Old friends and new loves came together at a day on the green at Bimbadgen Estate on Saturday 3 December 2016.
With strong female performers bulking out the line-up, which was co-headlines by Aussie rock favourites The Temper Trap and alternative rock pioneers Garbage, the audience included as lot of women, of all ages, getting their grrl on.
The men and lads were out enjoying the festive atmosphere and for this one day everyone was with their friends, hanging out in the warm sun, joined by a love of music and summer fun.
It was just like hanging out with an old friend when Aussie rick legend Adalita took over the stage. The commanding frontwomen of Magic Dirt didn’t disappoint the crowd launching into a wall of noise, which was familiar and a good reminder of why she’s relevant. Great news, especially with a new studio album in the works.
I think I’ve made a new musical BFF in Tash Sultana – and I know I’m not alone. The Brisbane manipulator of sound and song, even got a special mention by legendary lady of rock, Garbage’s Shirley Manson during their later set. Tash Sultana may not have been known by all of the a day on the green crowd at the start of the beginning of Sultana’s set; by the end of it, they were chanting her praises.
Commanding the stage, and surrounded by the pedals, synths and guitars I hear she modifies herself to assist to achieve her unique sounds and feel; Sultana was bloody awesome and lived up to the hype that has begun to generate around this fierce women. I could have hung out with her all day long.
Bringing everyone together and getting friends up to dance, was the job of the Preatures – and they too did not disappoint. Frontwomen Isabella Manfredi funked up a day at the green and flirted with the audience, and we loved it. Crooning out radio hits including Somebody’s Talking and Is this How You Feel. Cruel and a cover of the Divinyls Too Much Too Young, were standouts of this energetic and fun set.
With the streaks of twilight starting to touch the sky, of the picturesque locale that is Bimbadgen Estate, Temper Trap were welcomed with love by their fans and the salubrious crowd. I’ve never seen the Temper Trap before and my plus one was unfamiliar with most of the line-up; so we were uncertain what to expect. We were blown away by their musicianship and presence. There were lots of fans in the crowd, singing along to every word, dancing their hearts out. The Temper Trap are known internationally for creating musical earworms and sing-along anthems, when Dougi Mandagi sang Fall Together we did, and their finale, Sweet Disposition, left us all swooning.
Finally, Garbage. It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed seeing Shirley Manson, and her band of super-producers and alternative forefathers including Butch Vig, Steve Marker and Duke Erikson; not since the Livid Festival in Brisbane, 1999. I connected with this band in my youth. They expressed pleasure in angst and were mischievous, I felt they sung my song. It was a great gig at Livid. Raw, real and connected.
Flash forward to today at a day on the green and it was a more matured experience, which was welcomed with love by the mass of fans at the front, that soaked it all in, and loved catching up with their Shirley. They were right to be enamoured; she’s still got ‘it’ and she wants us to know it. The way Manson prowled the stage, with all eyes following her, enthusing the audience to jump to hits such as Paranoid, and Stupid Girl and simmer down with a reworked intro to I’m Only Happy When it Rains and #1 Crush, the seductive single from the Romeo and Juliet film soundtrack. Hearing Garbage again reminded me that a few decades can pass but a sense of free can be provided to a music lover of any age, when they are with their mates – with their tribe – basking in sunshine, fine food and wine, revelling in short toilet ques and immersed in live rock music.
