20, 000 music lovers descended upon Busselton for a weekend full of rock ‘n’ roll, camping and just plain having a good time. Although all the main acts played on the Saturday, Sir Stewart Bovell Park was full with tents, sleeping bags and excited punters on the Friday evening ready for the early camping entertainment. Playing on the Big Top stage on the Friday afternoon and evening were local rockers Abbe May & The Rockin’ Pneumonia, New Rules For Boats, Institut Polaire, Sydney folk siblings Angus & Julia Stone, Lior, The Beautiful Girls and Freo favourites The Waifs. Organizers, Sunset Events, had retooled the setup for Southbound to make it easier for campers to park, setup and get around the grounds and after arriving fairly late, I was pleasantly surprised that they had been successful in doing just that. Apart from the early bands playing at the Big Top, there was the Splif Cinema playing short and cult movies late into the night, dance stages and tents, a massage tent, an open mic lounge and a karaoke stage to keep everybody happy. I did get to catch The Waifs playing a set full of hits to an enthusiastic crowd with their kids side of stage dancing and singing along just as loud as the audience. ‘London Still‘ was the final song of night one and was the perfect way to say good night to everyone as they headed back to their tents for a bit of sleep before Southbound Saturday.
A lot of people woke up early on the Saturday to get in quick to the showers, get some breakfast and to use the free internet cafe at the base camp. With the first band on stage at 11am, some people took advantage of being in the beautiful southwest of WA and took a shuttle bus into the town of Busselton for a bit of shopping, sightseeing or just a quick swim at the beach. There were also thousands of fans that only had a day pass for the Saturday so were arriving steadily as the morning moved along. The entire area for the Saturday was separate than the Friday, so when this opened just before 11am fans rushed in ready for a day of music and fun. Layed out similarly to the way the West Coast Blues N Roots festival was last year, there was 2 main stages (This Stage and That Stage), a smaller undercover stage (The Other Stage) and a DJ Stage (Coconut Club).
Heading over to This Stage, I got to see local boys The Dirty Secrets playing to a growing crowd. Although it is always hard playing first at a music festival (not including the previous night), The Dirty Secrets soldiered on and played with the kind of confidence that only a band comfortable with itself can do. The band has already played at The Big Day Out and previously at Southbound which must be a great thrill with members growing up in the South West of WA.
As The Dirty Secrets finished their set it was time to head over to the Other Stage and catch fellow Perth band The Panics. Maybe it was a miscalculation by the organizers but the smaller, undercover stage was not big enough to hold all the fans wanting to see The Panics and the whole undercover area was full. With an increased amount of radio airplay this year and winning Triple J’s 2007 J Award for album of the year, the fellas could not have been happier with the turnout. Older songs and songs from their latest album ‘Cruel Guards‘ were played with a special highlight for most being recent single ‘Don’t Fight It‘.
Playing at the same time on This Stage were British indie girl group The Pipettes. The crowd for The Pipettes gradually grew larger and larger and groups of girls (and some guys) got up and danced like there was no tomorrow. Crowd favourites were ‘Pull Shapes‘, ‘Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me‘, ‘Dirty Mind‘ and ‘We Are The Pipettes‘ with synchronized dance routines taking place on stage by Becki, Gwenno and Rosay, side of stage by onlookers Operator Please and off stage by an excited crowd.
Next up on This Stage were brother and sister folk duo Angus & Julia Stone. Although they have only just released their debut album, there was a large and enthusiastic crowd cheering them on as they played a set that was one of the best highlights of the festival. Similarly to their album ‘A Book Like This‘ Angus & Julia Stone took turns at lead vocals while playing a wide variety of instruments including guitar, piano, trumpet and harmonica. Julia Stone also danced beautifully while brother Angus was singing which hypnotized onlookers.
After possibly getting some inspiration by watching The Pipettes, Operator Please were up next on That Stage with all the energy that has made them a Triple J and commercial station favourite in 2007. Now that their debut album ‘Yes Yes Vindictive‘ has been released the crowd was able to sing along to almost all their songs instead of just ‘A Song About Ping Pong‘. Lead singer Amanda Wilkinson has almost got her singing while playing lead guitar down perfectly, keyboardist Sarah Gardiner was her usual self jumping around constantly during songs and violinist Taylor Henderson looked like she was wearing the cheerleader outfit she wore in the Ping Pong music video. All in all Operator Please entertained the crowd with their catchy pop songs without fault.
Swedish guitar god Jose Gonzalez was up next in the Other Stage which, like The Panics set, was overflowing with onlookers. His set was scheduled to start at 1:50 but sound problems delayed his start time to around 2:05. Only one side of the speakers was working and the more the sound technicians tried to fix it, the more frustrated the crowd was getting. By the time the curtains were drawn back and Jose Gonzalez appeared on stage (apologetic) many of the crowd members had had enough and walked off and as his set continued with ongoing sound problems and feedback issues more and more people left disappointed. It was a real shame that sound issues hampered one of the finest guitarists going around but these things do happen at music festivals every now and again.
It was that time of the day to get some lunch, a drink and a bit of a sit down, which limited my view of sets by The Go! Team, The Waifs, and Gotye. But I can say that The Go! Team were a real crowd pleaser and it is always fantastic to see a band with two drummers. Many songs were played from their new album ‘Proof Of Youth’ and for most of their set it did feel like I was in some sort of action movie. The Waifs played for the second time in two days but did not disappoint with a set any long time Waifs fan would have loved. Gotye had similar sound issues as Jose Gonzalez in the Other Stage and was also delayed but crowds were still larger than they would have been for Gotye a year ago.
Next up on This Stage was the first real big name headlining acts - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. With their blues/rock style it was great to see them still wearing their trademark denim and leather outfits even in the WA heat. A swag of songs were played from their latest album Baby 81 and their first two albums that rocked Sir Stewart Bovell Park as well as a bunch of softer songs from their previous album Howl. The San Francisco natives went about their business like they had done it a million times without a single blemish in their entire set. That being said, although all the songs sounded just like they do on the CD’s it could have used a bit more excitement or compulsiveness for my liking.
Spiderbait were up next on This Stage and the festival veterans knew exactly how to get the mass moving. Kram grabbed the microphone before any note was played to chat with the crowd and build up a connection that helped them throughout their set. A whole range of songs were played from early ‘Bait classics ‘Ol Man Sam‘, ‘Calypso‘ and ‘Buy Me A Pony‘ to newer hits ‘Fuckin Awesome‘ and crowd favourite ‘Black Betty‘. The main difference Spiderbait had to many other bands was that they actually looked like they were having a real blast during their set with Kram running around stage during a guitar solo, Janet taking photos of herself and the crowd and Whitt playing a guitar solo with his teeth.
The next big overseas headline act, Kings Of Leon were up next and the crowd swelled to near capacity to see the Southern US siblings. Now that the band have three albums to choose from and their latest album ‘Because Of The Times‘ a clear step up in song quality, the Kings Of Leon live show was set to be one not to forget. Songs from early albums Youth & Young Manhood and Aha Shake Heartbreak are mainly quick and fast songs that usually really suite live shows but crowd favourites were songs from their new album including ‘On Call’, ‘Black Thumbnail‘, ‘McFearless‘, ‘Arizona’ and ‘Knocked Up‘. As the sun set on the beautiful Busselton skyline it was a perfect backing to see the fantastic live performance provided by Kings Of Leon. Although Groove Armada were up next many audience members verbally named Kings Of Leon also the Kings of Southbound.
After a short break Groove Armada came on stage to a thunderous applause ready to play their dance hits that have been included in numerous advertising campaigns. Their set definitely ended the festival on a high note with nobody capable of walking away in a bad mood. ‘Superstylin‘ was a crowd favourite and a song that many dance fans will remember the festival by. Sunset Events had put on a fantastic music event that 20, 000 music fans will long remember and Southbound will hopefully be back bigger and better this time next year.
Photos from Southbound can be found here at PerthNorg (Thanks to Noodlez).
Busybee
Norgdom
Perth Music
The Rosemount and The Amplifier were packed this weekend with the two huge metro semi finals of the Next Big Thing competition. 16 fantastic acts turned the local original music scene upside down proving their mettle, but only 4 could be chosen as state finalists to compete in this weekens State Final!!
