Live Review: BIGSOUND Night Three 2018

READ MORE:

• BIGSOUND Night One 2018 @ Fortitude Valley Entertainment Precinct
• BIGSOUND Night Two 2018 @ Fortitude Valley Entertainment Precinct

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Not A Boys Name is a great way to start the last night of BIGSOUND showcases. Cut It Off is a dancey, affirming track that has many in the crowd bopping along. Luke Davison from The Preatures makes an appearance as drummer, while vocalist Dave Jenkins Jr is quite the entertaining frontman. It’s experimental in parts and The Killers-like in others - overall it’s a good set.

Sydneysider Nardean opens up the Double J stage at Black Bear Lodge with her mix of hip hop and soul; "I want to see everybody lose it!" The feel-good energy in the well-filled room is a beautiful way to start the evening and exceptional BVs and a smooth backing band give the show a buoyant groove. A heartfelt poetry performance even sees a crowd member jump up and give Nardean a hug. Emotional words and dance with a whole heap of love.

Last night at BIGSOUND. Heads are heavy. Everything hurts. But the music never stops. Opening things up at The Brightside is Candy and his band with a set of pure punk pandemonium. After a nervous start, he quickly kicks things into gear and the UK punk influence is undeniable. Aaron Carter was right, we want Candy.

Candy

Sweater Curse are right next door at The Valley Drive In so we manage to steal the last song of their set and are treated to some fuzzy garage-pop and we love it.

To say Woolly Mammoth is a full house would be an understatement. With people still queuing to get inside, RAT!hammock begin their set moving around the Alehouse stage to a dancing crowd. New material gets phones up and recording little snippets – there’s something for everyone to share coming from the Melbourne pop/rock band. 

Thando has packed out Black Bear Lodge. Firstly with a massive crowd, then with her massive vocals. The crowd continues to pack in further and further, happily dancing along to the soulful and bouncy tracks. When we leave, there’s a line of about 20 waiting to get in, which is a damn good sign of things to come for Thando.

Thando

The final night of showcases has a lot of clashes and 256 Wickham can feel pretty cavernous if empty. Even so, Sydney's Arteries brought their hardcore sounds to the Valley. "We're gonna play our old stuff 'cause we didn't learn the new stuff on time," admits lead singer Brendan Dafter before launching into the sort of explosive tracks that led to them winning triple j's UNIFY Unearthed competition. Guttural and heavy as fuck, the five-piece still put everything into their show and each break sees Dafter gasping for breath.

Arteries

Sydney locals I Know Leopard kick off in celestial style performing to a packed-out Family. Decked out in matching black turtlenecks, they deliver a dreamy set punctuated by funky synth breakdowns, soaring violin solos and indie pop vocals. Triumphant post break up tune Rather Be Lonely is the highlight of the performance and has the crowd dancing their troubles away.

Running over to Heya Bar, no one knew what was about to hit them. Fortune Shumba. Remember that name. People are dancing. People are crying. It is pure magic. With a silver wig, gold tassel skirt and bodysuit, he defined the act of slaying. Hailing from a small town in South Africa, there’s an attempt to teach us some Swati but with tight production and an empowering message, Shumba is throwing the party of BIGSOUND and we are all invited. If we weren’t won over already, after his set he jumps down and starts hugging members of the crowd and our hearts might just burst. “I am here today. I am here now,” he tells the crowd. Yes, you, are.

Who would have thought that a short few months ago, PLANET played a Brisbane show in front of a just few people? Packing out The Valley Drive In stage, they open with Waking Eight. And after getting the crowd to move closer to the stage, there’s a few dancing around for Save.Sold. With such a beautiful brit-pop vibe it’s no wonder they were a key act to catch.

There’s a lot of hype about Oh Pep! and they pull a crowd to Black Bear Lodge. It’s a shame then that with the layout of the venue, the band struggles to project their sound over the bar chatter. Pushing our way to the front though and perching on a chair to see over the sea of heads, we are treated to a delightful set that gets our feet stomping and hearts breaking. 

A predominance of pink lighting and clothing covers the stage as Rachel Maria Cox hits the Woolly Mammoth. Their music is personal and poppy and it doesn't take long for the crowd to step in and dance. Humorous banter between tracks, including how to perform 'FITSOUND' stage moves like foldback lunges, is endearing, but Cox's skilful songwriting is the real highlight. Songs about Zac Efron in Baywatch punctuate the light-hearted portion of their songs, but these are combined with very personal tracks like Time. The track is about Cox winning their battles with depression and they perform it sitting at the front of the stage ("They gave me a wireless mic, so I'm gonna use it!"). Separating the heart from the art is hard, but that's what makes the set so special.

Before coming on stage, The Flying Cock is almost empty for indie pop artist CXLOE. However, like most showcases at BIGSOUND, it takes less than a note to completely fill the room with an eager audience. Armed with a small array of sample and drum pads, it doesn’t take long for the crowd to start dancing around as if this was just another great night out in the valley.

CXLOE

Despite the loss of any fellow Victorian punters thanks to the Richmond and Hawthorn game playing at the bar, East Brunswick All Girls Choir delivered an honest, gritty performance at Elephant Hotel. Though the volume of their sound system didn’t quite match the venue, frontman Marcus Hobbs’ bluesy, angsty vocals, backed by a tight performance from drummer Jen Sholakis, ensured an intense set.

East Brunswick All Girls Choir

Eilish Gilligan and her emotional pop shows the Family the power of a lone voice and some synths. Aesthetically, she paints an unforgettable picture on stage but it is her vocals that absolutely soar. Mastering the balance of emotional vulnerability and restraint on stage, we can’t help but think of Kate Bush.

Eilish Gilligan

Cooped up in the tiny venue of Press Club, there’s a great attendance for jazz outfit Bin Juice. Slowly dancing around to the smoothness of their own music, one has to wonder if they’re absolutely trashed out of their gourds or if they’re just putting on the festival's most sensual performance – or both. New track Swish gets a few members of the crowd singing along, but with such a quiet atmosphere it’s almost too easy to hear your own voice singing louder than the band.

With a hook and a look that come straight from the central coast of NSW, The Moving Stills are playing to a fairly sparse crowd but give a solid performance at The Elephant Hotel. There's more to them than surf music though, playing a selection of rock songs that borrow from a mix of alt-rock and pop along with a nice cover of Ladyhawke's My Delirium. With airy guitars, a pumping bass and the high, unique voice of singer Tom Mahler, they have a really nice feel. One to keep an eye on with new releases coming soon.

2017 triple j Unearthed winner Mookhi begins her set to a modest audience, but as her infectious dance moves take hold an enthusiastic crowd begins to form. The self-proclaimed bedroom beats maker has a slightly nervous energy and admits that she "sometimes doesn’t know what the fuck [she's] doing", but with that said she pulls off an impressive set, playing banger after banger. Not one to be missed, and just as you think you’ve got her figured out, she whips out a trumpet.

The triple j Unearthed stage at Famous Nightclub feels like a good fit for G Flip. It’s just a shame you can barely hear her over the chatter of a crowd that obviously just had to be in attendance but not necessarily to pay attention or listen. What you can hear of the set is great and it’s easy to see why she’s been the celebration of triple j over the past few months. We wish we could have just heard a little more...

Having performed here two years ago and then taken some time away, Olympia's return to BIGSOUND feels right. Diving straight into her brand new track, Star City, there's a vitality and energy in the Family room. There's also more than a small resemblance to art-pop queen St Vincent. Strumming the guitar hard and singing in perfect pitch, whether it be low, high or falsetto, it feels like there's not much she can't do. An impressive crowd have gathered for the set as she plays through a number of new tracks before rounding out a big set with some old favourites. It's an exciting reunion.

If Black Bear Lodge wasn’t the most popular venue of the night, then it’s hard to say what was. With a crowd filling the entirety of the venue for Blank Realm, it’s impossible to see anything above the audience's towering heads. There’s so many – almost too many - people dancing around to their blend of fuzzed up rock, it’s a wonder door security let them all into the venue.

Blank Realm

We are in the home stretch and Psychedelic Porn Crumpets know how to close a festival in style. Crowbar is transformed into a heaving mess of thrashing bodies as the lads let loose on stage and absolutely shred. Speaking to The Music before the conference, they told us they wanted to play “the greatest set the world has ever seen”. Well, we’re not quite sure about that but the mass of headbangers in front of the stage would likely think that they did.

Ella Hooper has been working hard at a solo career and, having moved away from '90s grunge toward a singer-songwriter vibe, she has now reinvented herself with a swag of pop and rock songs that showcase her powerful voice. There are even some disco vibes in the production and her dancing. "We're so tired. Tomorrow we'll go home and cry," Hooper announces, voice husky after multiple performances over the last three days. She works the stage in an awesome fashion - bouncing, spinning, throwing herself around, dropping to her knees. The mix of genres is noticeable and a little strange. Pop to rock to (almost) alt-country. Ultimately it's the rock that wins out and it's where Hooper seems most comfortable. Final track, Sorrows, is a pure rock out, with bonus cowbell, rock poses and a tired but engaged crowd at The Valley Drive In.

Sydney hip hop group Triple One close BIGSOUND night three at Ric’s Big Backyard. The week seems to have taken its toll on the boys, with Marty Large nearly voiceless and the others lacking their usual aggressive energy. Soldiering on through it, they still manage to put on a decent performance, with Obi Ill Terrors abandoning the stage to mosh with the crowd for a while.