Festival time – the beginning of summer

There was plenty of excitement when Jay and I decided it was time for a visit to see our friend CK who crossed to the dark side a few years ago and made the move to Canberra. We made the trek down on Friday evening, and popped into the always...interesting...Mooseheads. It was relatively quiet considering it was a Friday night and we thought everyone must be getting a good night’s sleep before the big day the following day.

Saturday 27 November was show day – lunch was devoured, a beverage or two were had, and off we went to the East and West Lawns in Canberra to attend our very first Foreshore. Sunscreen was lathered on, clouds were looming, ponchos were packed in bags, but we were lucky enough to escape the rainfall (phew!)

We arrived at the gates not long after 2pm along with a rather large crowd of people – all thinking the same thing; let’s arrive just before Calvin Harris. I have to say Canberra organisation and security at the front gates left very little to be desired. They took quite a long time to herd the people in and I was more than just annoyed when I got to the front and had my small bag inspected upon which I was told to throw out my deodorant, hand sanitizer gel, sunscreen (cause clearly they want me to burn), muesli bar and eclipse mints (cause you know if people are sneaking illegal stuff in, it is clearly going to be handbags for all and sundry to see).

Anyway, while we were waiting to go in, the sounds of Calvin Harris came flooding over the fences. All those queuing waiting to get in emitted sounds of disappointment – but just for a moment. Dancing commenced not long afterwards whilst waiting to get in. We finally got inside, made our way to the main stage (kicks stage) and commenced our dancing for the day. Calvin was going off – he played all the classics including ready for the weekend. My expectations were high after seeing Calvin and the 2010 Big Day Out, and he did not disappoint!

Our dilemma then was that DJ God Tiesto  (as my little cuz puts it) was commencing his set at the hi top stage before Calvin finished his set. We went for a happy medium and left Calvin a little early to have some decent time with Tiesto. At the hi top stage, Tiesto had the crowd pumping and they were going nuts. Awesome atmosphere, awesome start to the day.

(And just to note, these guys were playing early in Canberra as they were heading to Sydney to play at Stereosonic for the evening.)

After Tiesto we stayed at the hi top stage to watch the Stafford Brothers and Yolanda Be Cool (who was running a tad late) – but we didn’t complain as the Stafford brothers played an extended version of their set.

At this point we snuck off for a bite to eat and was very disappointed with the lackluster food available (especially for someone like me who has a few dietary requirements and is somewhat limited – really people if I could eat a meat pie, burger or pizza without being sick, trust me I would). So it was kangaroo skewers, garden salad and plain crisps for me (and seriously that was all I could eat that was available!)  So much for having plenty of food available for people who are gluten intolerant (it said it on the website!) I was just glad we ate early because a couple of hours later, there was no food of that variety left at all. In fact food of any variety was extremely limited, and queues to feed the mouths involved a 30 minute wait as staff were scared to confront the famished crowds and offer them the scraps of the day. This resulted in many young male species leaning over the hot food counter to grab the remaining noodle boxes of food without being noticed – they felt it was compensation for their wait. The good news though was there were no queues for the bar, which didn’t run out of alcohol for the evening – now that is great planning and responsible service of alcohol!

That was my vent; now back to the music...

We stayed at the hi top stage for a little of Yolanda Be Cool and were then tempted by the lure of Miami Horror back at the kicks stage - where we remained for the rest of the evening. Miami Horror were great and included a classic in their line up - Paul Simon’s You Can Call Me Al which was very well received.

After Miami Horror was the fabulous Art vs Science – magic fountain and Parlez Vous Francais got the crowd very excited.Shuffling was done and I think I may have pulled it off - which was tres exciting. 

Up next were Cut Copy and the night then ended on a great note with The Temper Trap – including their hits Fader and Love Lost.

So next year, if I have the choice again between Foreshore and Stereosonic, I think my vote is Stereosonic. The music was great and the vibe was good at Foreshore, but sorry Canberra peeps, Sydney really does know how to put on a good show – they just have a finesse which, well, yours don’t.