words & photos by Rick Clifford (@rcstills)

Review

*“..With the sudden loss of the Lorne leg of Falls Festival, Marion Bay would be the first leg of the touring festival this time round..”*

The news that Lorne Falls Festival had to be cancelled due to the threat of extreme fire danger not only bought the realities of the current climate(both literal and metaphorical) to an almost abrasive reality check. With the sudden loss of the Lorne leg of Falls Festival, Marion Bay would be the first leg of the touring festival this time round.

Kicking off day one, the jam packed line-up held its own in light of the events that bought Lorne to an end. This would be for the most part the first introduction to some international acts to the Australian stage. This could not be said for Australian Icon and unofficial Anthem creator John Farnham, playing all the sorted mullet infused hits that made him a household name. For the most part the majority of the attendance would be in the form of childhood nostalgia, no doubt being force feed ‘Whispering Jack’ as a child, then eventually giving into the synth infused rhetoric.. I’m also not immune to this process. Farnsy now pushing 70, still manages to hit them high notes and maintains a solid performance ethic that is as palatable as the songs themselves.

Lewis Capaldi admittedly his first time ever in Tasmania/ Marion Bay warranted much excitement in the ever increasingly dense bodies that started to crowd the main Valley stage. The juxtaposition of heartbreak meets comedic banter being the staple of Capaldi’s performance as standard. Carrying this along with ease during the heat of his mid afternoon set was well received with many a sad sing along going down a treat. Hits ‘Someone You Loved’ & ‘Before You Go’ filling the natural amphitheatre with many can in the air and body upon shoulder overpowering the PA system at times.

I dont want to rag on all that is Hip Hop in the live spectrum but in my experiences it be a rarity to see the artist head out on time to play what little hits they have under their belt. To much eye rolling and watch checking, Playboi Carti is no exception to this rule, literally 30 minutes into his set after his “hype” man had pretty much sampled every R&B banger possible to keep the ever impatient crowd enthused he took his place onstage literally yelling his way through 20 second features and half songs cut short by the all too “played” air siren and AK spray sample. I feel that pretty much sums up all that was Mr Playboi “sunglasses at night” Carti.

The “freshest of airs” is but bestowed to a select few when it comes to festival sets. This being the case for Vera Blue, the energy and enthusiasm owned by Celia aka Vera Blue was displayed by few over the course of the 3 day festival. Having a number of dance floor bangers and ballads is never a bad thing. Whilst owning all these elements in essential to a decent festival set, the delivery is always a point of raised and or questionable eyebrow emoji for myself. Vera did not disappoint. From the moment she ran out to the moments she ran in the pin point vocals, moves and style of one Vera Blue is something rarely display with such succession in the Australian music scene.

PNAU a name famous with the muntest of munted crowds brought a colour and flavour to their festival set unlike any other over the course of the 3 day festival. At the game now for over two decades, within that time evolving the sound and line up to emulate that of their own dance floor making, the two(four) piece brought colour and vibe to the late night amphitheatre unlike any on the lineup. Sifting through the dance heavy back catalog of “naughties” bangers ‘Embrace’, ‘Wild Strawberries’ and such and mixing in modern hits ‘Chameleon’, ‘Go Bang’ amidst a plethora of lip biting face twitch nods.

The recent accolades bestowed upon the Amyl & The Sniffers(ARIAs Best Rock Album), hath shown no dampener on the rawk. The raw and bare bones vibes that have made them the “go to” staples amongst the Australiana rock scene were ever present and on display. Owning the underground scene and transferring this to a large festival stage is no easy task, Amy and Co. showed no signs of said task, utilising ever inch of the main stage to their advantage. I’m soooooo f-ing keen to see what the next years hold for these relatively recent Australian bearers of the iconica.

Playing to a hometown crowd can never be a bad thing, nor something to make light of.. A Swayze & The Ghost bought all the energy and tightness one could muster for the day two opening slot. Frequenting the insanely hot mosh, Andrew made his presence known amongst the deluge of hungover and effervescent punters keen to join the 11am slot at the main Valley stage.

The timid sultry vibes where not a commonplace throughout this years line up. Banks bringing just that to the already humid main stage. The LA based singer sparing no time to dive into the recent singles that have brought her most recent attentions - ‘Fuck With Myself’ & ‘Begging For Thread’ sitting at the top of this list. Adorned in all black with buckles and chains in tow and accompanied by two backing dancers, the orchestrated dance moves and song sometimes played out a bit tacky, maybe its just me, maybe it was the vibe, but it just didn’t translate given the bright sun beaming in, there was a lack of genuine-ness, I felt would have carried this across, but it just wasn’t there.

Surprise set for me was in the form of Dope Lemon, having never seen a set prior to this it was an easy platform to work up from. Having said that, it was easily one of the stand out sets of the entire festival. The tightness of musicianship mixed with the music itself made for a vibe unlike any other. It was infectious, in a good way. Not to detract from other sets, but there was an ownership that just seemed to ooze from everyone on stage, a lack of care that made it all the more intriguing. ‘Home Soon’ bellowed out amongst the dazed and mellow afternoon vibes like a fine fine whisky to a tired over worked palate. Whilst ‘Hey You’ was more a track that seemed to almost zombify the masses into a trance state. Owned.

Unfortunately for the headliner Halsey’s set was awash in rain, heavy heavy rain. To the point that sound was all but privy to those between the sound desk and stage(which would be the majority of the audience). The selective weather playing no bearing on the performance itself, Halsey brought every bit of angst and aggression to her set. The stage now completely covered in LCD screens played as a huge backdrop almost making the talent itself unseeable. Opening with ‘Castle’ set the tone for the majority of the her hour long performance. Taking time to talk at(not with) the audience about all things segue.. as in segue to the next song in an overly rehearsed series’ of banters, which for the most part fell on rained out ears just waiting to hear their song before rushing off for a dry shelter, nowhere to be seen. By this stage if you hadn’t set your tent up properly you’d be spending the night in one of those backyard pool specials.

Parcels brought a much fresh and dancey vibe to the final day and much needed ampage for the NYE festivities about to take place. As the many descended from their tents all dressed to impress, group costumes being the theme to hit. The seamlessness between jams made easy work for those needing that said kick-off vibe, otherwise lacking in the majority of the earlier and mid-afternoon sets.

No strangers to a banger the duo of Peking Duk were more than happy to set the scene. Sometimes dipping into the covers to the keep the vibe alive. Happy to poke fun at themselves, the overall feelings from PD where ones of inclusion, happy times and essentially to party. Sparing no expenses at all, the duo won the production clicks for the entire festival, complete with all the streamers, all the confetti’s, all the Co2’s, all the jumps.. basically what people have come to expect from a PD set, thus garnishing them the largest crowd of the day(maybe the entire festival).

If I had to sum up one word to describe Vampire Weekends Marion Bay set, it’d be tight. I guess that’s all that needs to be said.

UK’s own Yungblud has generated much attention over the last year with his second appearance in oz in as much time. Very much warranted as his live show was easily one of the highlights of the festival. Pulling from a seemingly bottomless stash of energy, you could easily have convinced me that he had springs on his shoes or the stage was a trampoline or that he just does a lot of cardio and doesn’t eat too much potato. Whatever the case may be, its a sight to behold. All stage presence aside his songs have also accrued mass attention with hits ‘Loner’ & ‘I Love You, Will You Marry Me’ being sung almost as loud as the PA system. All this at times taking Dominic Richard Harrison by surprise.

Brisbane staples, WAAX brought much energy to the mid afternoon heated main valley stage. Absolutely smashing through recent hits ‘Same Same’, ‘Labrador’ & ‘FU’ to many a sing-a-long before a mid set black out cut their sound completely.. sparing no time singer Maz commenced and acapella version of Bohemian Rhapsody with the audience which went down surprisingly well.

Kassel’s own Milky Chance admittedly playing one of their first shows in a year didn’t show it. From the moment they stepped out onto the valley stage their presence and vibe was as organic as any seasoned performance. Coming across more dancey than folk, the evolution of this duo or trio has taken them from YouTubers to world festival stages within a quick span of time, owning every minute of it along the way. Naturally hits like ‘Stolen Dance’ & ‘Down By The River’ where well received causing many a foot to dance. But it was the extended jams and improve that seem to be the glue of this set with many songs bleeding into the next.