It's BIGSOUND night two of three – are you all hanging in there?
First up at Tomcat was OK Hotel, who, despite being at only 75 per cent capacity due to the loss of guitarist Lucy to illness ("She's alive and well – we promise!"), delivered a powerful set of grunge-rock-vibed goodness mixed with some sweet melodies and a ramshackle charm.Their final track 'Life Is Crazy (Like That)' hit home hard and reassured an appreciative audience that BIGSOUND was alive and kicking for a second night.
Over at Summa House Old Mervs delivered a more laid-back, easy-and-breezy vibe, while at The Zoo, the Andrew Gurruwiwi Band got into some seriously funky jams; proving themselves to be an early highlight of the second night of the festival.
The seven-piece Arnhem Land collective took a large and appreciative audience on a winding journey through a set of depth, heart and top-notch musicality; and they only got better as they went on.
The maestro Gurruwiwi himself, looking effortlessly cool seated at the front of the stage in dark sunglasses, led the way through a captivating collection of tracks sung in Yolngu Matha.
At Wooly Mammoth Mane Stage, Teenage Dads gathered quite the crowd and set about immediately going down a storm; all hip-wiggling, fist-pumping cringe in only the best ways possible. "It's just a name. Don't ask that question. It's getting stale," advises singer Jordan, pre-empting the very thought most likely on everyone's minds.
At EC Venue, Fly Boy Jack was spitting rhymes to a bouncing audience in what felt like one of those BIGSOUND moments you'll tell people about in years to come. The quartet operated in perfect harmony, delivering cutting lyrics with a vibe that only drew a bigger crowd the longer the set lasted.
The ebb and flow nature of movement between BIGSOUND venues means you can't always get where you want as crowds gather and melt away, and the influx of people towards Teenage Joans unfortunately made The Loft unattainable for this reviewer. Based on the fervour for the band they must be doing something special.
Back at the Wooly Mammoth Mane Stage, The Rions seemed to have added even more people to an already heaving crowd left over from Teenage Dads; there was barely enough room to turn around in the cosy upstairs venue.
The impossibly-young-looking but musically adept triple j Unearthed High winners delivered a slick set of indie-rock richness and marked themselves as ones to watch – with impressive '70s-style moustaches to boot.
At Prince Consort, Selfish Sons set about treating the pub gig setup almost like a stadium rock affair; all "Hey BIGSOUND, how we feeling?" and "Get your hands in the air, BIGSOUND!" call-outs, and, having already supported acts of the stature of The Kid Laroi, it's probably clear why. The Brisbane trio worked hard and had a blast and, as a result, the audience had a blast too.
At Summa House, it was time for a big night two finale, and it came in the form of an epic performance from Butchulla rapper Birdz, accompanied by Fred Leone on vocals and didgeridoo.
Opener 'Aussie Aussie' hit harder than anything on show so far, as did mid-set highlight 'Fly', before an all-conquering 'Bagi-la-m Bargan' closed out a punch-to-the-guts set of power, pride, and truth-telling in a BIGSOUND moment up there with the best.
One more day to go: let's keep the BIGSOUND train a-rollin' for another 24 hours.
More photos from Day Two.
