Live Review: Happy-Fest 2013

Back for its second incarnation, 4ZZZ's musical oddity Happy-fest has this year taken over The Zoo (and surrounds) with a completely different vibe. In the enclave at Winn Lane, X In O begins the day with her brand of semi-minimalist art-pop working rather well in the early afternoon. Continuing along the same vibe, Green Nose works well in counter, being notably more maximal through 8-bit sweetness with a little touch upon dub that garners a good response.

In their first Brisbane show, Sydney three-piece Mysteries change the vibe from electronic to sorta electronic and rock. Obviously DIY-influenced, they don't really live up to their potential, despite a good performance. Next up Footy deliver a set as good as their talking point name; it's a highlight sitting somewhere between experimental, Australiana and classical balladry. When they finish playing it's a rather euphoric moment, and it feels a little odd that in an hour the party's going to continue upstairs behind them.

Eventually much of the crowd wanders up to The Zoo for the paying portion of proceedings. Having played a pretty bad-arse set the night before, Barbiturates open the indoor portion of the gig – the sound is top-notch and kinda sums up a large portion of this line-up, with a goth influence and keyboards seeming to be a recurring flavour amongst the bands following, with the exception to the rule being Happy Times, who on this line-up are a bit of an oddball that works as a standalone project, albeit in this context feeling a bit strange.

Raw Prawn's set ultimately feels rather lifeless as the group seem to go through the motions as things progress. Sure it's not mastermind songwriting, but in comparison to the likeability of their records it fails to translate, with the band's take on Cabaret Voltaire being the main highlight while things as a whole are overshadowed by their projections of a gecko on a treadmill. Forces' set, however, is a different proposition, with the band belting out the best showing of the night and clearly resonating amongst the crowd. Everything from the duo's presentation, projections and actual music combine to make them probably the best industrial dance-flavoured music from Australia at the minute.

Following the departure of the interstate bands the crowd slightly dies down for locals Samedi Sound System whom are more usually inclined towards the Zed's Dub Day Afternoon, but for a musical clash the band work and turn The Zoo from a rock'n'roll venue to a nightclub – something that could go all night but unfortunately doesn't. Closing affairs Multiple Man do it right – perhaps playing their greatest set to date; while The Zoo's sound complements them tenfold, the venue's lights don't and for some reason the house lights are switched on halfway through the group's set which spoils the conclusion to a great set/night.

So Happy-fest wraps up for another year, and while wearing new clothes and thicker glasses compared to last year's drunken pineapple spree, it's still been an artistic success showcasing the level of talent involved within both the local and interstate underground scenes.