Live Review: Southbound

For the tenth year running, Southbound once again held the reigns as WA's first music festival of the year, and punters were more eager than ever to get down to the grounds to set up camp, with tents stretching all the way back to the camping entrance by 9am. Kicking things off on the outdoor stage on Friday morning was Stagebound winners Indigo, who warmed up the early crowd with an upbeat blend of indie rock reminiscent of John Butler. Simone & Girlfunkle lifted the game even higher on their stage, infecting everybody under the tent with a ridiculously catchy mix of breezy dream-pop. Sydney's The Preatures were super sexy, wooing the growing crowd with some good ol' fashioned rock'n'roll, and White Denim taught us a lesson with some complex time signature changes and expertly performed guitar solos.

Big Scary began their set as a duet; showcasing some material in its rawest form, before calling on the bassist and synth player to join them in creating a larger sound. Violent Soho entertained those of us looking for something heavier to rock out to, of which there were many, before The War On Drugs created this kind of heroic melancholy that had the audience in a state of hazy love. Chet Faker's soul-ly voice was a great additive to the mostly indie mix, and Bonobo's smooth electronica worked an absolute treat. The Cat Empire was fantastic – you still can't beat a collective groove-a-long to Hello. Grizzly Bear has their faithful fans swooning to their dream-pop tunes, and RÜFÜS fans were rewarded with an incredible electronic performance. The day's comedy stylings from Amos Gill, Nath Valvo and Ronny Chieng sadly fell on an inappropriate audience, with one-two punchlines of poo jokes and general vulgarity that had only the obscenely drunk laughing. Hip hop MC and DJ combo Horrorshow saved the day, convincing the audience to sing along to Take A Walk On The Wild Side, before breaking into their rendition of Can I Kick It?

Johnny Marr delivered a steamrolling set and The Rubens followed up with a crowd-pleasing set of sweet indie tunes. Touch Sensitive entertained with his mixing desk and bass guitar, before The Roots entertained each other and the audience, with multiple extended instrumental solos and a guest performance from MC Blackthought for what ended up being one of the best sets of the weekend. !!! (Chk Chk Chk) kept the momentum up under the tent with an incredible dance-punk performance, led by the freakishly bizarre Nic Offer, who bounded from one end of the stage to the other and jumped the barrier into the crowd on multiple occasions. Winding things up under the cover was Flight Facilities, who had the good grace to be punters' pilots as the crowd wound down from a phenomenal day, featuring a guest appearance from Owl Eyes, which the audience lapped up. Vampire Weekend wrapped things up on the outdoor stage, mixing things up with tunes spreading across their now quite diverse musical catalogue. The Coconut Club kept those of us who weren't dead on our feet entertained for a while after, and the stage has most certainly sealed itself as a keeper for the festival in years to come, with strong crowd enjoying the beats laid down by the likes of Frankie Button and Anna Lunoe.

Gunns kicked things off on day two of Southbound with some lo-fi indie-rock, before WAM Song Of The Year winner Mathas drew in the crowds with his own brand of socially observant and conscious hip hop. Asta followed on the sunny stage with a trail of gold, red and blue streamers behind her as she danced across it, while Californian fuzz-rocker Hanni El Khatib provided an excellent injection of dirty rock and roll into the day, just to break up the dance music a little bit.  The Paper Kites had emotions flying high with some delicately beautiful indie-pop, and Oliver Tank's dreamwave tunes were lapped up too. Gossling's blend of indie-rock was super cute, and Tom Odell's vocal and piano-playing mix was a joy to the ears. Bombino's African stylings were positively brilliant, despite the smaller crowd, while The John Steel Singers pulled in punters easily with their friendly nature and super catchy rock tunes. Thankfully, the day's comedy routines were a cut above the previous two - David Callan is to be noted, finishing off his routine by doing the only thing he could to compete with Solange Knowles, who was creating a huge buzz on the stage opposite: a fully choreographed and accompanied dance number to her sister's hit, Crazy In Love.

With his indefatigable falsetto and appropriately ambient indie backing band, James Vincent McMorrow came through with a music reboot, and Emma Louise followed with a similarly ambient and groovy set. Pond were another highlight with some fantastic psychedelic rock, and the Violent Femmes took us down memory lane in fantastic fashion. Wave Racer got everybody suitably loose with a DJ set well placed at sunset, before Thundamentals worked us into a sweat with their bouncy hip hop-infused beats.

Neil Finn took to the stage for his headline spot, featuring a back-up vocal troupe. He dedicated Don't Dream It's Over to the recently late Phil Everly, and he finished by sitting in a rubber dinghy that had washed up on stage and treating everyone to a solo acoustic rendition of You'd Better Be Home Soon. The Wombats had the best sing-back reception of the weekend from the adoring crowd, while London Grammar had their fans in a sway with their minimalistic indie-pop set. Hermitude kept the energy levels up with their performed-on-the-spot beats and were followed by the bizarre and highly energetic showcase of Crystal Fighters. MGMT were, sadly, a letdown. The 45-minute lull between better known songs felt ten times longer, but Neil Finn and Pond joined them on stage towards the end and sent everyone back to their tents feeling exhausted, yet super satisfied with what was a fantastic weekend of music.