The sun gods were smiling on the Sunny Coast for the 2015 Caloundra Music Festival where record crowds enjoyed four days of brilliant music, amazing weather and awesome community vibes.
This festival, presented by Sunshine Coast Council, brings together a mish-mash of musical styles from reggae to folk to good ol’ Aussie rock. There are gems to be found among the five stages open to the general public along with the more intimate sets for those wanting to experience the festival by paying more to hang out at the Kings Club VIP bars and facilities.
The kids were sorted with increased activity at this year's Funky Forest and their message of environmental sustainability was turned up a notch with the introduction of organic-waste collection bins. Even with the increase in crowd (Saturday and Sunday were sell outs) the facilities weren’t affected – it just took a little longer to get between the stages.
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Local band Oka kicked off the 2015 proceedings on the Soul Stage with a superb set that had the punters up and dancing. I’ve never seen the crowd so hyped for an act on so early in the day. That may be because of the increase in the teen market who seemed to dominate the crowd for the first two days.
The Surf stage was opened by the All Star Show Band, who were joined on stage by Larry Braggs during their rendition of ‘Soul Man’.
The first gem of the festival for me was Melbourne based, Japanese blues-fusion act George & Noriko with a mixture of traditional Japanese songs and instruments alongside classic-blues instruments and songs like ‘Shake Your Money Maker’. Judging by their social media pages I wasn’t the only one who enjoyed them and George's hilarious banter, multiple shouts of ‘Kanpai’ (cheers in Japanese) and their quality musicianship was a hit with everyone.
Pro-facial hair advocates, The Beards packed the Surf Stage with beard lovers young and old to deliver some hairy-good tunes. I’m sure there were many who left with 'If Your Dad Doesn’t Have A Beard, You’ve Got Two Mums' on replay in their heads.
The Surf Stage rounded-up the night with Larry Braggs Soul Club and Dynamic Hepnotics. Sadly, the latter were probably not the best of acts the organisers could’ve chosen. A double set of Larry Braggs Soul Club would have worked and, as we were to learn Monday, Larry and the boys would have played on all night if allowed.
Over on the Soul Stage Diesel n Dub - who cover Midnight Oil songs in dub reggae form - were a bit lost on the crowd. They were good, really good, however the classic protest songs were mostly unrecognisable and a bit too mellow. The only song that seemed to get the crowd's attention was 'Beds Are Burning' when they were joined on stage by Frank Yamma.
Return act, Blue King Brown certainly did not disappoint and were my favourite act of the night. They delivered a sensational sounding set, flawless in their delivery of music and message. Frontwoman Nattali Rize gave the crowd eight beats to “scream, shout, yell, stomp, whistle” to release negative energy and let in positivity, and the 8,000-strong crowd definitely responded. My inner, young person was super excited when I heard the opening bars of RATMs 'Killing In The Name', but that was only to be a 16-bar tease.
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The crowd was pretty hyped for the headline act Angus and Julia Stone, with literally dozens of seven to seventeen-year olds being hauled over the barrier due to over-enthusiastic fans pushing forward. Julia outshone brother Angus but what they delivered was beautiful nonetheless. Their hits 'Big Jet Plane' and 'A Heartbreak' capped off the night brilliantly.
Angus & Julia Stone - image © Marc Austin-Zande
This year was definitely young people heavy over the first two days where it's traditionally being a pretty even mix of age groups. It sure made for a different dynamic from the time the gates opened on this sold out day.
Five-time ARIA nominee Diana Anaid gave us a a beautifully-raw performance with some very personal songs including one written about her brother who is transitioning into her sister. Unfortunately she didn’t play 'I Go Off' due to vocal restrictions from an earlier cyst on her vocal chords.
Abbe May opened the Soul Stage with a gutsy, guitar set meanwhile Kangajang Children’s Show, Dear Willow and Jason Daniels opened the Sun, Sand and Song stages respectively.
Saturday was a huge day with the likes of Ash Grunwald, Meg Mac and Josh Pyke rounding out the afternoon on the Soul Stage. Fremantle indie-pop band San Cisco took the early evening spot delivering a stellar set to a crowd of enthusiastic revellers. The band are touring regional Australia starting the end of the month and I imagine the love from this festival would be the perfect warm-up gig. The only bummer about this set is Jordi Davieson having to constantly remind the crowd to back-up because people were being squashed at the barriers.
Larry Braggs Soul Club performed the second of three shows over the weekend before the Melbourne Ska Orchestra blew-up the Surf Stage. Melbourne Ska Orchestra also performed an impromptu gig while in the signing tent much to the delight of the fans.
Fresh from her album launch, Andrea Kirwin played the Sun Stage before George and Noriko once again delighted the crowd. Local boys Band Of Frequencies lined-up next to deliver a fine set followed by Sydney band Watussi, who played one of their final shows ever as a band.
Xavier Rudd - image © Marc Austin-Zande
Before the festival began I was not looking forward to seeing Xavier Rudd. I saw him when he last played the festival two years ago and I wasn’t that impressed (neither were the photographers), but the energy that he and The United Nations had was probably the highlight of the festival for me. Everything was spot on, and Rudd seemed far happier to be there.
Just the look on his face was enough to let the sell-out crowd know that he was feeling (and loving) the vibe. He played well known hits like 'Spirit Bird' and 'Follow The Sun' alongside tracks from his new offering, 'Nanna', with The United Nations. This set was what makes a good, festival experience a great one!
Sunday was another day of ‘where should I go, there’s so much on offer’. Carl Wockner rocked-out the Soul Stage to get the day underway and for those who wanted a more Latino flavour to kickstart their day headed to the Surf Stage where Watussi got everyone pumped to start the day.
Just before them, next door on the Song Stage was another gem, Beverly Thrills. Strong vocals and a loop pedal made for really enjoyable set of multi-layered melodies. I believe all songs were originals apart from the cover of Jamiroquai’s 'Dance'. Thrills along with so many other local acts show that the Sunshine Coast is a super-diverse pool of amazing talent.
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Another gem of a find was freaking hilarious Steve Poltz. Engaging and super funny, this man knows how to fill the stage with just himself. For his last song he hopped off the stage for some close-up crowd love, created and sang an impromptu ditty to a young girl in the audience called Sienna then led us all in the Bob Dylan classic, 'Forever Young'.
French gypsy-rock outfit and yet another gem, Babylon Circus totally tore-up the Soul Stage. Their set was explosive and the crowd collectively worked up a major sweat dancing and jumping along with these guys, although most of what they sang wasn’t in English, rather their native tongue. They could’ve repeated ‘wakka wakka wakka’ over and over again for all anyone in the audience cared, they were just brilliant.
Melbourne Ska Orchestra proceeded them in yet another kick-arse set. MSO are always an absolute pleasure to watch and I wouldn’t be disappointed if they were in the line-up for 2016. Katchafire played the Surf Stage before Royal Southern Brotherhood and Aussie hip hopper Allday.
Allday - image © Marc Austin-Zande
Allday performed to a packed crowd of young ones who lost their collective shit at the start of most of the songs he played. I happen to be out (but not by much) of his target demographic, but I still enjoyed the set and will probably track him down on Spotify when the hip hop mood catches me. Thundamentals blew the roof for the final act of the night on that stage.
For the older ones (and plenty of young ones) the Baby Animals put on a great performance. Without drummer Mick Skelton and with DeMarchi at the helm, Baby Animals rocked non-stop for their set and had the crowd in a rock-induced sweat. Suze had the crowd sing 'Happy Birthday' to Skelton, who is still in hospital recovering from a tragic accident. (Best wishes go to Mick for a full recovery)
Baby Animals - image © Marc Austin-Zande
Hoodoo Gurus were bloody amazing. They played songs stretching their entire career, sounding as good as they ever did. They picked 'The Right Time' to blow a bass amp but continued on playing the next song while the production crew went into a mad dash to fix it so they could continue rocking. They later returned to 'The Right Time' once the issue was fixed.
Hoodoo Gurus - image © Marc Austin-Zande
Young up and coming songstress Brooke Revell was the perfect lunch companion on the Sand Stage while Casey Barnes opened the final day on the Soul Stage. Pseudo Echo played next and made me realise that I knew more songs by them other than 'Funky Town'.
My final festival gem was The Lyrical. He was the perfect mix of acoustic, hip hop, reggae and beatbox pulled together with a social conscience. Mojo Juju played the Surf Stage after another Steve Poltz set. Back Alley Cats and Agnes J Walker & the Cry Babies played awesome sets on the Sun and Song stages.
While Tijuana Cartel had the crowd up and dancing with a fabulous set before Larry Braggs Soul Club finished off the festival (and running half an hour overtime) with soulful style.
Before Larry the Soul Stage finished off their part of the festival with Good Times Band with Kate Ceberano, Joe Camilleri, Brian Cadd, Ross Wilson and Wilbur Wilde. The crowd loved hits 'Bedroom Eyes', 'Little Ray Of Sunshine', 'Eagle Rock' and 'Shape I’m In' along with loads of other Australian classics delivered in solo and combined formats.
All in all this festival is pretty much a dream event. It doesn’t just target a certain demographic… parents can bring their kids, teenagers will have a blast, oldies are included, everyone is encouraged to have a great time; and a great time is what everyone did have.
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Massive props to the entire crew who make this festival what it is. The council team, the volunteers and all the various stage, sound and lighting crew and not to forget all the food vendors and kids entertainment. You should all pat yourselves on the back for another successful Caloundra Music Festival.
Can’t wait for 2016’s event!
