The Coaster Festival - Gosford Showground 25/09/10

I've gotten a little behind on the blog lately, its been a while since my last post. I blame the epic 3 week cold I've finally recovered from! What probably made it worse was the weekend I should have been in bed but instead chose to go to the Coaster Festival up the coast. However, it was totally worth it! It was a great little festival filled with tons of amazing local acts and a few international big wigs including the mind blowing Cypress Hill.

I started off the day sitting with mates watching Maniac. I wasn't a huge fan. All band members looked like they'd tried to hard too dress like freaks, and one of the lead singers looked like Captain Jack Sparrow, but not hot. Their music was a little better, kinda cruisey and a little quirky, with some cool 80's drum beats. They sounded better than they looked I guess.

Up next on the same stage was one of my favourites, Boy and Bear. The little crowd quickly got bigger which made it apparent that these guys have a definite following amongst Aussie fans. They started off playing Blood to Gold and then played a few new tracks which sounded very promising, I guess they might have a full length album coming out next year some time. I'm not 100% but it looked like they had a different guy on bass, not sure if he was a ring in or they have a new member, either way they still sounded seamless. They finished with Rabbit Song and Mexican Mavis which the crowd approved of.

We basically stayed at the main stage all day, except for a solo trip I made later in the night to see a few other bands whilst Birds of Tokyo were playing. After Boy and Bear, Silversun Pickups took to the stage. I had great anticipation for these guys as I've been a fan for a while but hadn't, until now seen them live. Brian Aubert on lead vocals has one of the most intriguing voices I've heard in a long time and I couldn't get enough of them. The small crowd went off and it was at this point I was really thankful for the fact that the organisers had sectioned off the grounds, so if you wanted to drink alcohol you had to remain in a few designated areas. So for those of us who steered clear of drinking that day (I was hopped up on Codral and attempting to  soldier on through the dreaded lurgy) we got an extreme close up look at most bands that day! As a short person I was very appreciative! Unfortunately it was during their set that I had a very awkward mistaken identity moment as Sonja, a close friend of mine, pinched my bum then hid. I turned around to see who it was and saw a guy WHO LOOKED LIKE SOMEONE I KNOW! I hit him with my hat and said Hey! It wasn't a "how dare you sexually harass me!' hey, it was a "That was a bit unlike you but it's great to see you!" hey! He looked at me and said 'You wanted me to pinch your bum?' and he seemed a little disturbed. At that point 3 things happened! 1) I realised I had no idea who this guy was, he didn't pinch me and I just looked like a total slapper who likes strange men touching her inappropriately, 2) Sonja tapped me on the arm and said 'Um, sorry, that was me!', 3) A wave of humiliation and mortification washed over me. I apologised, turned around and pretended to be engrossed in the music Silversun Pickups were playing before making a quick getaway to the toilet line!

As I walked back from the portaloos I could hear Kevin Mitchell from Jebadiah/Bob Evans singing away for Basement Birds. Other members of this little Aussie super group experiment include, close to my heart, Josh Pyke, as well as Eskimo Joe's Kav Temperley, and Steve Parkin which wikipedia tells me has been an Aussie music collaborator for many bands and on albums over the years. I love their music style, a little bit rock a little indie and big chunk of folk. They got 2 female audience members up to sing Julia Stone's section in the song Bus Stop, and the 2 girls did quite well. The soul and love of music and sheer talent just oozes out of these guys, you can tell they all live, breathe, eat and sleep music. Surprisingly enough and much to the pleasure of the astounded crowd, the guys finished with a gorgeous folk version of The Presets', My People.

Bluejuice...WTF? What are these bizarre dudes on?? They rocked up dressed apparently like Yettie's but they looked like big white and fluro fluffy ravers to me and it didn't take long for frontmen Stav and Jake to strip off and down to not a whole lot, I noticed quite a few audience member stripping off too, which was in some cases an unattractive sight! Many of them should have remained clothed, or maybe put more clothes on! The band had so much energy and the crowd were in a frenzy in no time. It was at that stage I realised how many people were off their faces and it was a little disturbing. Kids....Don't take drugs! Sure, I did turn 27 during the week and now may sound old, but I sure don't feel it, and if remaining coherent, fully dressed and upright during a festival makes me old, well then hey, I'm old and proud of it! I forgot how disco Bluejuice are and I really enjoyed having a boogeeambo golf buggie. Again, Kids....Drugs are bad mkay!

Art Vs Science took over next as the sky started to turn dark and they opened up with prodigious amounts of energy playing Friend in the Field. I know only the few tracks I'd heard on Triple J over the few years since they were unearthed in 2008 to play at Splendour in the Grass and during their set I noticed that they had a much heavier sound than I'd anticipated. Annoyingly, they spent a lot of time stuffing around and stopping during songs to make electro feedback noise and at the point I got a headache towards the end, I left to get some dinner and head over to see Hungry Kids of Hungary at a different stage. Don't get me wrong, Art Vs Science were entertaining, I just found them a little frustrating and I think maybe I was too lucid to dance to non existent music during the long painful breaks between songs.

Hungry Kids of Hungary played on a smaller stage to a smaller crowd but had a big sound. They opened with Set It Right and left the crowd dancing with this gentle rock lullaby. Their rendition of Let you Down was magical and had me feeling uplifted and forgetting my burden that was my huge cold. It was sad that they only had a 30 minute set as they still had a heap of hits that were left unplayed as they left the stage. I know I missed Birds of Tokyo to see these guys and Cloud Control who were on next but to me it was like a warming cup of hot chocolate on a cold night, these two bands are therapeutic to me! It recharge my batteries and helped me to keep going and fully enjoy the rest of my night.

Cloud Control crammed onto the small stage and I was impressed to see a decent little crowd considering Birds of Tokyo were blaring away in the background on another stage. They began with Meditation Song and although I saw them when they supported Vampire Weekend at the beginning of the year I didn't realise how young the lead singer looks. Gold Canary sounded as terrific live as it does on their album and despite the fact that their set was too short for my liking, each and every song they played showed massive amounts of musical talent. It's sad to hear Cloud Control are moving to the UK at the end of the year to further their careers but I'm glad I got to see them before they left as it's unknown when or if they'll return back to Oz.

Last but by no means least of the night was Cypress Hill, in all their doobee smokin glory they rocked out! Everyone I've spoken to about the day all say the same thing, Cypress Hill was a definite highlight and they enjoyed them so much more than they thought they would. The entire crowd was head nodding and hand rapping along whether they knew the lyrics or not. There was old classics like Insane in the Brain and Dr Greenthumb, and newer tracks like Rock Superstar as well as a few of their new album released this year. Whilst the audience was filled with the smell of Silly Cigarettes the guys onstage puffed away on suspiciously smoky cigarettes of their own. They were so entertaining and a fantastic surprise for the night, I would never have gone to see Cypress on their own tour before but I'll give it another thought next time they come back.

Overall it was a great little festival filled with awful fashion and amazing music, people off their chops, and those just out to have a good day. Highlights for me were absolutely Silversun Pickups and Cypress Hill. I'll be sure to check out the line up next year because if it's remotely good, I'll be there.