When it comes to New Year’s Eve, no-one ever wants to commit, but after spending the last night of the decade with over 12,000 like-minded people in an inner-city park, you’ll probably be inking it in for next year.
Camperdown’s Victoria Park - a prime location - known for its open space, glistening lake, kick-arse flying fox (not just for kids!) and pool was transformed into a festival site that curved around the southern corner of the park.
Long-time partystarters, Bag Raiders set the mood early with a set that bounced between their old and new tracks, proving that there’s life in the duo yet. New track How Long, with a guest appearance from vocalist Panama, received a warm response but the already impressive crowd popped expectantly large for their worldwide hit, Shooting Stars.
Bringing some glitz to the Jungle Stage, Jawbreakers DJs really knew how to hype a crowd and dropped a heap of bangers to an excitable group. Yes, they played The Veronica's Untouched, what else?
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The retro stylings of Client Liaison hit the Amphitheatre Stage and singer Monte Morgan was at his hip-thrusting, arm-twirling best. The ‘80s disco schtick lives on with this group and accompanied by suitable visuals and a rousing cover of Madison Avenue’s Don’t Call Me Baby, there was plenty to keep the energy up. Suitably, corks were popped for Champagne Affection, but maybe it was a little too early to be popping the bubbly?
Meanwhile, over at the Jungle Stage, the solo dance-party of Alice Ivy was drawing a big crowd. She didn’t let the beat stop as she seamlessly switched between guitar, bass and electronica. Her skills at all three only surpassed by her fearless dancing and joyful energy. She admirably filled in the vocals in Chasing Stars and In My Mind, sharing that her guest vocalists, unfortunately, couldn’t make it. Her new tunes blended well with tracks from her debut album and hints that 2020 could be another huge year for the exciting artist.
Late inclusions to the festival, The Jungle Giants, returned for the second year in a row, but the festival favourites never disappoint. Armed with a brand new track in Heavy Hearted, the crowd danced and sang and despite a cool change that rolled in, proceeded to get extremely sweaty.
Things were a little lower key at the Jungle Stage for Owl Eyes, whose decade saw her travel the world with Flight Facilities before a return to her solo work in the last couple of years. Some technical difficulties seemed to affect the set as she flicked between old and new tracks, but we were treated to the return of Jawbreakers for an inspired cover of Kylie Minogue’s Can’t Get You Out Of My Head.
There’s something about Safia that warms the cockles. Maybe it’s the velvety smooth vocal from Ben Woolner or the beautifully textured melodies, but there’s something very special about the sound they create. The year past saw them release their second album, Story’s Start Or End and with songs like Starlight and Resolution, the crowd were enjoying the progression of this Canberran group. A transition from Britney’s Oops, I Did It Again into Counting Sheep was cheeky and enjoyable.
Speaking of cheeky and enjoyable, the crowd, which by 10pm had swelled to capacity, appeared well behaved and positive despite the trauma of the bushfires around the country. The decision, made via a Facebook poll, to divert the funds to be used by the fireworks towards the Rural Fire Service was warmly received.
The dryness of the grass in the park was a very stark reminder of a drought-stricken state but rubbish was kept to a minimum with a recycling deposit granted for returning glasses and cans. The two stages were easy to access and the huge number of bars and staff on-hand kept queues to a minimum.
Crooked Colours were big, loud and exciting. Their live show, enhanced with Liam Merrett-Park on drums ensures that they were noticed. The kick-drum is probably still reverberating in the ears of the crowd (and surrounding suburbs) as the trio played through their dancier numbers from their two albums and reminded people that they’re a force to be reckoned with in the Australian dance scene.
They lead perfectly into Australia’s electronic veterans, Hermitude, taking to the Amphitheatre Stage. After a couple of scary weeks where both members have been battling fires in their home town of the Blue Mountains, the festival served as an opportunity to celebrate, especially as it was Angus ‘El Gusto’ Stuart’s birthday. Their set wove through their older hits, HyperParadise, Speak Of The Devil and the new, Every Day and Stupid World. The crowd were frothing over the show, especially when the Buzz rounded out a massive set just before midnight.
Following a countdown on stage to ring in the new year and mass hugs and kisses throughout the happy crowd, the musical mashup glory of America’s Gregg ‘Girl Talk’ Gillis brought us into a new decade with his unique ability to combine the old with the new. The stage was covered in fans as they danced in the first hour of the year and Gillis happily bounced non-stop. Were there new mixes in the set that we haven’t heard? Probably, but by this point, the crowd were just happy to cut loose and shake off the previous year without caring too much if they knew the words or how to dance.
He was an inspired choice to bring in the New Year and topped off the third successful edition of NYE In The Park. The festival was just the right amount of music, dance, food and drink and organisers should be commended on finding the right balance in a tough festival scene.
