Project Description

GOOD THINGS FESTIVAL

Flemington, Melbourne

7/12/2018

(Live Review)

Reviewer: Jahmiele Hicks

Photographer – Tim Doig

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Destroy All Lines held their first ever Good Things Festival on December 6 at Melbourne’s Flemington Raceway, and it was, in a word; triumphant. The ‘emos’ were out in full force – and full kit, dressing heavy, black, adorned with accessories and truly representing their crowd, regardless of the ridiculous heat. A note to self would certainly be, never underestimate the importance of earplugs and sunscreen (lesson learned).

We arrived just in time to catch the ends of Ecca Vandal and Stuck Out’s sets and these were definitely on the list of high-lights of the day. Seeing how far both have come since seeing them separately years ago was definitely a sort of ‘proud mum’ moment. Stuck Out’s quality of performance on that massive stage was awesome to see, and Ecca demanded attention of the audience just has she has always (amazingly) done, moving right up to the barrier to sing right to the audience during her last song ‘Broke Days, Party Nights’. Both acts had fantastic audience numbers as some of the first earlier acts of the day. The next act we saw that day was WAAX– the female-led alternative rock band that seem to be taking their area of the genre by storm. Marie’s vocals are dramatically impressive, the band are coordinated nearly to a t, and so far, the sound tech across all stages sounded spot on. They paused at one point to introduce, also mentioning that their drummer was having a baby at the time and had been temporarily replaced by Mikey from Violent Soho, which seemed to be a crowd-pleasing surprise.

We next made our way over to Waterparks, a sort of old-school pop-emo/rock act hailing from Texas. Lead singer Awsten Knight led the performance, even admitting ‘I am very aware we are surrounded by bands that are much heavier than us and that’s okay’, and took part in some almost self-deprecating banter with the crowd, teasing his purple-haired self;

‘How many knew us before this? How many didn’t until right now? How many didn’t answer because you don’t like my hair…? I saw at least 4… Although I look like a man that pumps iron and eats animals all day, I’m actually a big softy that loves pop bullshit, so here’s some more pop bullshit.’

The style of Waterparks means that they often include backing tracks with digitally created music and effects. While sometimes this leads to a performance appearing as though they aren’t ‘really’ performing live (often looked down upon especially in this genre), Waterparks make it work as they still perform live and do so well. Clear, controlled vocals and overall great musical performance and stage presence made fans very happy.

Boston Manor were one of very few England-based acts on the lineup, and they  really brought ‘it’ on the day. The Blackpool based five-piece surely had the most intense crowd that far, finishing at just 2pm.  They boys were even egged on to take part in the infamous ‘shoey’ by the typical Aussie crowd, and although I don’t believe they actually did, they appeared to make a promise for next time. They managed to get a small mosh pit going before the end of their final song ‘Halo’, and that and ‘Bad Machine’ may be the catalyst to me actually looking further into their music, as I admit I haven’t done before now.

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Hailing from Philadelphia, The Wonder Years came to Good Things to a super full crowd of eager fans, with a high energy set. The boys appeared to be really excited to be doing what they’re doing, which is of course such an important part of a quality performance. With great vocal harmonies and consistent crowd pleasers, they had the whole crowd jumping.

Baby Metal had their first ever Australian show at Good Things and though I’m sure many of the (completely packed) crowd weren’t quite used to their level of performance, they were certainly enamored by it. The entire double-staged area was full of old and new, and brand-new fans. Their synchronized dancing and stage movement, and intense dress style made for a fantastic performance unlike many in Australia have commonly seen. It was hard to watch and believe that they weren’t sweating up a storm underneath their costumes in the heat – covered in black and gold traditional kit from head to toe – making their performance all that more impressive. The girls’ controlled vocals and the evident dedication of their instrumental band members made for a striking performance. Even watching from the neighbouring stage’s side-stage LCD screen (which by the way were gorgeous to look at), it was evident why Baby Metal have such a following.

The Used were definitely a major crowd-pull, having filled their entire stage’s audience area, including of course, many passionate dedicated, long-time, fans. The act surely used their stage time as well as they likely could have, making a deep impression on both their long-time and newer fanbase quotes including;

 

‘At a Used concert you are obligated to be your child like self in your heart’

‘Rest in fuckin peace Donald Trump’

‘We don’t have a lot of time but I wanna get in as many Shakespeare soliloquy’s in as possible…’

This last quote leading to a recital of Shakespeare’s ‘Four Days, Four Nights’ quote from ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’;

“Four days will quickly steep themselves in nights; Four nights will quickly dream away the time; And then the moon, like to a silver bow new bent in heaven, shall behold the night of our solemnities.”

Whilst they’re clearly okay with being as pretentious as one might get when introducing a song, they also seemed to turn it down a knotch, stating;

‘I’m not singin’ until I see a decent circle pit right here…’

and then proceeding to sing the play school theme song…???

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It would have to be said that The Used were the first act of the day to have such ongoing consistent cheering and screaming from their crowd between songs and interactions. With crowd interaction and banter like this, coupled with their often politically driven songs and quality of performance, it’s clear to see why The Used have such a dedicated and widespread following.

Scarlxrd was something to be witnessed. To simply explain Scarlxrd’s performance; heavy screaming over hip hop beats. He’s definitely chasing something new and the audience can see it. The British act stood on stage with whom I can only presume is his ‘DJ’, ensuring tracks play appropriately – lots of backing tracks with vocals pre-recorded to be sung (or in this case, screamed) over. The performance seemed to be one that could potentially be quite grinding to many an ear, however somehow still captivated the audience for its unusual nature. Scarlxrd evidently had his fair share of experience with the heavy music audiences, starting up a massive circle pit and firing the crowd up as he took over the neighbouring stage before ending with ‘I sincerely apologise for my ignorance, thankyou Good Things’.

Tonight Alive began immediately afterward on the previously invaded stage, opening with ‘The Other’, and reeling through old and new songs to please both ends of the fanbase. Their sound was on point regardless of the potential wind influences and Jenna’s crowd interaction was certainly that of experience – creating a fantastic call-and-response dynamic between her and the audience. The usual fans screaming ‘I love you!’ to the stage caused a demand for ‘A big I Love You on the count of three’ from Jenna, afterwards pointing out that it be intended for the individual themselves. The mosh pit was initially encouraged as a ‘dance party’ by Jenna, though this definitely has a different meaning in the heavy music crowd – and it was heavy (speaking from experience).  Going on to play newer track ‘Crack My Heart’ before a few older releases (including What Are You So Scared Of, Wasting Away, and The Edge), they ended on Temple, with an extended ‘I Will Be Better’ chant, causing a feeling of empowerment amongst the crowd, as is always so evident with Jenna and the band’s performances.

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The Dropkick Murphy’s may be older but their following still stands as strongly as ever. This unfortunately being one of many acts I was only able to make it to halfway through their set, I came in to hear Ken Casey asking the packed crowd to vote via cheer; ‘Wanna hear a song about shitty people…? Or Christmas…?’ (in case you’re wondering, ‘shitty people’ won’.

Casey also took a moment to reference their meet and greets for the day;

‘We never do meet and greets unless it 100% goes straight to a good cause and we’re happy to say this one all goes to a local Melbourne place helping people with addiction, so dig deep…’ before finishing with a massive extended version of ‘Rose Tattoo’.

All Time Low were admittedly my one of my original and main reasons for wanting to attend Good Things (not to mention that it looked amazing in general, of course), and while I was definitely already exhausted by the time their set came around, I wasn’t going to miss it. Just before the boys came on stage ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’ by The Beach Boys cut through the prior song and Alex could be seen dancing giddily side of stage. A few seconds pass and they make their way out to centre stage and start their set with the much-loved ‘Damned If I Do’, followed by newer track ‘Everything Is Fine’.

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Alex then began a back and forth ‘hey-ho’ from the crowd before leading into widely known favourite ‘Stella’, and ‘Dark Side of Your Room’. If one knows anything about All Time Low, it has to be that they are essentially, for the most part, 12 year old boys with ridiculous banter and a humour taste for the…uh…. phallic? Guitarist Jack Barakat, in particular, dedicating ‘Weightless’ to ‘all the hot dudes’ and making his way off stage to crowd-surf, returning with a slew of bras – yes, bras. This is, of course, just another part of the band’s typical ridiculousness.

This was followed by ‘Backseat Serenade’, ‘Life of the Party’, and ‘Kids in the Dark’ before Alex paused to make a request of the crowd in preparation for ‘Something’s Gotta Give’;

‘Can everyone politely ask someone next to you if you can get up on their shoulders, so I can see your beautiful faces’

With arms swaying in the air, the crowd sang along, even taking over for an acapella chorus.

Final tracks of the night included ‘Birthday’ and ‘Lost In Stereo’, and many longer-time fans will also know that the boys never end a set with any song other than ‘Dear Maria’, and so it went. Jack and Alex both threw their guitars to each opposite side of the stage, swapped over to different guitars for their final song, and as always, it was a hell of a party.

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THE OFFSPRING were of course the main headlining act for Good Things 2018, and while I’ll try to avoid losing my mind over the fact the Destroy All Lines managed to get The Offspring to perform at a first-timer festival, the rest of the crowd were not so calm or controlled – and understandably so. Before making my way over, the crowd could be heard cheering a losing their minds from the next arena over. Almost the entire attendance of Good Things was watching as The Offspring apparently played ‘Smash’ in full. By this point the boiling sun had gone down, and although the temperature was still holding up at about 30+ degrees, the late night brought a totally different atmosphere to that of the daylight. A mix of people sitting and standing showed the exhaustion of the day, but this didn’t stop the main-crowd punters from going absolutely mad.

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As for the event itself, DAL’s planning and preparation for the massive inaugural event was well worth it. The day featured carnival rides, misting tents (which were a god-send), merch, a wide range of food vendors including great dietary requirement options, and even a Nintendo Switch tent offering a little shade, seating and rest time on their switch consoles. Quite a few of the gal punters turned up dressed to the nines, looking ready for Coachella, and the guys seemed to be following some sort of Hawaiian shirt dress code – did I miss the memo? I can only imagine the sunburn (as I myself ended up suffering, even with sunscreen). The weather definitely called for taking it easy, and while most people managed to make it through the day, quite a few were passing out, needing medical attention – whether this was from the heat, alcohol, or both, I don’t know. Being held near the raceway there was an occasional faint smell of horse poop, this was to be expected and the day was otherwise hugely enjoyable. Even the rubbish-clean-up was on point, somehow without ever actually seeing the grounds being cleaned throughout the day. Overall, minus the intense heat, occasional slight sound issues (mostly due to wind), and the constant long line for the ice-cream van, the day was remarkable and I can’t wait to see what DAL bring for us next time. Thankyou, Good Things.

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Tim Doig’s Gallery of this show HERE

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Katherine O’Malley’s  Gallery of the Brisbane event is HERE

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Wendy Robinson’s Gallery of the Sydney event is HERE

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AMNPLIFY JH