Review: BigSound Live Day Two

Take two on Big Sound and we started at The Zoo with Brisbane band, The Jungle Giants. They played a solid set to a rather sizeable crowd considering they were one of the first bands of the night. A little static on stage they rolled out a set of indie-pop songs that had the audience bouncing about. Latest single, “Mr Polite” went down very well with the crowd. 

Andy Bull was kicking things off at Ric’s for the evening and had drawn such a crowd that people had spilled out onto the street. After a few minutes of craning our necks and trying to block out the buzz of the crowd, we concede and headed over to The Aviary for Jonathan Boulet.  Another artist, who was eagerly awaited he and his band played a mixture of tracks from his self-titled debut and new material. The audience were enthusiastic but the vibe on stage was a little mixed, the band members were obviously having a grand old time but Boulet himself looked a little hesitant. He eventually warmed up and busted out some dance moves, as well as crowd favourites ‘Latch Key Kids Unite’ and ‘321 Ready or Not.’ Noticeably absent from the set was radio favourite, ‘Your A Animal,’ falling victim to the strict 30 minute set time, Boulet and the band finished theirs quite abruptly and left the audience feeling a little disconcerted.

The Adults, a side project of Shihad’s Jon Toogood played Black Bear Lodge, (formerly The Troubador.) Sounding like Joy Division met Devo and then decided to make music that is sonic pop tinged with brooding electronic. Toogood dominates the stage; oozing rock and roll charisma and leaping about like his legs are spring loaded. Time constraints meant we only saw a few songs but was The Adults proved themselves a force to be reckoned with.

Woodlands played host to the Triple J Unearthed stage, where Husky a roots – indie group that list Beck and Devandra Banheart as their influences. They benefited from a large crowd and transfixed many with their haunting vocals and intricate melodies. ‘History’s Door’ was a highlight bringing the rowdy crowd to a near standstill, transfixed by the band’s gentle presence on stage. Toward the end of the set though it was clear the crowd were keen for Ball Park Music to take the stage.

On the eve of the release of their debut record, Ball Park Music were in fine form. Energetic and insane as always, front man Sam Cormack writhed, grinded and thrusted his way across the stage as they played a selection of their radio-friendly, irresistibly catchy pop tunes. ‘iFly,’ ‘It’s Nice to Be Alive’ had the packed dance floor screaming the lyrics and moving as one and final track ‘Sad Rude Future Dude’ almost brought the house down. Fr band that can be quite the divisive, it seemed the entire audience were devotees to the ball of energy that is Ball Park Music. Sweaty, infectious and a tonne of fun it was the perfect send off to another year of Big Sound.