“Slightly Heavier” was the tagline for Thrashville; the new festival from the folks at Dashville. The top heavy festival brought together some Australian punk icons, and an eclectic mix of local bands to stomp around the rural grounds for the day.
The morning kicked off with Newcastle’s Anamata, and saw many punters enjoying the mild morning sun with a cheeky beer and a plate of food. Kill Dirty Youth put on an energetic performance followed by a set from Central Coast punks, Stone Lions and the mighty Zombonimo.
Ben Salter’s Hownowmer have got some solid tunes, but Femme punk four-piece Glitoris were the highlight of the early afternoon; their high-energy performance made them the name on the lips of everyone who came out early. The late afternoon brought out bands from every corner of the ‘heavy’ banner. The punk-influenced alt-country lean of Jen Buxton & The Slaughterhouse Five was paired right next to reuniting Metal outfit Mischling. The combinations were fun to watch, and it was clear that much thought had gone into the lineup’s musical variety and gender representation.
The Australian Beefweek Show had one of the biggest crowds of the afternoon, putting a left-wing spin on Punk-influenced Yob Rock, and The Neptune Power Federation brought the eccentric flair of Spinal Tap and filtered it through rough and ready Stoner Rock as they attempted to steal the show. Faces melted off across the Dashville clearance, as Neptune controlled the stage from the opening note in one of the most out-there and enjoyable sets of the day.
One of the best things about Thrashville was its simplicity, there’s no need to overly complicate things when the music on the stage is so good. Their crowd were rowdy but polite, the food was good, and you rarely had to wait in line. It goes without saying that the surroundings of Dashville are absolutely gorgeous too.
Things heated up as the sun began to set: WAAX were relative unknowns at the start of their set, and won people over along the way. The Hard-Ons had the crowd eating out of the palm of their hand, laying out classic songs intersected with casual banter. Clowns brought pure energy to the stage, and the crowd followed suit. Frontman Stevie Williams was seen regularly throwing himself into the pit with no regard, in an all-out, high-octane set.
There’s something so uniquely Australian about Cosmic Psychos; a combination of rock, punk and Australiana that could only be born out of rural Victoria. The Psychos up the ante at Thrashville – setting a Webber up on the middle of the stage, letting a man BBQ snags for the audience the entire set. During technical difficulties, the stage looks more like a backyard get-together than a headline festival set.
Once everything is in working order, however, Cosmic Psychos kick into hyper gear. Ross Knight’s bass sounds like a chainsaw, and it cuts through the audience with the same veracity. The band rarely let up, swinging through a list of big hits to close out the night. The grand finale of Thrashville was of course, the bearded man cooking snags removing his underpants and throwing them into the crowd. Bloody ripper. Onya Thrashville.
