Live Review: 10 Artists We Vibed On At BIGSOUND 2023

Kobie Dee

It's not every show where you smash-cut from speaking on mental health issues in pin-drop silence to spitting fiery bars over booming beats to waving hands and dancing bodies. That's just the kind of paradox Kobie Dee works within, though – and let the record show, it absolutely works in his favour.

The Gomeroi MC presents thoughtful and articulate ruminations on his still-young life, his family and his road to sobriety that are arguably more thought-provoking and engaging than a lot of the panels being run throughout the day by so-called experts.

This is a thoroughly lived experience, and it's all showcased within Dee's multifaceted approach to hip-hop. With the stunning and tragic storytelling of songs like About a Girl and Jody, which close the set shortly after midnight, Dee solidifies himself as a key voice within Australian music right now – one that deserves to be heard loud and clear.

Miss Kaninna

The fact that lutruwita multi-hyphenate Miss Kaninna was playing major Tassie festivals and opening for riot-grrrl icons Bikini Kill before she'd even put a song out should speak volumes as to her status as a performer. She doesn't just earn these spots; she commands them with her unapologetic and emboldened presence.

With a sizzling, in-the-pocket live band holding it down for her, Kaninna's genre-defiant approach recalls Santigold circa her game-changing 2008 debut.

One minute she's slithering into neo-soul; the next she's belting overcharging indie-rock... and not long after that, she's spitting acidic bars calling out cops and colonisers alike. The band are similarly chameleonic – no matter what whim Kaninna fancies, they have that exact style down-pat to collectively elevate what's already exceptional.

Make no bones about it: This self-proclaimed “deadly bitch” is here to make an emphatic statement. Either get on board or get out of the way.

Bella Amor

At Brisbane venue The Warehouse, Bella Amor ripped through her showcase, visibly having a lot of fun on stage as she danced and pulled stank faces like no other.

With a resume boasting tracks with a creative hand from Cosmo’s Midnight and Asta, opening for Lime Cordiale and just finishing her stint last weekend at the Gold Coast’s SPRINGTIME Festival, it is truly amazing that this sensation hasn’t been signed yet.

Her first showcase for BIGSOUND included her own songs Does It Get Boring, All My Friends Are High and a cheeky new song being released this Friday. Amor also played covers of popular tunes Iris by Goo Goo Dolls and Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High by Arctic Monkeys.

PRICIE

With a budding career boasting 31k monthly Spotify listeners and collabs with Genesis Owusu, Isabella Manfredi and Tseba was goddess PRICIE, playing at The Wickham.

“The best way to describe me is that I’m that church lady,” she said before plunging into a gospel-styled song. Succeeding this were tracks such as The Best, Friendzone, and ELD (which stands for Eyes Like Daddy).

There was a fairly small crowd for her last showcase but what was small in numbers was big in engagement - PRICIE got the crowd going with some left and right side stepping in Friendzone, successful call and response on an unreleased track, and hand waving during ELD.

Cult Shotta

“Cult” is certainly an accurate name for this viral act, with artists dominating the TikTok sphere as of late.

And despite E11even being wheeled out on stage due to an injury, it was no trouble for the rapper as he, Lil Golo slid through the set with ease. Cult Shφtta’s hip-hop-meets-hyperpop style on stage is reminiscent of the early 2010s electronic heard by millennials and Gen Z growing up, whether it be through roller derby or night-core YouTube videos.

The duo and their entourage even rapped over Cascada’s Everytime We Touch to huge applause. The maximalism of Cult Shotta’s brand was clear through their aggressively colourful and glitchy background paired with flashing lights, and the group themselves through their outfits and iconic spiked hair.

Hits such as feel like bam and Beamin were performed, as well as a debut spin on an unreleased track made with Ninajirachi. The group ended on a high with song 250.

Dean Brady

Birrigubba man Dean Brady has a voice that definitively stands out from the crowd – and that's not just an expression. He's brought everything but the kitchen sink to the stage of his Bigsound debut, from a blazing horns section to a sultry backing-vocal duo – yet, at multiple points throughout this half-hour of power, all you can focus on is Brady's thoroughly impressive vocals.

His blends of velvety R&B, stomping neo-soul and bouncy dancehall prove to be a full-body experience, as the crowd carries the momentum with an all-out dance party at the front of the stage.

You can't blame them, either – after all, they're being given a lot to work with. Though Brady has only one song out thus far – the sunny-day romance of Falling, which closes – this set proves that we're dealing with a wunderkind that's got plenty more where that came from.

Beckah Amani

Beckah Amani performed at the Brightside Outdoors, one of the bigger venues for the festival.

The Tanzanian-raised Australian has been fast rising in the industry in recent years, just last year taking home the APRA Professional Development Award for Popular Contemporary, and in 2021 the QMA Award for Emerging Artist of the Year.

Fair to say that BIGSOUND isn’t her first rodeo, but it certainly won’t be her last. The singer eased in with the track Waiting on You, with her brother Jimmy collaborating with her by rapping.

Other popular hits that have been catalysts to Amani’s success were played, such as the emotionally powerful Standards and I Don’t Know Why I Don’t Leave You.

Lovely blue swirls projected onto the carpark walls behind the stage which added an exciting visual to Amani’s comforting and angelic falsetto.

Porcelain Boy

Day 3 started with the genre-bending duo Porcelain Boy taking to the stage at La La Land. With lead vox by Jordan Olyslagers, and guitar and DJing balanced by Jordyn Mamora, the group introduced the crowd to a musically and conceptually unique experience.

From far into the crowd, Jordan O could be a dead ringer for a young Travis Barker, with a drone-like stare that pierces into each and every member and forces them into engagement, while Jordan M took on an astonishing amount of coordination fleshing out the bulk of the tracks.

Foley

Auckland duo Foley’s electric pop music is entertaining on record, it takes on a whole other life when vocalist Ash Wallace and guitarist Gabe Everett present it in the live arena.

For one, they have a murderers' row of a rhythm section – bassist Marika Hodgson and drummer Elijah Whyte add a real kick when they get into the groove of songs like Smooth It Over and Coffee.

For another, Wallace and Everett both absolutely come alive on stage – the former is in constant movement as she seamlessly delivers the hooks, while Everett pulls into his rock background and goes full-on shredder when the moment calls. For the love of mankind, get around Foley.

Cloe Terare

The story goes that there were only 30 people at the first Sex Pistols show, but they all left and started a band.

By that same token, there are only 30 people watching Cloe Terare just shy of midnight – but all of them are going to leave and become bad bitches. That's the kind of energy this young Toowoomba artist carries, firing off a playlist of playful party-starters that make for quite the mixtape.

Her R&B numbers offer late-night lust that the hips can't help but swivel to, while her more hip-hop-oriented efforts offer tinted-shades confidence that the shoulders can't help but bounce too.

A clear student of the game when it comes to femme pop icons across both the 2000s and 2010s, Terare is bringing her lessons learnt into the 2020s with an undeniable assertiveness that makes for a whole lot of fun. Baddies need only apply.