Live Review: Against The Grain

As a festival organised by Brisbane locals Chris Langenberg and Brodie Popple, everyone gathered at the gates of The Brightside queuing for wristbands appears to know one another. And if camaraderie isn’t high enough at the gates, then what goes on inside Against The Grain is even more incredible.

There aren’t too many in attendance at The Foundry for Bloom Parade. Regardless, with their sweet luminance, reminiscent of Turnover, the night begins refreshingly with tracks Golden and Recurring Dream.

The Valley Drive In is unfortunately quite empty for Start Together. But as their music echoes into the background for the few punters there, conversations within The Valley Drive In take on an almost cinematic quality.

As it hits 6pm within The Brightside, a small crowd gathers for Blonde Tongues. The set echoing throughout the venue has a beautifully layered simplicity with its own additional touch of grace. And as the third relaxing act in a row, those taking part in this year’s Against The Grain know they’re in for a wonderfully developed and organised night. There are a few people dancing around the venue and singing, but it’s still anyone’s guess as to how the night will progress.

The Foundry’s still quite empty as Skivvy Season take the stage, but that doesn’t stop the band from using their slot to put on a vibrant performance. And while people are coming and going from the venue rather rapidly, their set is undoubtedly the first with a touch extra crowd engagement.

As the sun begins to set over The Valley Drive In, local boys Concrete Surfers jump on the stage to a still minuscule but excited crowd. As soon as the lights begin to strobe, those at the festival know it’s now party time. There’s a few people alongside the barrier jumping along to Tired & Tipsy, Vcr and Miscommunication, and even with the short time between tracks, frontman Jovi Brook still makes contact with the crowd, beginning to get them hyped for the rest of the night.

Heading back inside The Brightside, there’s maybe three or four people within the venue. But as Grace Turner takes the stage, the venue begins to pack out. Beginning by playing a song on her own and then being accompanied by a band, Turner takes the festivities back to a calm and collected mood.

Running back to The Foundry again sparks the awful debate of who to see during set clashes. As they begin their blissful set, heading to see Sleepclub is now clearly a mistake. Unfortunately, with other bands coming on around the Valley, and the looming thought of growing venue lines, leaving Sleepclub's set early seems to be a harsh but necessary decision.

In the last few months, Eliza & The Delusionals have been the talk of the festival line-up. Drawing a packed-out crowd in support of their set at The Drive In, they don’t disappoint. Crowd members begin to break a sweat dancing around at the front of the barrier as lights flicker in shades of purple and yellow. It’s even more impressive seeing the audience sing along to singles Jackie and Half Empty Girl.

CANDY stopped by Brisbane not too long ago, and the memories of his set are still fresh in the minds of many locals. With the Brightside now a full-house, it’s starting to get hard to move around and between venues. We’re used to a softer vocal mix in his studio recordings, but with his vocals turned up above the rest of the band the live set becomes more about frontman Calum Newton, the crowd enjoying a grand time pelting out lyrics together.

With every gig and set Pool Shop gets bigger and better. Even though acts are clashing hard again, running over to The Foundry to catch the full band enjoying their time on stage is certainly no mistake and it’s one of the better, more enjoyable middle sets of the line-up.

Heading outside to The Valley Drive In again, FRITZ have taken the stage. Continuing the strong shoegaze theme that a large portion of the line-up has displayed, the band get into tracks like Sandpaper Hands and Winter Sun.

We’ve had some real late parties to First Beige but catching them at The Brightside is just as enjoyable. Even with six members completely occupying every square inch of the stage they can’t help but dance around to their own music. The crowd reflect their enjoyment perfectly and this set feels like it could carry on for eternity (it honestly should).

Excitement is in the air for Newcastle’s Vacations. As a band that’s so humble and friendly it’s hard to believe they’ve racked up insane numbers of streams for their tracks. Opening with Relax and On Hold, there’s not a single person in the venue that isn’t singing their lungs out. With frontman Campbell Burns’ beautiful vocal prowess, to say you weren’t hit right in the heart or gut with a cocktail of emotions would be a blatant lie. After Moving Out and Home it feels so wrong leaving the venue, but it would truly be a shame to miss the other amazing acts on the line-up.

Sure, one of the organisers of Against The Grain may be a member of Sweater Curse, but they absolutely deserve their spot on the bill. This year they’ve come off playing BIGSOUND and Beer InCider, toured with Horror My Friend and even hit high rotation as feature artists on triple j. Sweater Curse are an act people are noticing and taking very seriously and there's a massive crowd out to support the Brisbane trio at The Valley Drive In. There’s an uproar for Don’t Call Me, Can’t See You Anymore, and the latest addition to their discography, Mon’s Song - but with more impressive unreleased tracks in the setlist we all know that they can only keep getting bigger.

The call of loud fuzz and enigmatic vocals from The Brightside can only mean one thing – Moaning Lisa have taken the stage. Opening with Good, The Brightside is now full to the point of bursting, people pushing to the front to get the best possible experience while others struggle to leave to make it to other venues.

Heading back to The Foundry to at least catch a hot minute of Totally Mild’s set is no waste of time. People dance along with the band and their sweetly shoegaze sound, but before long it’s time to make the trek back to The Valley Drive In for the next set of the night.

“I hope they play their old stuff!” is probably the most overused statement within the crowd as local favourites Good Boy finish final preparations for their set. With Marli Smales now taking the reins on bass guitar, frontman Rian King utilises the entirety of the stage space to put on an even more crowd-pleasing performance – this is possibly the best we’ve ever seen the band. Beginning with Poverty Line the crowd can see that adding Smales to the bill is the most brilliant decision they could've made. The crowd screams the lyrics, and even King forgetting a few here and there doesn’t reduce the show in the slightest. Fishing With A Shotgun gets the crowd into a really big sweat – and there’s an even bigger roar of excitement as they start Ya Mum’s Ya Dad, the crowd even mimicking each note of the guitar solo. So far this is definitely the highlight of the night. They kick off new song Sodabread by bringing up a saxophone and trumpet, King scaling the stage. Though it appears he's stuck, he assures everyone he’s fine sitting up there – until things start to shift worryingly and one of the stage managers asks him to get down.

Running inside The Brightside is no easy feat when the crowd knows Maddy Jane’s about to start her show. If anyone thinks they're going to get some quiet time after the last few sets they couldn't be more wrong. One of the most charged, enjoyable acts of the country, Jane makes sure the crowd’s still dancing, nowhere near ready to call it a night.

ID Scanners are now in place and it’s becoming even harder to enter venues. Those who make it into The Foundry find Tiny Little Houses have well and truly begun a set of mixed emotions. We cry to Nowhere, SA, sing our lungs out at Team Player and then cry again for You Tore Out My Heart, only to finish off our frayed vocal cords on Entitled Generation, Short Hair and Garbage Bin. As they leave the stage there’s only one thing on the crowd’s mind now – how hard is it going to be to make it back to The Valley Drive In for the final act of the night?

To say anticipation’s high for City Calm Down is no joke, but what certainly is a joke is the insanely long line-up to head into The Brightside. Brisbane’s favourite nightlife additions, the joyous ID scanners, take their precious time to process the huge queue. Some people think the wait almost isn’t worth it and settle for listening to the set along the nearby streets of The Valley Drive In. With flashes of light and the roar of the crowd flooding the street it’s shamefully disappointing to be stuck outside. But even with this one unfortunate obstacle, Against The Grain was a huge success this year. If one thing’s for sure, it's that the crowd can’t wait for the next one.