A leisurely drive through the picturesque Adelaide Hills towards Woodside leads you to the fertile grounds of Tomich Wine Vineyard and site of the very first Vintage Vibes festival.
Stepping into the open space beyond its rustic entrance of shipping containers and wine barrels, one was met with the energetic, bass-heavy sounds of We Move Like Giants and a breath of fresh air and sense of collective optimism for a delightful (if brisk) weekend (1-2 April) of music and marvel.With a stacked line-up over two days, spectators came from near and far to indulge in some of Australia's best musical talent and wine.
Image © Michael Lockheart
Kanada The Loop, the Adelaide-based artist behind the radio ear-worm 'ZOOM IN' performed a set of spritely pop following We Move Like Giants set.
Kanada (real name Brice Young) was supported by backing musicians on sampler and guitar either side of him, catching and holding the attention of a healthy-sized crowd with their song 'Life On Mars'.
The 2022 single was performed live with such a calm, cool collective attitude that translated to pure confidence onstage; understandably it magnetically drew many closer to them.
Kanada The Loop - image © Michael Lockheart
The Temper Trap took to the stage just ahead of a glorious sunset, and could be forgiven for a slightly stiff first few minutes as temperatures were steadily dropping in the Hills. They opened with a glorious if emotive performance of 'Thick As Thieves'.
Impeccable songwriting ability aside, live onstage the band's proficiency really shone; generating a melancholic, yet still epic indie rock mood, perfectly capturing the essence of an autumnal music festival in the beautiful settings around it.
The band's standout hit 'Sweet Disposition' was catalyst for a charge of people towards the stage, instigating a massive sing-along among the casual and diehard fans alike.
With a back catalogue ranging from acoustic, flute-led jingles, to experimental, microtonal jazz-rock fusions, to lengthy mind-altering jam rock sessions, it was interesting to note that among the indie, folky, cheerful mood of Vintage Vibes in general, King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard on this occasion chose violence.
Playing a truly riveting 60-minute set drawing heavily from their very gnarliest albums and songs, not least of all 2019 thrash metal opus 'Infest The Rats' Nest', even studio album cuts like 'Ice V' and 'Magma' from 2022's 'Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms And Lava' (one of five studio albums they released in 2022) took on a heightened tone of aggression and fury during their set.
King Gizzard - image © Michael Lockheart
Much of the group's memorable music is underpinned by sizeable guitar riffs, many of which were articulated via the band's figure-head Stu Mackenzie's contorted facial expressions as he pivoted his guitar up, over and under his body in time with his grinding, delayed effects pedal infused screeches in typical fashion. Not least of all during 'Ice V'.
The performance of 'Ice V', which featured excerpts of 'Iron Lung' during its lengthy jam section, showcased co-guitarist Joey Walker's impressive ability on the strings, along with more of Kenny-Smith's soaring vocal ability, only to quickly turn to a hoarser more agitated tone for 'Mars For The Rich', a song which would be very much at home on any of Motorhead's releases.
With the pace and ante very much as high as imaginable until this point, it was when 'Mars For The Rich' fused into 'Self Immolation' that the frenzied audience whipped into full moshpit mode; an atmosphere that didn't subside for the duration of the set, as the band then followed through with 'Gaia', arguably the heaviest and loudest cut from 2022's 'Omnium Gatherum' album, which itself then musically melted into a blazing performance of new and unreleased track 'Gila Monster'.
With no introduction or acknowledgement of the new song, it still felt very much in place with this agitating and rousing version of King Gizzard live, and effortlessly blended back into a reprise of 'Gaia', again spotlighting Walker's gigantic guitar solo chops on the outro.
King Gizzard - image © Michael Lockheart
Extended jamming – often a highlight at their concerts – took place during closing song 'Magma' and featured one of their more impressive live improvisations as a result, allowing the riff-laden song to swell to beyond 15 minutes in length, this time climaxing with a hypnotic, syncopated drum led outro courtesy of drummer Michael 'Cavs' Cavanagh to a pyroclastic finale.
The band collected around Cavs' slightly elevated kit and morphed the song into a groovy monster of improvised riffs before closing out another breathtaking, if aggressive performance.
Day one headliner Tash Sultana continued and concluded the theme of virtuosic musical ability started by King Gizzard with a set of remarkably inventive and brilliantly executed compositions.
With instrumentation handled solely by Sultana themselves for the first half of the performance, each song would see the highly energetic musician exercise a few lines per instrument, presumably through a looping pedal that piece by piece would build to a dizzying, harmonious and wonderfully catchy, fully-fledged song.
Tash Sultana - image © Michael Lockheart
With creative lighting amplifying their place on stage as they moved, a stage covered in pockets of individual instrument setups and quirky neon lamps, Sultana's intricately tattooed hands were lain on drums, drum machines, guitars, trumpets and more with masterful ability on each and at times made the performer come across much like a mystical being, especially when performed against an evolving, flourishing backdrop of gorgeous, psychedelic visuals of imaginary flora and fauna.
Not only can Tash pull-off such technical and musical mastery, but can utilise their truly incredible talent to create some of the catchiest modern rock, as was evident by a set packed with recognisable hits, like 'Pretty Lady', 'Talk It Out' and latest single 'James Dean'.
Joined by a full band in the latter half of their set, the sound took on an almost orchestral quality, as Tash led the audience through a bombastic performance of 'Jungle'.
Preceded by an occasionally calming interval DJ set by Late Nite Tuff Guy was the chronically cool WA-based San Cisco, who took to the stage in front of a very eager audience. Performing a spacey but glistening indie pop-rock, the four-piece, while visually modest, played tunes that lathered listeners in beauty and pomp.
San Cisco - image © Michael Lockheart
Accompanied by glitchy retro-pop visuals featuring hues of pink and blue articulated a sort of Miami Beach-style art-deco sonic imagery that the band's name and sound conjures.
The pacing of their set was on-point too as they took a moment for reflection on their song 'Flaws', which in this stripped-back live setting elevated the remarkable quality of the band's songwriting, with the track building to glorious heights as heavily reverberating, glittery guitar leads and open chords carried the most soothing choral vocals to the song's conclusion.
The delight of spectators evidently gleed the members of San Cisco too, as they playfully engaged with one another onstage by way of momentary doses of inter-member posing and tribulation probably in large part thanks to the willingness of the audience to participate and sing-along, song after song.
Furthermore, the infectiously catchy 'Fred Astaire' saw mass movement as festival goers danced away during the duration of the track, a moment of playfulness not yet seen on day two.
The picturesque setting of the low-hanging sun cast golden tones across the site, accenting the edges of the stage and looming eucalyptus trees in the background; the perfect prelude to Angus & Julia Stone's set, taking place shortly after the grounds were fully submerged in dark.
Angus & Julia Stone - image © Michael Lockheart
Their wholesome performance was like an intimate peek into a juvenile jam room session between siblings, albeit with highly refined audio visual production, finessed songwriting and top-notch performing ability.
Back and forth vocal delivery between the pair on song's such as 'For You' and opener 'Snow' offered the opportunity to witness heartwarming glances between the brother and sister act onstage as the pair indulged in the very same joy as their audience did.
Bolstered by a backline of incredibly skilled musicians to bring their luscious work to life, the entire band and the music they perform is at once very present while simultaneously dreamlike.
Not caught up in the hectic nature perhaps seen during other more raucous sets of the weekend, Angus in particular was able to enjoy some of the poignant moments as he watched on, sat atop his amplifier as his bandmate on banjo admirably performed a rousing climactic solo to 'Private Lawns'.
The pair further warmed hearts with their cover of Sam Smith's 'Stay With Me', a mainstay of their set list these days, and much needed at Vintage Vibes as temperatures had surely plummeted.
Angus & Julia Stone - image © Michael Lockheart
Though a couple of lines of verse went amiss, only to be forgiven and breaking into a giggle, Angus' delivery was hugely uplifting, and allowed him to graciously launch into a slightly reworked live version of his other project Dope Lemon hit 'Home Soon', with Julia providing the classic flute lines herself.
Despite the bitter cold that the adoring crowd were admirably enduring, the performance couldn't help but revive a feeling of warmer summer nights for a moment. Now cosied up in an oversize hoodie, Julia then led their next song 'From The Stalls', a heart-achingly emotive but beautiful track, written during a period when the duo weren't sure if they'd ever play together, as told by Angus.
The song's finale saw the two face to face, centre stage as it gradually built to emotional and cathartic crescendo.
More photos from the show.
