Given everything the past two years, last Saturday (5 March) it was time for some music therapy courtesy of This That, which made its Queensland debut at Sandstone Point Hotel.
Heck, even Mother Nature decided to come to the party. Gone were the grey skies that had taken the shine from many souls, leaving the sun to burn brightly in the blue sky above.Joining the throng of punters I migrate through the entry and it is not long before I am at my first port of call – This Stage in the main arena area.
Here I encounter soul-infused, funky, indie melodies from the five-piece opener. I feel energised by Yb. and I pity the late comers that will miss experiencing this evolving act.
Yb.'s has a handful of loyal fans front of stage who are not holding back. The Brisbane experimentalist and his band has fans singing along and as they call out flattering remarks this make him smile.
Yb. - image © Clea-marie Thorne
There is action catching my eye from the open air Other Stage and I investigate – it is the Greatest Hits set and it is bananas!
I am infected by the upbeat pop-rock performance and lively on-stage interaction, mostly involving Foley dressed in an animal print shortie set of banana split colours – I had to describe it that way, she even has a banana-shaped maraca!
Phwoarh! It is hot out of the shade! I pass the LED traffic signage reminders to hydrate and consume in moderation as I head to explore the offerings of the food and drink vendors. I end up with a frozen margarita-flavoured slushie after devouring a beef taco in two bites. Don't judge. It wasn't THAT big, plus I missed brekkie.
I return to This Stage to catch Jack River and bounce on the spot in time with the alternative indie-rock beats. The instrumentation supports the strong vocals imparting from the pipes of dynamo, Jack River (aka Holly Isabella Rankin) as she gives us an energetic set.
I note an immense swell of the crowd that is now filling about half of the grassy knoll between the Hotel and This Stage. The younger generations are being reminded 'We Are The Youth'. I listen along while people watching. I see This That embellished on tees, caps, stubby coolers, totes and folding fans purchased for nostalgia and support.
There's a lot of skin and free love attire in the diverse crowd amid a smattering of black-on-black fashion and a healthy representation of colourful button-up festival shirts. I spy some wicked hair-dos, glittered cheeks and foreheads (likely the work of the Glitoris market stall holder) and some wild and crazy sunnies, even a pair inscribed with festival branding on the lenses.
Shaking me from my engrossed voyeur state is Fremantle’s San Cisco snapping my attention back to This Stage. The crowd condenses and extends past the width of the stage and back past the sound tent.
Punters from all over the arena are singing-along with loud voices, I tell you, the hot sun-rays do nothing to melt our enthusiasm. It must be the chill indie-pop feels floating out to combine with the breeze that is coming off the water that counteracts the heat.
The Rubens - image © Clea-marie Thorne
I am discussing with random pit dwellers that I think This Stage is my place for the next three acts (The Rubens, Spacey Jane and Dune Rats). The group agree and tell me I am one of 'their tribe'. They come in for a group hug. What is COVID? Ha! New friends.
The Rubens and Spacey Jane smashed it on stage. Both acts were a hit with fans and punters who sang along with their favourites while getting into their pumping sets.
Punters were up on shoulders, I even saw one triple decker – poor punter on the bottom. Others stayed on their feet rocking out and the energy has the atmosphere building.
Spacey Jane - image © Clea-marie Thorne
Brisbane's beloved garage punk-rockers Dune Rats took to the stage in front of their cool, inflatable backdrop and light trusses with banks of bright globes. The Dunies did not disappoint, playing all of the fan faves and driving the crowd wild.
To my delight and surprise, considering it was just gone 6:30 pm, the pyrotechnics went off from canisters across the front of the stage too. Yeah baby! Bringing all the visual elements to the punters just heightened the mood. What a hard act to follow. The feels got electric.
Dune Rats - image © Clea-marie Thorne
I high-tailed it to go mix it up with the wild ones engaging bogan-esque sing-alongs with self-described shed rockers, The Chats. It did not take much to have enough of the crowd shenanigans. They clearly hadn't read the 'consume in moderation' reminder; to be fair they were well behaved.
I leave the rowdy ones and their punk-rock, pub-rock anthems, to have my first listen and experience of Budjerah (from just over the border at Fingal Head).
A stunning voice and relaxed yet professional demeanour. I enjoyed him and his band. If it is true that his name also represents creativity it is fitting and I am keen to see where this takes him.
Time to bask in some Meg Mac melodies thank you very much. Wearing a stylin' long, black, shiny, button-through dress with a split-back waist adds to her moody and brooding ambience on stage.
Meg Mac sweeps us away with the soulful, raw emotion of her songs enchanting punters with her glorious pipes.
Meg Mac - image © Clea-marie Thorne
I love watching Marie 'Maz' DeVita ripping it up on stage and my timetable tells me WAAX are now on the Other Stage. Ahh the agony of clashing set times.
I duck away to indulge myself to find WAAX are killing it before a frenzy of fans with raised arms and phones to capture the action while the band plays hard. Maz ensures to give us all she's got including her signature floor moves and punk-rock antics.
WAAX - image © Clea-marie Thorne
8:40pm! No wonder I am hungry. Time for a super quick feed and this time I opt for a schnitzel. Geez, the serve is uber generous, what a great bang for your buck. I try and palm off the hot chippies to a mate before I dash back to That Stage.
Client Liaison first take the stage and then have the crowd in the palms of their hands. Have they never? I make sure I get a quick fill of crowd favourites like 'Off White Limousine' and of course I stay to watch the champagne shower, it never gets old with the crowd.
As I have seen their tight-knit and polished pop-rock show on a few occasions, I bow out to go to the Other Stage taking a gander at Polish Club. These garage rockers are known for getting a crowd to go off at their live shows. And indeed they do.
It is so easy to bust out of my shell and simply rock on. The vibe is high and I 'Stop For A Minute' to take it all in. See what I did there?
All this stage hopping is hard work you know. Although I want to end my night on a rock & roll high, I am curious about what is going on at This Stage and off I trot. Man! What a congregation.
The vibe is definably just as great but totally different from the other stacked stages. The Presets are casting a magical spell, drawing out the inner raver from punters who didn't know they had one – all sorts are mixing it up.
More photos from the festival.
Their beats and mixes are bringing the atmosphere of a Valley nightclub under the night sky as bodies are bumping, twisting and gyrating in wild abandon. Mad rolling graphics and surreal imagery is projecting on the digital backdrop. Against the stage lighting I see the shifting silhouettes of the gazillion punters in front of me.
After a magnificent set and a bloody mega-awesome day, the night is ending with a big bang of fireworks shooting up from behind the stage leaving colourful smoky clouds beside and behind This Stage. Having missed the confetti rain earlier, this really is the cherry on top!
This That is thoughtfully designed to blend genres and audiences instead of pandering to a single music genre or demographic. I like the variety on offer and a good crowd, no matter the demographic is as important to me as a great venue and stellar line-up.
This That drew in a fun lovin' party crew and the security, festival and hotel staff have been great to boot. Punters are very audible about what an epic time they have as they go in search of an after party (or their beds).
I am stoked that I joined the masses not only for self-therapy but also to support the bands, event organisers, workers and venue that needed this event to continue – for obvious reasons was a worthwhile decision.
Hand on heart, everything about This That was bang on baby – a top-shelf event. Let us have a lot of more of This, even more of That and a bit more of the Other next year.
