Overcast conditions didn’t stop thousands of punters from heading to Camp Shortland on Newcastle Foreshore for the inaugural THIS THAT Festival yesterday.
It was billed as “the future of music events in the region”, and besides some grumbles about the amenities in the VIP area, a few drops of rain and some stained clothes, there was little to complain about.
THIS STAGE
Being fans of bands, we spent most of our day in front of the THIS stage. We have to say we were blown away with the local band Majora, who opened the day with a ripping set of heavy atmospheric instrumental music. It was quite something to hear Newcastle foreshore full of distorted guitars again.
Asta was another highlight for us. It’s the first time we’ve seen the singer-songwriter from Hobart, Tasmania and we were suitably impressed. But it was Tkay Maidza‘s set that really lifted the crowd. You could see and feel a real change in the vibe during her set.
Jungle Giants were the perfect soundtrack to the light rain that began to fall just as they took to the stage, Sticky Fingers delivered another set on par with their Groovin’ The Moo offering earlier this year.
The Stickys have really cemented themselves at Aussie darlings and we’re not complaining.
Newcastle arguably is a ‘rock town’, so a set from Birds of Tokyo is really a no-brainier. We came, they delivered.
We weren’t sure how a set from RUFUS after Birds would go down. But if vibes are what you came to THIS THAT for, then RUFUS delivered.
THAT STAGE
A seething mass of bodies from early in the afternoon until the danced-out crowd made their way to the gates. We have to say that the product under the huge marquee was quite impressive and the small bit of BAAUER’s set we caught was ‘face-meltingly’ good.
THE FOOD
Over the day we tried a Teriyaki Chicken bowl from Andy’s Eats (3.5/5), a sausage roll from Lizotte’s pop up (4.5/5) and roll from Harry’s (4/5). We have to say that it was awesome to see so many food trucks lined up along the foreshore. It made us wonder why this isn’t a regular thing for Nobbys.
THE OTHER
We couldn’t help feeling sorry for many of the market stall holders from Hunt & Gather (Especially the lady selling candles). While they really did add to the atmosphere of the event, we couldn’t see many selling a lot of product. The installations we’re good without being awesome, but the DJ set up was a big hit with those wandering past and looking for something to occupy a few minutes.
The ‘colour run’ (it has to be said) was a bit of a fizzer. Instead of limiting the use of the coloured powder to one area, bags were being sold by roving salesmen through the festival. We saw more than a dozen people copping some colour who were less than impressed by it.
We tried out The Oculus Rift, which was awesome, and a worthy edition to the sideshow.
We also enjoyed watching punter after punter being shot into the air by the obligatory festival sling shot. We got a personal blow by blow from Brian Lizotte who said it was surprisingly smooth and gave amazing views of our city. While he gave it a really good sell, we chosen to keep out feet on the ground.
