Summer festivals live or die on atmosphere, and the Lake Mac leg of the LOOKOUT Festival, which rolls into Speers Point Park on Saturday, 7 February, is shaping up as one of those rare line-ups that feels purpose-built for communal hands-in-the-air vibes.
Headlined by OneRepublic, the festival pairs one of the world’s most reliable hit-machines with a distinctly Australian backbone. Birds of Tokyo, Eskimo Joe and Sneaky Sound System bring decades of collective festival experience, while Freya Ridings adds a more intimate counterpoint to a bill designed for scale.
For Birds of Tokyo, the LOOKOUT date arrives at a particularly meaningful point. The band are riding the momentum of Starlights, a single that has quickly grown beyond the usual release cycle and into something with genuine emotional gravity.
Released in November last year, the song has become the centrepiece of a new Starlight Children’s Foundation campaign, which includes a video featuring artwork created by more than 20 children supported by the foundation around Australia.
For Bird’s of Tokyo frontman, Ian Kenny, that sense of discovery, of a song finding its true home after it’s written, is something that caught him, and the band, by surprise.
“It was originally called Search Lights, but by the time we finished it, we called it Starlights. It was really about looking beyond what we have here and trying to find a bit of magic somewhere,” Ian told Newcastle Live.
“We sent it to management, thinking, cool, we’ve just got another good thing to release,” he said.
“Then they came back and asked if we’d considered the Starlight Foundation. Conversations happened really quickly, and it just found a home there. It took on a huge, different meaning and gravity we didn’t see coming.”
The accompanying music video, built from children’s artwork and animated into a flowing, shared world, proved especially powerful for the band.
“It hit us all like a ton of bricks,” Ian said.
“The fact of where it’s come from, the kids’ interpretation of this Starlight world, it’s really beautiful. That clip buckled me. It’s one of my favourite parts of this whole campaign.
“Kids are super receptive to this stuff. They pick up on emotional language way more than we give them credit for. “
Away from the emotional weight of Starlights, LOOKOUT Festival taps into another side of Birds of Tokyo’s identity… Seasoned festival performers who know exactly how to hold space in big, open-air environments. After more than 20 years in the industry, Ian embraces the “veteran” label with a grin.
“Anybody who’s survived the music industry for 20 years is a veteran,” he said.
“You should have a gold medal pinned on you.”
“We just want the biggest, funnest show we can put on,” Ian said.
“These days, a lot of the tech has moved to modelling rigs. The amps and boxes are gone, and that comes down to logistics and expense, but also sound. The stage sound is more controlled, and what comes out of the PA is just better.”
Beyond the technical side, festivals like LOOKOUT also give the band a chance to check out artists they’ve admired for years.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing OneRepublic,” Ian said.
“I’ve never seen them live. Ryan Tedder’s written some of the biggest songs in the world — this guy’s done Halo for Beyoncé. I’m keen.”
LOOKOUT Festival hits Speers Point Park in Lake Macquarie on Saturday, 7 February, with OneRepublic, Birds of Tokyo, Eskimo Joe, Sneaky Sound System and Freya Ridings. Tickets are on sale now via lookouttour.com.au.
