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Strawberry Fields 2018: Five key performances
- PublishedNov 22, 2018
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- The beloved bush doof celebrates a decade in the wilderness.
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- Ten years ago, the Strawberry Fields seedling was planted on the banks of Australia's mighty Murray River, where it straddles the border of Victoria and New South Wales. Since then, the festival has matured and blossomed about as organically as you could hope, growing from an 800-person event into the five-stage, 8000-ticket bush behemoth you see today. Over time, its original psy-trance roots have made way for sounds from the club, inviting house, techno and disco out into the wilderness, while retaining elements of the kaleidoscopic bush doof aesthetic. The result is a musical environment that's quintessentially Australian.
Strawberry Fields celebrated its tenth anniversary in a new permanent site, still on the banks of the Murray, near the rural town of Tocumwal. Covered from top to bottom with towering gum trees, it featured a more organised and accessible camping area, loads of space to roam around, and, most importantly, a spectacular beach stage, which beckoned people to go for a dip and cool off from the inescapable sun. The location was the only change, though. Diverse and thoughtfully curated music, great sound, intricate stage design, lung-filling, eye-watering dust—all these hallmarks shone through in what was a testament to one of the country's most enduring festivals.
Here are five key performances from the weekend.
DJ Nobu After an afternoon down by the water dominated by the sunny tunes of Wax'o Paradiso, the evening brought heavier vibes over to Wildlands, the festival's sprawling main stage. Peter Van Hoesen laid down the runway for Japan's DJ Nobu, who stepped up for a two-hour closing set in front of a buzzing, if restless, first-night crowd. He immediately went deep, laying a foundation of driving kicks and cascading hats while frantically tweaking the mixer. As the music got harder, faster and darker, he bobbed and weaved like he was facing a sparring partner. Suddenly, about 45 minutes in, the music cut out—seemingly a power issue. Nobu, clutching his hair, helplessly shrugged to the audience, the carefully built momentum suddenly derailed. After five agonising minutes, the music resumed and he wasted no time restoring order to the floor with a heavy thrust of immersive, dynamic techno. The remaining hour was a masterclass in tension and release, of contouring and sculpting, and above all of resilience from a true professional.
Jayda G Once again, Saturday afternoon's MVP was The Beach. The combination of beautiful cold water, the unrelenting heat and a spectacular setup meant everyone who played there did so to a huge, overjoyed crowd that spilled all around the tin hut booth, forming a crude kind of amphitheatre. Adi Toohey and Move D both set the mood perfectly, and by the time Jayda G arrived, the madness had reached new heights. Launching straight into heavy-hitting disco, she busted out hits like Roy Ayers' "Running Away" and played some convincing air timpani to Harvey Mason's "Groovin' You," singing and dancing her heart out while Move D, grinning and filming the crowd, hovered in the background. As the sun began to set over the Murray, disco made way for pumping house peppered with organ, sax, trumpet and every other kind of solo you could imagine. She began constantly one-upping herself with epics like Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and Gwen McCrae's "Keep The Fire Burning" until it just wasn't possible to go any higher. There was nowhere better to be.
Andy Garvey Opening a stage at a festival is rarely an easy task, especially when the days of partying have started to take their toll. Andy Garvey, a rising torchbearer in Sydney's club scene known for her killer taste in electro, was tasked with opening Wildlands. While she never gathered huge numbers on the floor, her set ended up being one of the festival's best. She eased into things with some new age sounds, pads blooming and rich bass bubbling from the huge Funktion-One stacks. From there, she subtly ramped things up until 90 BPM had become 110, then 120, then higher. The set rose and fell beautifully between darker and more ethereal tracks, creating a back-and-forth flow like waves ascending and retreating on the shore. Whether it was stretched-out broken beats, Aphex Twin-like glitches, spacey electro or ravier sounds, it was a gorgeously crafted session from a DJ in total command of her music.
CC:DISCO Strawberry Fields has been the arena for some of the defining sets on CC:DISCO's path to international acclaim. As such, her appearance was always going to be a highlight. By the time she stepped up to Wildlands, a charging crowd had gathered beneath the pastel canopy, ready to blow up the final stretch of the festival. She hopped on the mic and announced, "It's a pretty fucking amazing day, and I'm going back-to-back with someone special. My dad, Harold!" A wave of whoops and hollers. "He's a farmer from down the road, so he's loving this shit today." Save for a slow, romantic opener, the set was underpinned by thundering '80s drums, always topped with a layer of cheesiness that never became too rich. When John Farnham's dramatic "Age Of Reason" got a look in, a group of perfectly dressed Russell Coights roared and the sea of doof sticks bobbed violently. Harold, in his wide brim hat and dark sunnies, filmed the spectacle with a slight smile. After a blizzard of piano solos and percussion, plus some Arabic and African jams, CC:DISCO finally resorted to disco for her last track, a funky-as-hell stunner that left both DJ and audience beaming and applauding as one.
Honey Dijon Before Honey Dijon hit the stage at Wildlands, an odd cake cutting ceremony took place, with two dancers in disco ball helmets and silver onesies giving a loosely choreographed performance to a disco version of "Happy Birthday." When the US DJ appeared, immediately setting the dance floor alight with a soulful house banger, puzzlement made way for utter euphoria. With just four hours of the festival to go, the time for subtlety and nuance was well and truly over. She saw the opportunity to go totally all-out, smashing out high-octane house that sent the crowd into a frenzy beyond anything I'd seen all weekend. Moments like Crystal Water's "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)" and the Eats Everything remix of "Flash" by Green Velvet caused complete carnage. When she finished up with Rhythim Is Rhythim's "Strings Of Life," it almost became too much. ("I'm dying," exclaimed a girl next to me, with a look of exhausted elation on her face.) Carl Craig, who took over, praised Honey Dijon on the mic and invited her to say a few words. "Did you motherfuckers have a good time up in this bitch?" Everybody roared. "You motherfuckers are gonna look like lobsters tomorrow. Have a motherfuckin' great day."
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