Live Review: Hot Dub Wine Machine gave us one of the best festival debuts in years

Chucking on a festival for the first time can be seriously risky business, especially when you consider how Australia's festival graveyard is growing bigger and bigger by the year. You have to do something new and exciting, or all your hard work and a stupid amount of money is for nothing. Hot Dub Wine Machine, an event put on by Hot Dub Time Machine, is a red hot crack at a debut festival and - should the DJ decide to make it an annual doozy - the longevity of the event is pretty much cemented in their very original take on what is such an institution in Australian culture. Here's why.

The hardcore showcasing of home grown heroes

There are lots of festivals around that only book local talent and that is never, and will never be, a bad thing. But, seldom does a festival actually fucking celebrate it like Hot Dub Wine Machine did. I mean, Guy Sebastian at one point was singing John Farnham's "You're The Voice" - I dare you to try and find me something that's more reflective of true fkn blue Aussie culture. With a stellar local lineup that put the best electronic music Australia has to offer on display, the festival let punters expose themselves to artists they may not have heard of otherwise - while also losing their mind to 'Chameleon.' PNAU, Crooked Colours, Young Franco, Miami Horror and many others took to the stage with flair and made everyone in the crowd - donned in ponchos and gumboots - forget about all their troubles and just let go.

Paces sets the pace for festival sets to come

Paces, often referred to as the nicest guy in music, stood there on the massive stage at Hot Dub Wine Machine with confidence in his blood and a giant grin on his face before he put on the most exciting set of the day. Bookended by two dancers, one of Australia's most exciting artists spun, bopped and swagged his way through his impressive catalog. Whether it be the bop to end all bops in '1993 (No Chill)', his production on Tkay Maidza's massive 'Switch Lanes' or his live on-stage collab with Nyne for his new banger 'Savage', Paces wasn't about to let anyone catch their breath. Not once. Chuck in all that with Guy Sebastian coming out on stage to perform 'Desert' as well as the two's cover of LDRU's 'Keeping Score' and you have a set that made the mud, rain and the next day's hangover oh so worth it.

Serving wine by the bottle wasn't as bad of an idea as you'd think

When one stumbles up to a festival bar, you're prepared to pay too much money for a vodka Red Bull. So when you rock up to a festival and all they serve is wine and a piss-poor excuse for a beer (all of which was brewed at the vineyard where the festival was held) it can be a little alarming. But, they allowed wine to be bought by the bottle, which will probably make you think that can only lead to accidents upon accidents. Alas, no such accident occurred. The wine was tasty, locally brewed and may have stained your fingers, but it's worth the minimal bar lines which - at a festival - is an all too rare occurrence.

Special guests aren't just reserved for Coachella

Besides the previously mentioned Guy Sebastian and Nyne, plenty of artists brought out some friends to help keep the party going. Crooked Colours bought out Ivan Ooze for a party, and the man of the hour himself - Hot Dub Time Machine - managed to conjure PEKING FUCKING DUK for a celebration of their 2014 ultra hit 'High'. While all this might not seem special to some people, Hot Dub Wine Machine was held in a very remote location in very bad weather and it's just bloody cool to see the support within the Aus music community for other artists, and we hope this isn't the last we see of this in our festival scene.

For the remaining dates of Hot Dub Wine Machine, head here.

All photos by Patrick Stevenson.

Words by Jackson Langford

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