a secret gathering, everyone feeling lucky they’re not watching some African dude and his sax. These guys would have brought the house down if they had not been playing outdoors. For the record, two tables broke due to them. This was the second act that I saw that got asked for an encore. They obliged.

The Bird: I think we saw them. Can’t remember who or what they were though.

The Black Keys: The main blues/rock act of the weekend but in my opinion, they were outplayed by our own acts, The Fumes and The Vasco Era, or even Ash Grunwald if you want to include him. Not that the Black Keys were bad at all but our local boys are better.

Karaoke: We kept warm. That was good.

Paulmac: Here’s the thing with Paulmac, he’s a DJ so I excuse him for having a deck as an instrument, which I would normally scoff at. And he writes very middle of the road songs (with maybe the exception ‘Just the thing’). And I would never buy his albums, even if it was $5. But… both times I’ve seen him live have been VERY VERY entertaining. I have no idea why. Maybe it’s his energy. Or maybe it’s just cos he’s such a genuinely likeable guy. Whatever, it was a really cool set. ‘Just the thing’ and ‘Sweetness and light’ (I think that’s the name of it) really brought the Big Top down. He’s the final act that garnered an encore call, though due to curfew restrictions, he couldn’t oblige the crowd.

We went home. It was even colder than Friday. And smellier. It was very smelly.

Sunday

Entrance no dramas.

Claire Bowditch and the Feeding Set: What’s the difference between her and Sarah Blasko and Missy Higgins and all those other girls with guitars singing twee ‘singer-songwriter’ songs? Beats the hell out of me. I was very underwhelmed. Not bad. But what’s with the hype? She’s likeable enough I suppose.

Perry Keyes: Another surprise packet. A very likeable folk and old time rock and roll act. I stayed watching him much longer than expected.

Lior: The first big act of the day. Look, I am obviously a fan. Seen him perform five times and counting… but I can’t help but think that he’s lost something. He’s become a star. Not that he’s become an arsehole but I think his act is too polished now. Too much playing it up to screaming girls (like what I said about John Mayer). And fist pumps after songs. His performances used to have a wide eyed ‘man, I can’t believe I’m performing to this many people’ kind of feel about them. I’m sticking with him though. I like the direction he’s going musically… yep… you guessed it, more blues.

Paul Greene: I think we walked pass him.

Ash Grunwald: Yet another surprise. I always thought ‘surfie, guitar, probably reggae’. Nope I was wrong. He’s another hard blues man. (This festival was really a blues and roots festival with other stuff tacked on. Martha was right after all.) Very likeable down-to-earth guy, lots of energy, amazing guitar skills. All his songs kinda sound the same but still very good.

Now comes the dilemma. Xavier Rudd, Josh Pyke and Butterfly 9 overlapping times heavily. I decide to give each act half an hour.

Xavier Rudd: I wish I could have stayed longer. He was really cool. Sitting on the big stage all by himself on a podium with drums, little chimes and other percussions, three didgeridoos and guitars and with a harmonica around his neck. This set had this vibe to that. Made people in the crowd look genuinely happy. I mean, there was a little too much hippie-ness in him for my liking but I left wishing I could stay for longer. ‘Let me be’ was breathtaking.

Josh Pyke: Hmmm… I love ‘Middle of the hill’ but I dunno about the rest of his songs. Not bad, but again, guys like him with guitars singing mid-tempo songs practically grow on trees. He’s like a Claire Bowditch except I like him a bit better because I have a gender bias.

Butterfly 9: They’re a little soppy and daggy and there were maybe only twenty other people watching them with us but I love them. These guys need more confidence because their music is beautiful. I’ve seen them three times now and they remain one of my favourite Aussie acts. Here’s hoping they get noticed…

Bernard Fanning: I love this album, and although his performance wasn’t bad, it was really no-frills and workman-like. I remember seeing him in an early Powderfinger show and he had this charm about him. Now he just seems to play his stuff and then leave. Nothing more to it. Maybe he was annoyed that Donovan Frankfurter or whatever his name is got top billing ahead of him. But this was pretty much just like listening to his CD but really loud.

The Mountain Goats: The guy has the same singing style as Cosmo Whatshisname from Weezer, except the Goats do more folky tunes and less rock. We left early but only after they fortuitously played my three favourite songs of theirs first: ‘This year’, ‘Dance music’ and ‘Love love love’. They’re OK. I don’t love them.

Bob Evans (real name, Kevin Mitchell from Jebediah): I absolutely loved this album when it came out a few years ago. And for some reason, nobody noticed it. They’re great country/folk-tinged pop songs. I was reminded of how much I liked these songs and surprised by how well I remember how to sing along to them. In fact, I sang along more to Bob Evans than any to other act on the weekend.

Decoder Ring: An Apple I-book is NOT a musical instrument. Do I need to repeat myself?

We went home. It was cold again.

My personal highlights

Best act of the weekend: Rodrigo y Gabriela

Best new band discovery: The Vasco Era

Best female act: Mia Dyson

Best male act: Xavier Rudd or Bob Evans

Best party: Paulmac

Best realisation: That there are many random people that I wish I could hit with a rubber-coated mallet. Pity I’m a pacifist, an abider of the law, and just plain non-psychotic, really.

Best sideshow: the be-testicled jumping kangaroos (not just because I know one of them personally through work)

Worst act: Maybe Unkle Ho… all 30 seconds of what we heard.

Worst big act: Sigur Ros… sorry, these guys are a joke.

Most annoying: Either smokers who blow smoke in my direction or random moments of hippie-ness, like random dancing and sun worshipping and whatnot.

Second most annoying: That we have to wear those stupid entry armbands for all three days. Yes they survived multiple showerings, but still…

Biggest stinker: The fact that every night was headlined by an international act, while there were better, and more locally famous, Aussie acts playing before them. Sigur Ros over Silverchair, The Black keys over… actually, there wasn’t anything else that major on that night (Paulmac could fit the bill as a headliner but his set was much more suited to the Big Top anyway rather than the main stage.) and Donovan Frankenstein over Bernard Fanning. I know that this is probably the only way they can get the international acts to come. But it still stinks.

Best food: A toss up between the Hare Krishna food and the woodfire nachos.

Most amusing thing to be followed by moments of disgust and concern: Blowing my nose every night to find that my snot was black.