Live Review: Eucalyptic Echoes Psych Fest

Psych Fest kicks off at Beetle Bar with Brisbane bands Aquatic Lifeforms and The M-Humm, who both perform predominantly instrumental sets; however, while Aquatic Lifeforms bring a more rock-fuelled blend of psychedelia to proceedings, The M-Humm's sound is more ambient, distorted and dark. Both bands do a great job in ushering in the proceedings, giving a delicious taste of things to come.

Next up it's Moses Gunn Collective fronted by Aiden Moore, whose vocals are always angelic, yet today in this setting their power seems to be amplified. While most of their songs centre around a fixed melody, the group slip plenty of drawn-out instrumental jams into the set. The climactic point of When It's Good is a particularly good example of this, and is a standout moment of the set.

After a set from Ben Ringer, aka Yada, Brisbane band Tsun are next up, with the ever-lovable Karl S Williams utilising his soulful and commanding vocals to lead proceedings. While his voice is as beautiful as ever, it's the spaces between that really captivate – these guys have a remarkable ability to trigger imagery through the sounds they create, especially with the guitar, which could be considered one of the true signs of successful psychedelia. The set ends with a powerful yell from Williams, followed by a shower of confetti – quite the spectacle!  

Young stoner-droners Morning Harvey are a band who seem to grow in confidence, style and charisma with every performance. Frontman Spencer White now seems to back himself as a singer, which is good to see as his vocals have a truly transporting ability. They're another band who seem eager to bust out an instrumental jam or two, before finishing up with Don't Try It and Sundown.

Sydney's Dead Radio perform a knockout set, and then it's onto Cobwebbs, whose frontman is donning a shirt which appropriately says 'Kill All Hippies'. There's a real apathy on display, which shouldn't be mistaken for poor performance, as he's swinging the microphone cord around his neck, jumping up and down and even ventures into the crowd for a brief moment. There are some interbeastial pornographic images being displayed on the screen behind the band, which are disturbing, yet you cannot look away.

Spirit Valley are next and boy are they a powerhouse! The duo are one of the few groups who actually communicate with the crowd, which brings a bit of humour and light-heartedness to their otherwise forceful set. The drummer is smashing the life out of the kit, all the while twirling his sticks and making it all seem effortless, and the guitarist is strumming so hard it seems his arm might fall off.

When Dreamtime take the stage, it's immediately evident they are a band completely in tune with one another, as the drummer is constantly watching the rest of group to see which way they're going to go with the melody and rhythm. The group have the most impressive light show of the night as well, using these incredibly powerful strobe lights to intensify their performance. While this is amazing to watch, it's even more interesting when you close your eyes, because you can see so many colours and shapes, which seem to be moving and changing in tune with the music, making their band name seem all the more relevant. Halfway through the set they calm things down by playing around with some percussive samples (giving their drummer a break for a little while) which creates this feeling that you're out in the wilderness, listening to nature. It's thoroughly transfixing. While many of the bands today centre around the effects which can be used with lead guitar, the hero of this group is that commanding bass.

Finally it's time for Kikagaku Moyo, who it seems the majority of the crowd have been waiting for. The guys are one of the few artists who have been hanging around for the entirety of the festival, soaking up what our Brisbane-based bands and friends have to offer to the genre they are masters of. They bring a beautiful sitar to the stage, which is played by a barefoot genius who possesses a dexterity which would be the envy of any stringed instrumentalist. Most impressive about their set is that the majority of it is improvised – these guys take freeform psychedelia to a whole new level, which is testament to their abilities as musicians. The fact that they don't even seem to know ahead of time which way they're going to go with a song makes their set all the more thrilling; they vary from calm and blissed out to powerful and consuming with the greatest of ease. Their set flies by all too quickly, leaving this small but appreciative audience hungry for more.

It's a shame that the general turn out for Psych Fest has been so poor, because each performance tonight has been eye-opening to say the least. It has been incredible to see so many Brisbane-based artists on the same line-up, and has acted as a reminder that there is some real brilliance residing in our humble city.