Sounds on the River 2015 – Review
Sounds on the River 2015 – Review
This was my first time at the Sounds on the River festival and was amazed at the organised infrastructure of the event. Upon arrival at the camping ground/car park we had to line up for about 20 minutes before we were picked up by a large bus that took us to the riverfront for a gold coin donation . The atmosphere was lively on the bus as most punters had consumed some ‘travellers’ on the way down to Mannum. The crowd was a mix of country and city music lovers, and all were unfazed when having their bags and chair covers frisked for contraband by the gate security.
Finding the best spot to park our gear was the next priority. Do we go for shade? Grassed comfort? or the best viewing spot to watch the big screen? We decided on a central position , near a big tree, but with clear access to the toilets and alcohol tent. The mood was relaxed and friendly, with plenty of lighthearted banter.
The announcer then introduced local band ‘ The Mamboobies’ who were well received by the crowd. They played a shorter set to the rest of the bands on the bill, but knocked out some memorable covers in their short time on stage.
Boom Crash Opera were next on stage and produced a punchy set full of hits, which proved to be a winning formula with the crowd. They started with ‘Hands Up in the Air’ and had our attention every song after that. High points were ‘Onion Skin’, ‘ Get Out of the House’ , ‘ Great Wall’ & ‘The Best Thing ‘. Dale Ryder (minus the trademark black curly locks) wore sunglasses for the entire set. Ryder was caught short a few times when holding the microphone out for a crowd singalong, minus the singalong.As each song went by the crowd warmed to the band and became more vocal. The band were a bit rusty and actually completely unravelled when they pulled up their 3rd song forcing guitarist Peter Farnan to steady the ship by counting 1.2.3.4 to reset the band. Overall a memorable performance with every song a winner and worthy of playing higher up on the bill.
Daryl Braithwaite was up next and started more conservatively with some lesser known songs. The crowd were calling for ‘The Horses’ early so Braithwaite promised it will be played, but not till later in the set. Many punters wanted Sherbet songs and were ignited when ‘Howzat’ was played. ‘Rise’ really got the crowd going and a surprisingly good cover version of the Kink’s ‘All Day, And all of the Night’ raised some eyebrows. ‘The Horses’ had the crowd swaying, the band members were introduced and the imported drummer from Italy was given a warm welcome, plus some lighthearted ribbing from Braithwaite. A popular set after a luke warm start.
Diesel was next to strut his stuff on stage snappily dressed in white shirt and black vest. The notable part of this set was the clarity of the mix. His guitar was so clear and crisp you could hear every note played and bent. The band sounded awesome with the highlight being a rockabilly song where Diesel played rhythms with his knuckles on the body of his guitar for several minutes. This set was a guitarist’s dream with Diesel pulling out every party trick in the guitar playbook. Plenty of blues influenced tunes including a Muddy Waters cover, but hands down the final song ‘ Tip of my Tongue’ was a cracker. Diesel was visibly excited about the set and looked like he wanted to keep playing.
Mondo Rock were the biggest disappointment for the day with a sub standard mix with distorted bass and a very ordinary sounding snare and kick drum. They struggled right from the outset with off-key vocals from Ross Wilson in his ‘too small’ black & gold embossed suit. Their set was pedestrian to say the least with a smattering of elevator music hits, but an opportune time to hit the toilets and alcohol tent.
James Reyne (playing Australian Crawl) was the surprise packet of the day punching out some cracker hits from the Crawl. Phil Ceberano (Kate’s brother) was on lead guitar and the band were really snappy. Reyne’s voice was excellent and his usual indecipherable nasally twanged lyrics were really clear, and he showcased his vocal range across several songs. Reyne played keyboards on a pre introduced ‘ mood killer’ song that no one knew, but even that went down well. Reyne was upbeat the entire gig and really engaged the crowd with his down to earth manner. A fantastic set overall.
Headline act The Hoodoo Gurus hit top gear from the very first song ‘Come Anytime’, and belting out ‘The Right Time’ in song two, followed by ‘Hayride to Hell’ , ‘Tojo’ & Death Defying’. The band played really solidly with Brad Shepherd playing at 85% swagger levels but occasionally pulling his trademark rockstar poses at pivotal parts of songs. His guitar noticeably went out of tune mid song on 1000 Miles Away, probably after multiple windmill strums in previous songs, but was swiftly retuned on the run. Singer Dave Faulkner controlled the set proceedings and would advise the crowd when the band would play songs in the ‘hit zone’. This included ‘Kinky’, ‘Good Times’,’Like Wow Wipeout’, ‘What’s My Scene’ plus many more. Rick Grossman ground out his usual solid bass lines as he unintentionally frowned at the audience. Mark Kingsmill has now switched to one glove drumming and at times appeared to be out of breath after the big hitting. Another amazing show from the Gurus with great lighting and graphics and a great pre-cursor to their shows celebrating their 30 year anniversary.
Overall a fantastic festival with great weather, no fights or unruly behaviour,fast alcohol lines, awesome sound quality and volume levels. The venue on the riverfront was picturesque with the Murray Princess Paddle Steamer as a backdrop and a very talented fly boarder performing some amazing aerial tricks to wow the crowd.A terrific day of sun, sound, food and booze. Bravo!
