Good Vibrations Festival

I am still feeling the bass vibrations in my feet from this year’s Good Vibes. Jam did such a good job on the line-up this year. Sure, last year I got to see Snoop and get bored by the Beastie Boys, but the 2008 line up was excellent!

Let me start by getting Kanye out of the way. It was definitely his festival – 20000 people squished into the dome area to get a glimpse (thankfully I was only 10 metres from the stage and standing on the seats so the view was spectacular). The set was amazing, a backdrop of full lights, masked violinists, elevated back up singers, and the percussion set up was similar to an orchestras – this guy seriously knows how to put on a show.

The set started with a listing of who everyone was involved in the show (even the stage director was named) and a lot of smoke before the man himself appeared. ‘Good Morning’ kicked off the 1 and a half hour set that included ‘Hey Mama’, ‘Jesus Walks’, ‘Good Life’, ‘Touch the Sky’, ‘Diamonds from Sierra Leone’, ‘Heard ‘Em Say’ and of course, the songs that brought him international stardom, ‘Gold Digger’ and ‘Stronger’.

But it was just about the songs and the set list, there were props like a “lady robot” on stilts being controlled by a remote held by West. There were four costume changes, and a tribute to his mother. West also spoke of his fondness for all things Melbourne – the architecture, the food, the women. While his arrogance may be a little bit off-putting for some, I think it’s completely founded. Yep. I am converted!

Apart from West, Good Vibes had a stack of great artists on the line up. Cypress Hill performed in front of an inflated gold Buddha holding a marijuana leaf. They smoked joints on stage, and performed all their hits – my highlights were ‘How I Could Just Kill A Man’ and ‘Superstar’.

The only tweak in the timetable I would have made would have been to swap The Rapture and Calvin Harris. Harris delivered such a high energy dance pop show that the indie sensibilities of The Rapture seemed lacklustre. I truly understand how Calvin Harris gets all the girls now. Hey Calvin, I love you, I wanna have your babies! By the way Jam, where was Muscles?

Special shout outs go to the Thievery Corporation percussion section – so good! And Bag Raiders, it took balls to open with ‘Fun Punch’ but the set did not drop a notch.

Thank you Jam Music. Good Vibes is my festival highlight of 2008 so far!

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