- In the days leading up to the Good Vibrations Festival, all I could think was "please don't let it rain." Sunday I awoke to blue skies and packing paper and pen I headed off to the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. Thankfully this year there had been a change in procedure somewhere as instead of being part of a huge line of ticket-bearing souls, I was able to just walk straight up and in after flashing my ticket. Smooth. So where to start when there are 4 stages and a HUGE lineup?
First stop - Ben Watt on the Mischief Stage in one mighty crowded corner of the grounds. It seemed to me that a few ideas on swapping stage location/orientation didn't quite work. The Mischief stage had a capacity crowd in front of it most of the day, but it was close company between stage, fence and the paths. The Roots Stage suffered from a path separating the dancers on the grass from those laidback spectators on the hill, and the B-Bar Marquee offered an excellent dancefloor, but only a small area opening onto the hill where people sat down to watch and listen. Was it just me or did the fence seem closer in this year?!
Anyway back to Ben Watt. Listening to his housey groove you got just what you'd expect if you have some Lazy Dog Cds in your collection. Deep house with some twists and a dash of latin. He did it well and drew a contented and happy crowd in the afternoon heat. If you need more catch him at Seven on Saturday (19 Feb), and check out the very cute website of his new venture Buzzin' Fly Records.
Around at the Mainstage the sound was loud and clear in the music bowl. Amp Fiddler was centre stage with his backup band around him, but the music just didn't grab me so I was off wandering again. Next stop Max Sedgley at the B-Bar. Now my ears were happy! Max had the groove and we were funking it with the whole tent dancing madly and singing "I wish those days could come back once more." Ahhh, Stevie Wonder's "I Wish" hit the spot perfectly in the afternoon heat. Next up was the good looking slightly greying older guy I'd been standing next to before I started dancing. Oops! He was one half of the duo representing the Jazzanova DJ-team. The Berlin-based Jazzanova production sound is just the kind of stuff I love and know through Compost Records. Think melodic, percussive, jazz influenced and incorporating everything from house, d&b, triphop, brazil, latin, funk and boogie. Very danceable and they got my thumbs up!
Now it was time to dash down to the bowl again. Arrested Development were in full flight with a superb rendition of "The Message/Like a Jungle." Before settling in though I checked in at the Roots Stage. The hip hop fans not at A.D. were waiting for the change over as Lyrics Born's keyboardist and drummer set up. Finally Lyric's Born himself came on stage with his well talented back-up singer. I liked what I heard, but with a timetabling clash I made the decision to head back to A.D.
I wanted a taste of this music heritage and I definately got it! I was already in awe of Arrested Development's superb stagecraft, but it slowly dawned on me that I knew so many of their songs! I can't say their name meant much to me before the day but here I was singing along with Speech to "Tennessee" and loving it. They had the entire crowd involved for "People Everyday" after training the girls to sing one line and the boys in the audience to sing another. These tunes might have been old, but A.D. also had some equally great new stuff on their forthcoming new album. A.D.'s stage presence was huge with the three sometimes four vocalists, lots of dancing, a mad drum solo and quieter moments such as Speech singing a hauntingly beautiful version of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song." I was enjoying every minute of this show and then it came, their anthemic tune "Mr Wendell" absolutely went off when they did it for the close. I'd definately see them again I was so awestruck!
I must have been missing part of the picture for Mylo's live set in the Music Bowl. I've got to say it, I know he has a LOAD of fans, but that electro-synthy sound just didn't grab me. It did 1000+ other people, so I left them to it. I was off to the Roots Stage to get the lowdown on the Handsome Boy Modeling School. Handsome Boy is a team of quirky super-producers Prince Paul (best-known for his work with De la Soul and Stetsasonic) and Dan "The Automator" Nakamura (Gorillaz). It took the Handsome Boy crew a while to get their audience warmed up with a lot of talking between tracks, and those of us chilling on the hill being too far away to feel engaged. While people were dissapointed that Prince Paul had stayed home for me the highlight was seeing Amp Fiddler come on stage and talk about what he'd gained from his course at the school and do a number. Such personality! He rocked! Also great to hear was "Dr Octogon" from 1997 when Dan "The Automator" worked with Kool Keith.
As the evening was getting closer to the end there was a distinct flat spot at 8.30 as acts changed on a lot of sets. We were all twiddling thumbs except for Layo & Bushwacka who were playing a distinctly unexciting set at the Mischief stage. Not sure if they lost their crowd later to the Scissor Sisters, or even before then. I went around to have a look at the Scissor Sister's acclaimed live show, but once again, I was leaving the 1500+ fans to it because their brand of "tough" US pop just didn't do it for me. I know they don't care who I sleep with, where i live or if I wear Louis Vitton or Target, but I didn't want to be a Scissor Sister tonight, so this carhartt wearer went off searching for more engaging sounds. In fairness though, when they were done with the talking and got on with the singin I did overhear a rousing version of the catchy Franz Ferdinand tune "Take Me Out." I liked that one.
It was a case of the clash once again with Tayo busting out a tough breaks set in the B-bar and Brazillian drum'n'bass DJ Patife with MC Cleveland Watkiss on the Roots Stage. I once again ran circles round the GV site to work out where I truely wanted to be. D'n'B it was! While Patife was ever so slowly buildind up his set after an afternoon of hip hop DJs and acts, it was very dissapointing when surprise guest MC Stamina asked everyone to move in closer because they had been asked to turn the sound down. D'n'B needs volume and this made me feel like I was in my loungeroom (only outdoors). To compensate the oh so sauve MC Cleveland came down first behind the barrier and then around almost into the crowd to increase the feeling of intimacy. Meanwhile STamina was leading things on the stage while Patife just kept his head down in
concentration as he played loads of gorgeous brazillian drum'n'bass, house remixes and Hospital tunes. Crowd pleasing all the way because we just don't hear this stuff enough!
Overall I'd say I had a good day at G.V. this year, but niggling things like timetable clashes kept me from exploiting the full potential of the festival and seeing everybody I wanted to see. While no one act had me rooted to the spot for their entire show with the exception of Arrested Development, but I did see a lot of acts that were new to me and delighted me enough that I will either seek out their music or see them again. This factor will keep me coming back, just as it inspired me to go last year.