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| Band Name | Date | | Glenworth Valley Weekender (01-03/10/99) | We set off for Glenworth Valley stacked to the roof, on the way out of my drive way the car clunked as we hit the curb, definately not a good sound. So off we went, driving, driving, driving. Eventually we got to Glenworth about 3:00 pm. We then spent another half hour farting about, getting our wristbands, and getting out boot checked. So when we finally got to our camp site, we were releived. But at the campsite we found a new obstacle to pitching our tent, horse shit. Yes we were camping in horse paddocks. YAY!! Well we pitched the tent and checked out the setup. About the only thing we didn't bring was toilet paper, and this my friends, would prove to be a fatal error come days two and three.
With our meals eaten we decided to sample some of the delights of Glenworth Valley's lineup. First on the menu was Canberra's own 78 Saab, who played a set of good old three chord pop, something that began to tire quite quickly by day number two. Next up was Alex Lloyd. Other than some really dodgy mixing he played an awesome set. From Alex Lloyd there was the great piss bolt over to see Jimmy Little, an artist who I hadn't heard much about, but was almightily impressed with his set. Very much a laid back bluesman is our Jimmy. I think the song that stood out for me was Black Fella, White Fella. Quite the funky little tune. We then made the jog again to see young Ben Lee, all dressed up in a very much nerd chic do. It took a couple of songs for him to get going but when he did it was great. He played a variety of both new and old stuff. He played two quite wacky covers, these were a few bars of Heavy Heart by You Am I and also a full cover of Kylie's confide in me. Which was kind of cool. Our last little run for the evenning was over to see Evan Dando, lead man of the Lemonheads, when they were so. Dando played a great set of modern folk music and happenned to cover blues woman Cassandra Wilson, which I was mighty impressed at. So with the end of Evan Dando's set we wandered over to take a sticky at Josh Abrahams, but it just wasn't going so that ended the night quite well.
Day 2.... After having a dodgy nights sleep due to morons with fireworks, there's nothing like a nice hot shower to revialise you. Well it's a pity I couldn't have one of those. Things all started to go a bit pear shaped. No showers for the women, and the porta potties were getting festier and festier. Well things didn't kick off untill about 1:00pm, so some of that time was wisely used catching up on a bit of uni work, well atleast for my travel companion. At about 1:00 pm we decided to go and see the next silverchair, Loki. Sorry but they really do suck. All their songs sound like knock-off's of either Blink-182 or RATM. So instead of sticking round lunch was in order. I just caught the end of Meta Bass and Breath, and was quite ticked that I'd missed their set, because the last few songs kicked ass. After Meta-Bass we hung round waiting for Big Heavy Stuff to start. Big Heavy Stuff played a good set but were probably more suited to a smaller, more intimate stage. Post BHS it was time for another run through the fire hoses to cool off. Then it was time for another former Canberra band, Sidewinder. Woo Sidewinder, played an awesome set just didn't play their big radio hit god. Twas just a little disappointing. I missed all bar one song from Jebediah due to the dishes from dinner, but from what I could hear back at our tent, they played a set of mostly stuff from Slightly Odway and not much else. Well then came the one and only Foo Fighters, the main reason for this visit. They did not disappoint. Playing stuff from all three albums they just plain ol' kicked ass. Playing Everlong, I'll Stick Around, This is a Call, Monkey Wrench and enough other stuff to give a great hour long set, with a short encore. At this point we decided to go for a wander and overheard Area 7 remark that they had played at Livid earlier that day and flown down to play Weekender. They get the stupidest band of the Weekend award. The final act to see for the evenning was the Avalanches, who played some of the best funk metal groove I've heard for ages.
Day 3..... The Day of Fest..... The heavens had openned the previous night and early that morning, leaving a sodden trail of destruction behind. Well not really. It was just muddy and those porta potties had gotten worse. Warm weather certainly makes em stink. First band for the day was Mach Pelican, an obscure punk band who played a nice mix of old school hardcore and newish punk. This was also destined to be the day of punk, because the next band up was 28 days, a great Aussie punk band who deserve to do well. Well after another short interlude, those skankers, the Porkers came on. Now the Porkers are one of my favorite Aussie ska bands, they kick the shit out of Area 7 and Eskimoe Joe as Australian bands go. The Porkman came out on stage, and in his usual beer drinkin' skankin' self got the crowd a goin'. Then the Porkman disturbed us all.... he decided to show the world what he was made of.... quite litterelly. He bared all and well let's just say he had a beer can attatched somewhere and it exploded. So yes the Porkers played a great set. It was a unforunate fact that the band who followed the Porkers was Dogbuoy, becuase they really, really stank. I mean we had to go to the other side of the field because the stanch was sooooooooooo high. Mossies may be a reasonable song when you hear it on the radio, but live nah. This band really does nothing live. Now this was about the time when we began to hear strage announcements over the PA, something about the Offspring starting early. We were wondering why on earth. So as we wondered over to see Not From There, we heard more clearly. Suede had pulled out, so instead we were to get a full set from the Offspring, but not before Not From There played a great set, including Sich Offnen, so they ruled, and Heinz actually spoke to us. Really Not From There were perhaps one of the best bands for the evenning, they played really well considering the fact that many of the people watching were just desperate to see the Offspring, so I was very impressed. And then came the Offspring. They played about 70% old stuff, which was pleasing, as I reackon the new stuff sucks. So they played lots of stuff from Smash and a bit from Ixnay and some from Americana. I must say that the stage show was very impressive, and the fact that Dave Grohl came and drummed on a few songs was kind of cool. The funniest bit was when Dexter did his usual stunt with blow up dolls dressed like the Backstreet Boys; purile but funny. The only problem with the Offspring was not the band, but a bunch of cromagnums in the mosh who just acted like dicks for the entire time, and insisted on crowd surfing. But oh well. The final act we got to see were the Fountains of Wayne. They finished of the Glenworth experience well, with their simple harmonic pop music. They made me smile. I really enjoyed the weekend, and there are definately bands I want to go back and see again. | | Alex Lloyd (11/08/99) | Well it's been a while since I've written one of these, so I hope it's like riding a bike. We rocked up about I had my pre-gig beer, and then settled back and waited for the music to start. The Pound System played second support, and played a great set of Underworld / Fat Boy Slim - esque electronica. Great beats and great mixing made for a very inspired and enjoyable set, an act I'm eager to see again in a more dance friendly atmosphere. Most of the crowd were just chilling out watching the set, I think the MC would have been more pleased if the crowd was up dancing. At one point durring the set he made the comment "Legs are for dancing, ears are for listenning." I a vain attempt to drag the crowd up off its arses onto the dance floor. They still played an awesome set and are one of the best support acts I've seen in a long time.
After a short break Alex Lloyd and band strolled on the stage, and the crowd migrated to sit in front of the stage. Lloyd's set was very stong, highlighting his talents as a songwriter, one who challenges Bee Lees claim to the title king of pop. His solo songs reminded me greatly of some of Bob Dylan's early works, and the electric stuff worked really well. It worked well but my one complaint was the mix, I thought the vocals could have done with a bit more oomph. The standout tracks to my mind had to be Snow, Something, Black the Sun and Lucky Star, the only track on which Lloyd played an electric guitar. By this time most of the crowd, at the request of our host, had gotten to their feet, and began to become more involved with the music. Alex Lloyd is one artist who is most definantly worth a view when he comes to your town, or next time your in Sydney, and with some more material to play I think he can only get better. |
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