Trackside @ CanberraRacecourse 17/11/2007

Thu 22nd Nov, 2007 in Gig Reviews

There are certain problems which plague all rock festivals – interminably long waits in queues for the toilet only to be greeted in the cubicle by a used tampon smiling up at you from an already soiled toilet seat; the interminably long waits in queues for a beer meaning you have to buy more beers than the singular beer you require and ultimately those plural beers will taste like tepid urine by the time you get to drink them; the smell and sensation of the sweat of thousands of others sticking to your skin and drenching your shirt as you vie for a decent spot in the moshpit; the twelve hours of stumbling through water bottles, beer cans, drunkards and idiots as you make your way from one stage to the next to catch all of your favourite acts; set times which overlap meaning the twelve hours of stumbling is made all the more arduous as you attempt to decide whether or not you want to catch the first half of your fave’ band’s set or take a risk and arrive just as they’re winding up into their final five tunes.

The inaugural Trackside inherited all of these problems from its festival predecessors such as Big Day Out and Homebake, but the problems paled in comparison to the array of incredible performances put on by all bands in the line up and it is safe to say that most punters will be back again next year perhaps with a few more mates in tow. The only major thing for the organisers to work at and improve for next year is ensuring sound on both stages is top quality (a few mishaps during the day ruined a couple of sets on the outdoor stage).

Stand out moments from the day:

Los Capitanes
The local boys know how to cut it on stage next to some big name Aussie acts. They did Canberra and themselves proud. Though the crowd was relatively small at the beginning of the day, their hip hop chops won out. The award for Most Enthusiastic In A We’re-All-About-To-Wet-Ourselves-We’re-So-Friggin’-Pleased-To-Be-Onstage Kind of Way definitely goes to Los Cap’s.

Clare Bowditch and the Feeding Set
Sadly Bowditch’s set may not be a stand out moment in a good way. After a day of sweltering heat the rain clouds came over as the Feeding Set did their soundcheck and many of the crowd escaped inside to bounce along under cover to Something With Numbers. Sound problems on the outside stage (namely a foldback system that did nothing but feedback with an earsplitting hum) meant Bowditch was struggling to hear the band and sang out of key for the first couple of tunes. Persistent pleas to the foldback sound engineer were to no avail – he came out and stood centre stage, looked genuinely baffled, shrugged his shoulders and wandered off. Bowditch struggled on (including a badly executed but hilarious free-style effort in the middle of Divorcee By 23 which went something like “I’m trying really hard to sing, but I can’t when I can’t hear a fucking thing”). Bowditch and The Feeding Set will not be crossing over into hip hop anytime soon………..their rendition of I Thought You Were God was beautiful in the soft rain.

KissChasy
Pure pop joy!! These Melbournites asked the crowd if they should move to Canberra and if they did choose to move would we all come and hang out at their house. Hell yes was the crowd’s reply. The new single Spray On Pants went down like a sweet sweet Bacardi Breezer, the crowd loved every minute of the set.

Gotye
Wow. Freakin’ amazing. Gotye was the absolute, hands down stand out of the day. The man drums tight, intricate rhythms whilst his voice soars and picks out every emotion hidden in his lyrics. The crowd loved it, hearing them bellow out – œConnect!’ during Heart’s A Mess made Gotye smile from ear to ear. He was accompanied on stage by a string quartet, a bassist and two saxophonists – certainly the most interesting line up of the festival. The string quartet were incredibly cute and looked decidedly mum-and-dad-ish. The fact that they were all thrilled to be onstage in front of thousands of fans shone through in the looks of sheer joy on their faces as they clapped in unison to the synthesizer and dug into their delicate classical instruments as though they were all armed with Les Paul guitars. Sadly, technical difficulties prevented the display of visuals that Gotye had planned for the set, but this didn’t dampen the mood of the crowd.

Butterfly Effect
Why is Clint Boge so sad? The man is beautiful and incredibly sexy. How could any girl break his heart? The Butterfly Effect should have closed out the day. Hilltop Hoods were great and brought their usual brand of Aussie Larrikinism to the stage, but Butterfly Effect’s wall of sound roused the heart with its epic tones. Stand out song from them was Gone from the new album Imago.

There is a lot about Trackside to applaud, not least the fact that it is a major local production which attracted some incredible national acts whilst also remembering to recognise a couple of local bands who are starting to hit their stride and more than able to match it onstage with tried and tested musicians. Congratulations go not only to Los Capitanes but also to Hancock Basement for putting on a stellar performance and Triple J darlings Young and The Restless who also got to stretch their legs in front of their hometown.

Hopefully Trackside will become a regular feature on the Aus Music landscape and attract a bit of attention to the ACT.