Live Review: The Blurst Of Times

As punters trickled in, we caught Hockey Dad, who kicked things off with a perfect combination of chilled-out surf vibes and harder-edged rock. The front row found shelter from the summer sun, which meant that the crowd were ready to get involved right from the get-go. Amidst a flurry of beach-blonde hair and drumsticks flying around the stage, the duo seemed humbled and stoked to be playing on such a great line-up.

"At least they steered away from the Hawaiian shirts and fedoras."

Melbourne’s High-tails showered their smallish crowd with punchy alt-rock, with jumpy drums, palm-muted clean guitars, and gutsy choruses. Terrible Day was an upbeat pop number, however, a cover of Cake’s Never There lacked John McCrea’s trademark idiosyncrasies, and didn’t add much else to replace them, and their closer Bending Over Backwards sounded suspiciously like Smash Mouth’s Walkin’ On The Sun. At least they steered away from the Hawaiian shirts and fedoras.

Brisbane’s Babaganouj kept bringing the sunshine, with a brief but enthralling set studded with power-pop gems. Love Loath Love You featured Charles Sale’s shit-hot guitar licks, while new single Bluff gave lead vocal duties to bassist Harriette Pilbeam, and showcased a sweet melody weaving through an intense, powerful musical build-up.

Rolls Bayce, the new trio led by ex-Hungry Kids Of Hungary frontman Dean McGrath, showcased an ultra-riffy, half-blues-half-psych style, and featured McGrath’s pure, melodic vocals. Unfortunately, the pop songwriting that made Hungry Kids so endearing was shelved in favour of jammy, Wolfmother-meets-new-Black-Keys grooves. Not exactly a waste of talent, but not a gamechanger either.

"As usual, chaos was the order of the day."

Bloods’ peppy garage-punk never stretched too far from a four-chord base, but had more than enough energy to back it up. Unfortunately the poorly mic’d drums barely carried to the back row, but if anything it just put more focus on the cool harmonies of Into My Arms, and the rough, upbeat guitars of new single Penelope. Blisteringly fast, and populated by two-minute, Ramones-y punk songs, the set was over far too soon.

A rousing chant of “SPOD! SPOD! SPOD!” brought Brisbane party-monsters Velociraptor on stage, and as usual, chaos was the order of the day. New album tracks like Cool Baby, Cool got bodies moving, but once the better-known stuff started, it was on for young and old in the pit. The World Warriors opener Riot’s title never seemed quite so apt. The madness on stage was reciprocated in the rowdy crowd, and frontman Jeremy Neale knowingly passed the mic throughout the hungry audience, most of whom knew every word.

Regrettably, quite a bit of Donny Benét’s set was lost to audio troubles, and the enigmatic musician’s clever lyrics were lost in a wash of synth and drum pads. Not lost on the crowd, however, were Benet’s obvious chops on the Korg synth, and the elegance of Sophisticated Lover shone through the audio issues: all misplaced, sweaty affection (and finger-snaps). While the guitar solo of Don’t Leave Me Stranded was ear-splittingly loud, it deserved to be.

"Their set finally gave the security guards some work to do."

Fuck knows where he gets the energy, but soon Jeremy Neale was back on stage, this time for a solo set. Beginning with some time-tested EP tracks, Neale then took the chance to bust out some new songs: one, hair-metal explosion Stallion Rider, and another couple which showcased a growing influence from ‘80s music. Neale’s drummer seemed especially enthused by the Phil Collins-esque fills in Neale’s next single The News. Capping it off was In Stranger Times, where Neale not only pulled up a dozen-odd crowd members to sing along, but also a delightful reunion with Ruby McGregor and Babaganouj’s Pilbeam, formerly of Go Violets, who sang back-up on the record.

Finally, DZ Deathrays thundered through an intense closing set. These songs were made for festival crowds, and their set finally gave the security guards some work to do. Singles Northern Lights and Gina Works at Hearts got perhaps the biggest reactions, although DZ had the crowd so amped up the whole time, it was hard to gauge just what the mosh was loving the most. The band felt almost like the bizzaro Hockey Dad: where the first duo brought the crowd onside with humility and sweet songwriting, DZ blew their heads apart with crowdsurfing and brutal distortion. The show-stopping act was the perfect headliner for the festival.

Here’s hoping The Blurst of Times returns next year. While the niche market it caters to (all Mary’s burgers and Sailor Jerry’s cocktails) may not be huge, it’s one that deserves a festival like this, to celebrate some of the best and most unique rock music Australia has to offer.