Grinspoon - photo by Bec Harbour
19 June, 2021 – Sandstone Point Hotel – review by Tarynne Ambrosi – photography by Bec Harbour
The skies were clear and the sun was warm with a cool breeze coming off Pumicestone Passage where the Sandstone Point Hotel overlooks the channel of water separating Bribie Island from the mainland. It looked to be a great day for a festival.
The Sandstone Point Hotel wins for location, location, location, and the festival set up made it easy to locate the stage area and the drink and food areas. Points off for the flimsy narrow barriers (which later would prove to be pretty ineffectual) that created a rat run once the festival area filled up.
But the setting was beautiful with a clear view across Moreton Bay, there were reports of dolphins frolicking at the last Spring Loaded, out in the bay, they evidently had other fish to catch on Saturday.
Lindsay ‘The Doctor’ McDougall opened the festival with the warning that there were still strict restrictions on the numbers in both the festival and the D barrier and to please respect that as this may impact the venues ability to host more music events. He also told us of the dolphin visitors last time and kept a great witty banter across the day.
Being the first on a festival line up can be a tough gig, particularly for 90’s electro-goth band (in full blistering anti-goth daylight), Caligula – but they handled the challenge like champs. Punters were filtering in to the D barrier area as Caligula effortlessly grooved through their set that included Before and Roundabout plus potentially some new ones, the crowd appreciated the music and there were even a few dancing bodies in the crowd. Before the band played their anticipated hit ‘Tears of a Clown’ the keyboard player ripped a fat vape before embarking on the first chords of the track. Roughly 200 people in the mosh area were bopping to the song, and the band was a solid start to the day.
**Notable crowd highlight during Caligula’s set were the sexy Baywatch lifeguards – so much red, and obvious blonde wigs.
Before the band kicked off their set, we were informed by The Doctor, that Screamfeeder is having a documentary made about them and if we were to behave very well, we may make the final cut (don’t have to tell me twice). More punters worked their way through the rat maze to get the rock n roll cheese offered by Screamfeeder and they were not disappointed with a set that flowed effortlessly from their entire catalogue.
Bass player Kellie Lloyd told the crowd ‘I’m not good at banter so I shan’t engage’. They tore through bass thumping hits to the delight of the crowd cheering loudly after each song. The set ran under time, so the crowd was treated to an extra track which was received with more cheering.
With the opening line ‘Hey hey, we aren’t the Meanies’, Tumbleweed kicked off their set with ‘Sundial’. Opening with this hit was a real crowd pleaser with quite a few festival folk migrating to the front of the stage to give the band a better look.
A shout out to the singer, Richie Lewis’ fitness regime, as the vigorous dance moves have changed very little from the 1990’s.
As Tumbleweed tore up their second track in their set, the pyrotechnics kicked in which you would certainly not find at a Metallica concert, but would absolutely see at a Tumbleweed concert, fortunately this was exactly a Tumbleweed concert so the spectacle was perfect.
The set was very much a crowd pleaser with one punter smelling suspiciously like ‘Otto’s jacket’ yelling out ‘We love the Weed’ …whatever that means.
Tumbleweed finished their set with crowd favourite ‘Daddy Long Legs’ and treated us to a newish song called ‘Shadowland’ which was very much in keeping with the Tumbleweed sonic style.
Kicking off the set with a touching tribute to Australian musical genius John Farnham’s hit ‘Take the Pressure Down’ set the tone for Frenzal Rhomb’s setlist for Spring Loaded today.
Launching in to ‘Bird Attack’, which I can only assume is a thrash anthem to native fauna. From bird attack to a Crowe – Russell Crowe to be precise. The crowd participation for this sing along was at a maximum.
Lindsay and Jay lamented about The Meanies not being present for the day’s line up and spontaneously gave us the first verse and a chorus of 10% Weird by The Meanies in their absence, and confirmed that when we (the audience) do actually get to see The Meanies live, we will hear how 10% Weird should actually sound.
BC Michaels from Dune Rats sat in on drums for the track ‘Fuck my School Reunion’ – Jay confirmed BC‘s performance on drums was ‘slow and bad’. BC said he was worried he wouldn’t get a record deal now.
The set wound up with ‘smoked a pack of cigarettes before midday’ sing along which got the crowd going and the punters were jumping about yelling ‘never had so much fun’.
Finally, Frenzal Rhomb ended the set with ‘Punch in the Face’. The crowd loved the set, singing along loudly to the chorus with Jay.
The band exploded on to the stage with Sarah Mcleod racing all over the stage with a mission to jump on every square inch of the stage before the end of the set and she was off to a very good start of accomplishing that mission. Kicking off with ‘Down Again’ as a favourite for the crowd.
The vocals were a little lost initially, but after some quick fixes from the mixing desk, these were cleaned up and Sarah sounded amazing against the grinding guitars and pumping bass.
From there, the second track ‘Saturation’, Sarah tossed a few picks out to the crowd as a token of appreciation.
Third track was a cracking cover of Kylie Minogue’s 90’s classic ‘Confide in Me’ which Sarah belted out with classic rock n roll vocal pipes.
There were great harmonies between the band during the performance of track ‘Secret Agent Man’.
The crowd were captivated by the powerhouse performance of the Superjesus and as they finished their set with ‘Gravity’ Sarah broke the pit crowd in to two parts and had a crowd sing along of ‘more than any other’ and ‘days its only’ which was fun for the crowd and also sounded great.
Starting the set with ‘Birds of Prey’ Tex Perkins vocals sound like gravelly gold, deep and soulful with the backing of a bluegrass/country inspired band.
The harmonies performed by the band during the set were flawless and soulful.
The third song is a cover of a cover. Tex Perkins’ version of Johnny Cash’s version of Soundgarden’s hit ‘Rusty Cage’. Familiar to any Soundgarden fan, however so far removed to become a bluegrass song, and it really does lend itself to this style of music very well.
‘Can’t Say No’, taken from Tex’s Beasts of Bourbon days had mellow harmonies and dutiful care taken to the lyrics, sung with passion and care for the original subject.
One for the ladies in the crowd (swoon) ‘Woman with Soul’. Partners danced together for this and the next song ‘Anybody But You’.
Getting toward the end of the set, Tex dedicated the following track to a mouthy punter and the Prime Minister, The Cruel Sea’s ‘The Honeymoon is Over’ which got a laugh from the crowd.
Tex then let us know of his intention to get a ‘kebab and ride the ferris wheel’ before finishing the set with a wonderful and seemingly spontaneous version of ‘Rainbow Connection’.
‘Most Dapper’ goes to You Am I for their stage attire tonight as they burst on to the stage with ‘Wally Raffles’. No time for banter as they dive right in to the next track ‘The Waterboy’ as Tim Rogers stalks across the stage as what can only be described as a deeply sexual tarantula with kicks and paroxysms galore.
The crowd happily sing along to ‘Cathy’s Clown’ before Tim confirms they are about to perform another ‘cult classic’ ‘Mr Milk’.
After a set of classic hits and a few new tracks, and much gyrating and hair flipping akin to a 1970’s rock n roll boss, Tim dedicated the song to his big brother ‘Jamie’ for getting him in to rock n roll in the first place. The crowd absolutely goes nuts and sings and dances to ‘Berlin Chair’ as the band wrap up a brilliant set.
The Grinspoon set starts with some heavy stage production value (lots of smoke and lighting effects). First track from Grinspoon is ‘Dead Cat’ DCX3’ and with gusto, Phil bounces all over the stage and equipment, leaping off with flying kicks and a possible history of modern jazz classes under his belt. He has a fine dance form.
Moving on to the second song ‘Lost Control’, the band has done everything but this as the crowd hold on to their every word and sing along to every lyric, however as they were about to finish up the song, Phil halts the show to check on a punter to make sure they are ok – which I have to give respect for. It’s always refreshing to know the bands we love and care for, care about the fans also.
Back to the music, and we are treated to ‘Just Ace’ and ‘Hard Act To Follow’, this track proved to be too much for the punters on the outside of the mosh pit area (limited to 400 as per Covid restrictions) and the fence was trampled and about 1000 punters rushed the stage. The Doctor had to stop the set and ask the punters to head back to their respective places or the show would have to be cancelled effective immediately. Masses of punters started to head back behind the barriers. The Doctor responds to this action with ‘This is the only time I have enjoyed watching people leave in the middle of a gig’. The show is now able to resume.
Grinners came back with the evergreen ‘Chemical Heart’ and the streamer cannon finale ended things with a bang (pun totally intended).
The festival line up had a real atmosphere of bands that know and respect each other’s work. We saw members of other bands come out in to the crowd to watch their colleagues playing. The Doctor kept the banter going with the crowd and made the event seem seamless.
For a festival that had to pivot incredibly quickly due to interstate travel restrictions and fill some massive gaps, the line-up was absolute killer. We can’t wait for the next Queensland instalment in November hinted at this festival.
