Live Review: This That Festival

Music lovers from up and down the east coast converged upon Newcastle Foreshore on Saturday afternoon to check out the inaugural This That Festival. The boutique one-day event boasted a modest line-up of homegrown Australian talent, including the likes of RÜFÜS, Sticky Fingers and Tkay Maidza, to entertain the masses.

The Newcastle Foreshore area provided a cosy and intimate space to host the mini village that had sprung up on the outskirts of the city. A short stroll between the two main stages revealed market stalls full of curious collectables and tempting culinary delights tucked away in the nooks and crannies of the space. An array of art stalls, food trucks and stands to taste local craft beer, wine and cider were set up for festival-goers to indulge all their senses while listening to the indie-flavoured line-up.

Black clouds threatened imminent rain as ticket-holders swarmed into the festival mid-afternoon to catch Tassie's Asta. The past Unearthed High winner treated initial crowds to a killer set before fellow young gun Tkay Maizda got up to start a party on the This stage. Her impressive dance moves, rad outfit and effortless delivery attracted a sizeable crowd to jump around to her feelgood track U-Huh.

The skies open briefly during The Jungle Giants' set, but the rain couldn't stop the people from dancing away to the infectious indie-pop tunes. The four-piece band from Queensland played tried and tested crowd favourites including I Am What You Want Me To Be as well as new material from Speakerzoid, their latest album that dropped earlier this year.

Sydney's Sticky Fingers were their usual rowdy selves and did not disappoint the huge crowd that had gathered around to thrash about in front of the This stage. There were a few shaky moments as frontman Dylan Frost left out a lyric or two here and there, but overall StiFi delivered an energetic set of classics beloved by the crowd including Gold Snafu and Australia Street.

Over at the That stage, Carmada's thumping electronic beats had punters getting hot and sweaty underneath the big top tent. The two young producers, L D R U and Yahtzel, performed their summer hit Maybe, as well as an epic remix of Jay-Z's 99 Problems before they invited Asta up on stage to help out with the vocals on their hit On Fire.

Sydney collective RÜFÜS closed the festival with a fun set of electronic-dance tunes including chart toppers Take Me and Desert Night. They played material from a forthcoming new album, which featured disco vibes and an epic light show for the crowd milling about the grounds. The night ended with a bang as fireworks lit up the sky when the clock hit ten.

For its first year, This That Festival did a great job of entertaining festival-goers with local, in-demand acts, establishing an intimate, boutique vibe that will surely draw crowds back to Newcastle in the future.