The Great Escape

The Great Escape a title inspired by the fact that the venue is at Newington Armoury is how the beginning of my festival began. Upon ticket collection, the ticket itself decided for an early getaway, flying over the fence before we were able to get in. Luckily a nice person on the other end went over and fetched it whilst a nice lad went and checked to see if anyone was helping us. As soon as we got it back we quickly swapped it for wristbands and headed in… First things first, familiarise yourself with the lay of the land. Triple J Unearthed winners Emergency! Emergency! not impressing some onlookers as I couldn’t help but notice the amount of people leaving the Tin Shed only about ten minutes into their set. Passing a mural wall on our way to The Terrace everyone was invited to paint so of course picking up a the closest free paintbrush and dipping it into any paint tray we could find I managed to paint a short message (as pictured) but to my disappointment found it had been painted over by the end of the night.

The Terrace, a place for acoustic numbers and more about sitting on hay bales, I got the impression that Melanie Horsnell did not want to be known as the girl contributing TV ads. At this point in time I should probably apologise to the Alpha Males since I was anticipating a performance of ‘Inner Child’ that I stayed for her whole set and meant only being able to see Dan Kelly’s set for about half an hour even when it is one of the last performances he is doing with The Alpha Males. A great upbeat performance that even had one kid jumping over to barricade just to grab the drumstick thrown to the crowd.

By then it was time to call it lunch and right next to one of the food areas was named The Mess Hall so we decided to take our food in there and watch some artists as well. Funnily it was Melanie and Dan for the APRA song writing sessions where the crowd was able to ask them about opinions on certain aspects of song writing. Famous names were dropped from Paul McCartney to REM but one thing punters took away from that is ‘writing a bad song is like a horrible tattoo that won’t go away’ as Dan so eloquently put it.

The session ending just in time for Ben Kweller who was dressed in festive colours (red and green but seemed to get the wrong religious season) but spent time apologizing for his voice. The crowd didn’t care as what seemed like a magical performance topped with bubbles ending with the current single ‘Penny on the train track’ possibly known more for it’s video clip on YouTube than the actual song. With a forty-minute wait for the next Village Green act, we headed off to see Holly Throsby but she had managed to pack The Terrace and couldn’t get a look in.

Next up, The Vines and what can I say… Craig Nicholls who had so much anger in the past spent most of his time onstage being polite and thanking the crowd for coming even singing a cover of Outkast ‘(Sorry) Ms. Jackson’. After this set, had left us wide clear for Angus and Julia Stone. Due to the Holly set being packed we decided to sit in during The Sins set to grab a spot. It was clear that Nova 969’s airplay of ‘Mango Tree’ proving to be popular to their demographic as the teens took up first five rows causing the sit down atmosphere to end and leaving the people on the hay bales to stand up on them just to see. Angus and Julia overwhelmed with the turnout that they came back for one encore song.

By then as Andrew Stockland said at the ARIA awards “Now is the time of the Wolfmother” however extensive touring has started to show its toll and it was clear the guys were ready to get back into the studio again turning mid songs into extended jam sessions and by then it was time for me to call it a day.

The next day I was more prepared for the weather; equipped with a thicker jumper and a poncho it had been put to use quite extensively. The weather even prompting Bob Evans to take the request for ‘Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head’ right after his cheerful performance of The Beatles ‘Ticket To Ride’ before I headed into The Tin Shed for some shelter to watch The Whiskey Go Gos or as I like to call them some sort of power group. The lead singer reminiscent of Kings of Leon, guitarist Rai Thistlethwayte look alike and comedian Arj Barker on bass and…. Well I haven’t decided on the drummer quite yet but a friend did toss in a suggestion of Damien Leith with alterations but I think we’ll give this band a break. Besides their performance was quite good and some of the songs even matching the Tin Shed name turning song into what could be considered a barnyard ho down- but in a good way. The crowd really getting into the energetic performance especially with the final song ‘True Love’

Meanwhile back on the main stage, Katy Steele took the stage looking like the female version of Michael Stipe (i.e. the blue stripe on the eyes). Playing their singles early in the set including ‘Come On Come On’ ‘Beautiful To Me’ ‘Tonight’s The Night’ waiting for their Split Enz cover before I headed to the Riverside stage to see the Magic Numbers which I believe is building a cult. That’s the only explanation I have… well except for this band being so damn good. The band was put on the farthest stage with no shelter, but even with a downpour, their fans still turn up in the masses for a big harmonic sing a long even bringing their kids to join in the fun. Highlights included ‘Anima Sola’, ‘Undecided’ and ‘Love Is Just A Game’, which they offered free on MySpace for that day only. They are definitely getting a friendship request from me after that. Wait a minute… does that make me a cult member too?!

The good vibe The Whiskey Go Gos left at The Tin Shed was still there when Sparkadia took the stage. Packing it to the brim, favourites were their MySpace songs ‘Too Much To Do’ and current single ‘Morning Light’. Their set ending quite early and left time in between them and the Missy Higgins but we heard John Butler playing in the VIP area.

Inside Triple J’s VIP area was a very filled tent of people watching the trio perform their last song ‘Good Excuse’. It had comprised of the lyrics “Take a step outside see what’s shaking in the real world”. I suppose he was trying to make the crowd go outside as he was going to be playing the main stage after Missy.

Ms. Higgins had a slow start and after a long day I wasn’t quite sure why people stand during her performance especially where it would be perfect to sit down and sway during it. Although I must say that the sing along to ‘Two of Us’ and ‘Scar’ did make me forget about my aching feet and I was left to finish the night in a good mood.

By then the cold weather and rain had taken its toll, as the first act I got to see was The Lemonheads late in the afternoon. Quite a different vibe the stage had compared to Magic Numbers the day before most nodding in politeness waiting for their infamous cover that never happened. That being said, Evan Dando did come off stage about three times, only to come on again quite possibly due to the persuasion of the roadie.

This left ample time right before Gomez so we sat round The Village Green waiting for them to go on, we had caught the end of Fat Freddy’s Drop which had taken me by surprise as I always like bands who use brass instruments. Looking around it was clear that people were tired too, people taking the hay bales from The Terrace and sitting on them or tearing them apart and lying on them. By the time Gomez came on their energetic performance caused the crowd to get all hyped up that they started throwing the hay up in the air like confetti. The crowd energy getting recognition that The Great Escape crew had no choice but to give Gomez more time onstage. My favourites included ‘Silence’ and ‘See The World’ and of course their beautiful lighting scheme that never seems to tarnish.

Unfortunately the extra time did cut into Operator Please’s set with me walking in just in during ‘Crash Tragic’ and in time to see the band trailing some new songs and before my feet gave out I did manage to cram in one more performance- The Living End. Wise choice I thought. Being a festival they brought out all the classics (a.k.a ‘the singles’) opening with ‘What’s On Your Radio’ continuing with ‘Second Solution’, ‘West End Riot’ ‘Prisoner of Society’ fitting in with the location, Chris Cheney even confessing that he felt like playing Johnny Cash considering the circumstances but instead he played a hillbilly song (which caused more hay throwing) before launching into a Waltzing Matilda sing along. Quite a patriotic ending and what a way to spend an Easter weekend I think I shall do it again next year.

Share this review on Facebook