6 April 2024 – Sandstone Point Hotel, Bribie Island – words by Cody-James Henderson – pictures by Charlyn Cameron
As we’ve seen these past few weeks, the festival landscape of Australia has become a more deserted wasteland than it has ever been. From last minute cancellations, poor ticket sales, line up issues and the crippling cost of living crisis; what was once an oasis of variety has become a sparse drought.
But what happens when two of the finest Rock bands of the late 90’s/00’s come together for a massive headline tour with the help of a few local legends? A gathering of souls find their way to Bribie Island for an afternoon where they can put the struggles aside and breathe life into our entertainment industry showing it’s not all doom and gloom just yet. LIVE and Incubus have returned to Australia for the first time since the pandemic to bring us the ‘Lookout Festival’ with friends in The Superjesus, Eskimo Joe and Birds Of Tokyo. Was it to be just a splash in a pond or was it going to be a strong attempt at keeping the festival scenes in Australia alive?
The Superjesus: Sarah McLeod is an Australian Rock Goddess that needs no introduction and The Superjesus are one of the staple touring festival acts who get the absolutely most out of opening a show as colossal as this. Like any festival, being the opening act is no easy feat. There’s no guarantee of a turnout or if anyone will know your name, but that isn’t the case for The Superjesus. As pure as rock and roll could possibly be, SJ commandeer through a rather warm Autumns day getting punters off their forbidden picnic blankets and chairs to warm themselves even hotter busting a move or groove. I know Rock and Roll is about defiance, but you’re ruining it for the rest of us.
“People up the back can you see us? Do we look all little and shit?” asks Sarah, acknowledging the bizarre divisions of today’s crowd before bursting into a brand new single ‘Won’t let Go til it’s Over’ set for release on April 9th. But from something new into “something old” the band blasted through their first ever song ‘Shut My Eyes’ as the older generations warped back to ‘95 or “the good old days” as it was put to us. As Sarah split the crowd into 2 halves to bring everyone together in a mass sing-a-long during ‘Gravity’ where the ending was expected, we were treated to a wonderful rendition of Generation X’s ‘Dancing With Myself’ to close out an already electric and dance filled set. A brilliant start to a massive day ahead.
Eskimo Joe: To the theme of the Imperial March, Eskimo Joe (albeit 5 minutes late) came out with no delay, jumping straight into ‘Sarah’ hyping up the thousands settling in for the evening ahead. It’s not often a band can smash out a collection hits to start a set, but no one told Eskimo Joe this wasn’t an option. ‘New York’ was second off the bat and the crowd were eating it up. Through technical issues, the band struggled to get ‘Breaking Up’ started as the acoustic guitar wasn’t playing fair, the band skipped along to ‘Setting Sun’ dedicating it to the “controversial” Miley Cyrus and “whatever Hemsworth brother she was kissing” in ‘The Last Song’. Not a lot of Australian acts can say they had the feature song in a major motion picture, however the band themselves never watched it. And judging by the reaction, I don’t think a lot of people here did either. But none of that mattered, as the backing track for ‘Foreign Land’ kicked in and woke up the sunburnt audience gathering one of the biggest reactions of the day so far.
And in today’s biggest coincidence, the Bribie Island crowd get to hear the brand new EJ track ‘The First Time’ for the very first time. The new track blaring similarities to the very early ‘A Song is a City’ era of EJ. A pleasant treat indeed to be able to hear. Although battling a bit of vocal strain in ‘Love is a Drug’ vocalist ‘Kav Temperley’ brought it all together with ‘Black Fingernails, Red Wine’ causing everyone’s wine drunk mum in the general vicinity to lose their minds. The inner child in me hearing one of his favourite songs live was also losing his mind too. Wrapping it up early with ‘From The Sea’ and a crashing band outro, Eskimo Joe showed just why they remain popular 2 decades on.
Birds of Tokyo: As the setting sun broke through what was left of the previous days rain clouds, the audience became more settled, the melodic but always fascinating Birds of Tokyo had arrived. (No quite literally, had just arrived. They played a show in Newcastle 900km only a couple of hours ago and now they’re here. Just phenomenal) Vocalist Ian Kenny (also of Karnivool fame for those who didn’t know) was as lively as ever, revamping the audience who were expecting to take a breather before the headliners. Like a well oiled machine, the Perth outfit showed no signs of rust smashing through ‘Plans’ and ‘I’d Go With You Anywhere’ without a single hiccup. If it weren’t for his talking in the middle of songs, you’d be convinced Kenny was miming to a vocal track. His live ability is something that’s always been spoken so highly of, and now I understand why. “If you’re not having a good day, we’re going to do all we can to turn that motherfucker around for you” as the band glides into ‘Two of Us’ bringing thousands of swaying hands into the air. The accompanying stage set up and screens would have you believe that Birds were our headliner this evening. At least that’s what the energy the band was giving us felt like.
Especially as the band opted to turn things up with ‘Brace’ instead of slowing things down. It would be almost fitting for a band like Birds of Tokyo to be given an opportunity like that going forward. Good Lord they deserve it. (See what I did there?) Speaking of that horrible pun; what should’ve been the softest moment of the evening was arguably one of the loudest. ‘Good Lord’ turned a see of thousands into sappy drunks reminiscing on old relationships. The amount of people slow dancing to a song about a divorce and being cheated on is slightly concerning, but seeing a crowd come together so effortlessly was a key highlight of the day. As we were serenaded with ‘Lanterns’ the night had grown dark, but that meant the show could be seen in a brand new light. The crowd of now 10,000+ lit up the sky and a choir of voices took us home. No matter how you view ‘Birds of Tokyo’, is it a side project? Are they one of Australia’s best rock bands? It doesn’t matter. It is important that you consider seeing them live just once. The sun had finally set, on one of the best sets of 2024.
Incubus: “Now the monster is awake” Incubus are in Australia for the first time since 2018, and Australia are letting them know that 7 years is way to long to be away. It became increasingly hard to hear vocalist Brandon Boyd belt out ‘Nice to Know You’ as the crowd are multiplying the volume ten-fold. Could that be mainly due to the muffled sounds of guitar and bass being lost in the mix? Potentially, but it’s safe to say this is one hell of an anticipated show. With no new album since 2017, this was going to be a sure fire Greatest Hits night, touching all the eras that influenced generations of Prog/Nu Metal/Rock and Funk fans.
Speaking of bass; Nicole Row (Touring bassist for Miley Cyrus, Dua Lipa & Panic! at the Disco to name a few) is settling in quickly, adding her signature style to compliment Ben Kenney (who had to step away from Incubus to recover from a brain tumour). Tearing through ‘Anna Molly’ and ‘Stella’ like she’s been there since the very beginning. It’s safe to say Nicole has filled incredibly large shoes like it was absolutely nothing. Cohesiveness isn’t something lost on Incubus. Their craft speaks loud without dropping into “show off” territory, an art lost on groups that fluctuate with time signatures and off beat structures. In a live setting, no one is trying to sit higher than anyone else, it’s all about the end product. The only thing hindering this product though, is the overall mix. When the vocals start to come in, the guitars start to fade away. Overall it just feels like a whole layer of the performance is missing. But I may just be in a dead spot. ‘Morning View’ and ‘Make Yourself’ dominate the setlist as ‘Pardon Me’ and ‘The Warmth’ are met to ovation and opportunities from Boyd to take a breather and direct the Bribie Choir, but that didn’t stop a little new B-Side EP track ‘Karma, Come Back’ sneaking in for the die hard fans in the crowd. But if 3 decades of material isn’t enough variety, how about throwing in a cover of The Beatles ‘Come Together’? What about a snippet of ‘Riders on The Storm’ in the middle of ‘Are You In?’ What about some David Bowie ‘Just Dance’? Is that enough for you? Unfortunately it wasn’t enough for the gentleman behind me screaming for ‘A Certain Shade of Green’. “We do play mostly our own songs. At least 89% of the set is Incubus songs.”
I could only wish for a little more crowd interaction however. Other than a few “Thank you’s” and “How are we? Are we good?” There wasn’t a whole lot to talk about with the audience apparently. Taking a signature sit down with crossed legs, ‘Drive’ can surely be heard all over Queensland and maybe by my friends in Northern NSW as everyone sings from the bottom of their lungs. But it’s time to take a deep breath; ‘Wish You Were Here’ is up now (and no it’s not another cover of a Pink Floyd song) I don’t really have a lot to say about this one, I spent the entire time thinking of a dear friend. But the coming together of 10,000 voices was magical. It wasn’t without its moments, a lot of which was out of the bands hands. What Incubus delivered was a generational setlist that will have pleased all fans who have spent years waiting for their return.
LIVE: 30 years of being a household name. All based off two simple words that I’m sure your mum and dad know all too well; Throwing Copper. If you were born in the mid 90’s, ask your parents about that album. Most of them will have owned it. LIVE were a pivotal force of the post grunge movement of the 90s but thanks to that album; they remain as relevant as ever. Especially since vocalist Ed Kowalczyk rejoined the band in 2016. This year marks its 30th anniversary, which explains why the set opened heavy. ‘Hold Me Up’ ‘All Over You’ and ‘Selling The Drama’ set the tones for the night. And if you thought the crowd was loud for Incubus, that was nothing on the LIVE crowd.
“Fires and viruses and all the bullshit is over and now we’re back down under” says a visually excited and motivated Ed as he takes us in his self made Time Machine back to 1997 for ‘Freaks’. For all his youthfulness, you wouldn’t believe that LIVE have been coming here for over 32 years. With 12,000 people here tonight, you’d think they hadn’t been here at all in that time frame. 30 years of Throwing Copper takes us forward to 25 years of The Distance to Here which is where I first found LIVE as a two year old (stay with me here, I’ll explain more later) with ‘The Distance’. For someone who has done this for decades, Ed’s voice still finds beautiful harmonies and head voice with ease. He may have aged as he whimpers at how long it’s been since the album came out, his voice has aged elegantly. Although none of the members in the current line up of LIVE (minus Ed) are of the original line up, they bring immense character and justice to the history they’re performing here tonight. They’re not just perceived as hired guns, but instead are given an equal chance at the spotlight to make sure the beauty of each track is on full display. After a heartwarming and emotional ‘Pillars of Davidson’ it was time to crack out another all time classic in ‘Dolphins Cry’.
Remember where I told you to stay with me earlier? This is it. One of the first memories of music I have was seeing this music video in my lounge room religiously as it was one of my mums all time favourites. It soon became one of mine. This was an experience 25 years in the making for me. The rain started to poor as ‘Shit Towne’ but it was no deterrent to the LIVE ‘freaks’ just in awe and focused on enjoying something they’d been waiting years to witness once more. Unfortunately it came a few songs too early for it to be completely fitting, but you can’t win them all. Especially when a track like ‘Lakinis Juice’ is blasting its way through the crowd, and as judgement is being cast the band vanish to tease an encore. “It’s easier not to be wise” ‘I, Alone’ is one of those songs that you’ve just heard before. Even if you’re not a fan you’ve definitely heard this one before; whether it be on the radio, at a family BBQ or just passing by on TV. Its hook draws you in and has you singing a long even if it’s just the chorus. But it appears the contingency of Queensland knows every single word. But if there is two words you should know (and let’s be real, most of you know these two words) it’s very simple; ‘Lightning Crashes’. I cannot describe the sound the crowd made when the initial chords struck, but I can try my best to describe what followed.
As the verses trickled through the sea of punters, the heavens began to open once more, providing a fitting forecast for a magical moment. The crowd sang only at the volume Ed presented to us, until the chorus rolled around like thunder. Then the song was hijacked and the rains became heavier, but not a single soul physically moved. But mentally? I felt cleansed. I am not a religious man, but if the experience of ‘Lightning Crashes’ in the pouring rain is anything close to it, then lord I believed tonight.
Lookout Festival: For those who haven’t attended Sandstone Point Hotel before, I believe it is a must when wanting to experience the full scale of a festival without the overwhelming size of major national festivals. The ability to have optimal viewing from all angles but having copious amounts of space made for such an easy going afternoon. The multitudes of food options kept punters happy from lunch til dinner, and the bar area was large enough that you weren’t waiting terribly long for anything. The pricing was set a festival standard but the variety was a welcoming sight. As the day went on and the sun had set, finding your way around became slightly difficult due to a distinct lack of lighting, which made standard things like going to the bathroom slightly more challenging, and you were bound to trip over a punter or two who were just minding their business watching the show. A couple extra generators would easily fix this!
My only major gripe with the festival was the ‘Party Pit’. Unless punters forked out extra on their ticket, they were unable to access the front of stage area and instead had to watch from a slight distance away. Even though you could see the stage from anywhere in the hill area of the festival, this definitely didn’t feel right. Music shouldn’t be locked behind a paywall for those that can ultimately afford to purchase a VIP pass. We’re all here to enjoy the same product. If your VIP pass gets you early access to the stage floor, a special food and drink line, a bonus merch pack then that’s one thing. But no one attending a concert on such an open scale should have to feel segregated from the ability to get close to an artist they love because someone paid extra. Especially with what the world is currently going through. I would encourage ‘Lookout’ to reconsider this going forward if they look to continue. However after all that, it would be unfair to say the day was ruined because of that. Because it wasn’t. The festival overall felt like a major success and a step in the right direction. What was smaller in the scale of artists, felt bigger in the scheme of togetherness and quality. I could see Lookout becoming a regular fixture in the scheme of the Australian festival landscape if not for a few small changes. With the damage done to our industry at the moment, I’m sure we will take everything that we can get at this point.
