Live Review: The Blurst Of Times

It's a bright afternoon in Brisbane, the afternoon sunlight peeking out over the top of buildings and falling in patches on the street, and the autumn wind brings smells of winter, but also carries the whisper of guitar and the excited chatter of hundreds of guests all making their way to The Brightside to collect their wristbands for multi-venue day festival The Blurst Of Times. 

From the second we're in we're drawn towards the sounds of drums and singing and that tell-tale guitar from earlier, and we bustle out the back to the car park stage and see Cronulla up-and-comer Ruby Fields already smashing out her to-die-for set.

There's a disappointingly small crowd, but it is still early, with many people quietly observing from the shade of umbrellas a little too far from the stage to be comfortable. What we catch of Fields' set before we head back inside is beautiful and brutal; a voice and message almost similar to that of Courtney Barnett.

"It's hard to find anyone who isn't dancing around."

We make it inside in time to see local Brissy gals Voiid finish setting up and start to have a bit of a chatter to their small crowd. It's cute and polite and then, without a second thought, they smash straight into their first song and it's anything but.

They're a four-piece screaming, shredding, garage punk machine, with frontwoman Anji Greenwood kicking her legs out and dancing about the stage, while guitarist Kate McGuire rips through power cords like she was born with a guitar in her hands.

Up next on The Brightside stage is another local act, the boisterous Concrete Surfers. They're fun and full of energy from the very second they start playing, and to be fair, it's hard to say if frontman Jovi Brook has stopped moving since he walked on stage. They draw in a few more people into their crowd from outside and other venues, and it's hard to find anyone who isn't dancing around at least a little bit.

The first act we get to see at the iconic Black Bear Lodge featured Sydney's all-girl alternative act Body Type. Playing their first ever show in Brisbane and packing half of the lodge (which is no easy feat), festival-goers are enjoying listening to a nice blend of consistently light and trebly guitar riffs with a mellow, dreamy rock vibe.

We head back to The Brightside for our next act, and we find them already set up and playing out in the car park - the ever-enigmatic Sweater Curse. Every time we see this band we're blown away and left in awe, and today is no exception. Even the way they move up on stage seems aimlessly perfect, almost angelic, and their music is no different. The way it makes you feel is a true art form.

If there's a single act on the Blurst line-up ready to impress, it's electronic indie-rocker Machine Age. Out on The Brightside car park stage, recording guru Adrian Mauro begins with a beautiful intro of ambient progressions leading into their first track. Throughout the set, the band consistently displays a gorgeous connection and blend of onstage synths, drum rolls, light backing tracks and an absolute tease of guitar prowess. Through each track, Mauro delivers powerful vocal expressions while putting on a breath-taking performance.

"If you missed out on this set, oh boy, you missed out."

Coming straight from the end of Machine Age's performance, it's time to head back inside The Brightside. Melbourne-based artist Evan Klar and his band deliver an interesting and vibrant display of double percussion sets and rousingly delayed guitar lead lines. Recently releasing his new track Barefoot, Evan Klar seems ready to impress festival punters at The Brightside by consistently moving around stage and continuously getting his band into a crazy fit of enjoyment.

All too suddenly we're back at The Foundry, the stage is filled with women in brightly coloured suits, and the crowd is abuzz with excitement. There seems to be a little difficulty with the tech on stage, but soon enough there's guitars, there's drums, there's synth, and there's the powerful voice of Rackett vocalist Bec Callandar echoing through the building. It's intense, it's magical.

Callandar puts down her guitar after a few songs and jumps down into the crowd to dance with us, reaching out to hold hands and scratch heads and go a little wild, and it's honestly the greatest thing ever. If you missed out on this set, oh boy, you missed out.

Up next, Brisbane boys Columbus immediately rush into an amazing punk rock set, teasing the line-up of their upcoming national tour with Dear Seattle. Having recently released their new EP Next To Me, Columbus keeps the crowd going by smashing out aggressive drumming and great smiles all around. The band successfully convinces a small group of punters to mosh & dance around to tracks off the new EP, as well as other crowd favourites such as Downsides Of Being Honest and Replace Me. Overall, Columbus have been a great experience.

Following such an energetic set at The Foundry, winding down a gorgeously mellow set was Jack River back over at Black Bear Lodge. Jack River gives the audience a well-needed rest from the continuous energy of Blurst, by playing blissfully ambient tracks such as Nothing's Gonna Hurt You Baby. But after swaying from side to side with this beautifully mellow track, River rips right into a cover of Tal Bachman's She's So High to get the crowd going once again. River then closes with fan favourite Palo Alto to bring back a lovely, mellow mood.

Every time local boys The Creases play their hometown, they sure bring a crowd. Every single time. The Brightside car park is packed, it's hard to get anywhere close. They just look like they belong up there, like the gods they probably are.

Joe Agius' voice rings out clean and strong across the sea of people, all the way to us at the back, and after such a long night, we're content with leaning against the nearest mall and having a little break instead of fighting our way through the masses.

They bust out recent single Everybody Knows towards the end, followed by fan favourite Impact, and suddenly it feels like their set is over too quickly, for soon enough, they're finishing up and the sea of people move inside or elsewhere.

We run back to Black Bear Lodge just in time to see Melbourne great, Alex Lahey. Lahey - about to kick off her fast-selling Wes Anderson tour - consistently gives everyone smiles while chatting to some of her fans. Kicking off with energetic vibes, Lahey smashes out fan favourites Wes Anderson, L-L-L-Leave Me Alone and Let's Go Out. To anyone who has to leave early to see Skegss back at The Brightside car park, this was truly a set that should not have been missed.

If we had enough energy left in our bodies, we'd be jumping up and down and dancing around with excitement in anticipation for Skegss, but instead we sneak our way up to the front of the barricade and wait until they walk on stage. The crowd shrieks with joy the second they do, and after a bit of cheeky banter, they head straight into their set.

They play Get On My Skateboard and Slayer nice and early, and we find ourselves trapped between the barricade and the mosh pit, but nobody seems to be particularly violent. A few people try to crowdsurf during New York California but are quickly pulled down by security. Just as midnight ticks over, the band plays fan favourite Mustang and the crowd goes absolutely mental - it's a sight to see.

Skegss give a little shout-out and a 'happy birthday' to friend Ruby Fields after the song finishes, before smashing out a couple more before they finish on last year's hit single Spring Has Sprung. Long after the humming of guitar has faded, there's still calls for an encore, even while security tries to herd the hundreds of punters out of the car park like lost sheep. Many people stick around for the Skegss DJ set at The Brightside, but we see a fair few people head towards The Foundry for the fabled Bris 182 Blurst after party, while many more begin the trek home.

What a night.