Beats on the Beach

Despite a number of setbacks for the Beats on the Beach promoters – medalling councils, uncooperative local business and holding the event on the most hungover day of the year – New Years Day 2007 at the Kingsford Smith Park in Ballina was something special.

Set literally 50 metres from the picturesque Ballina coastline, the inaugural Beats on the Beach was a remarkably well organised and executed day. Although the festival didn’t sell out, those who turned out covered all the sub-cultures usually found at music festivals; the bohemians, the punks, the ravers and a large number of young couples and families. Really, the day was very reminiscent of an early era Splendour in the Grass.

The first band I saw was Operator Please, which to be fair was actually the third band on the main stage, but it was New Years Day after all. It is very rare that an early band, especially a relatively local band (they are from the Gold Coast), is the highlight of the day but Operator Please came very close. The five members, all in their teens, played some genuinely infectious songs with a stage presence well beyond their years. A fair comparison would be to say that they are a little like the Grates, but even more fun live, which if you have seen the Grates live you will know is a huge compliment for this band. A band to watch for the future.

Both Bourbon Street and Avalon Drive acquainted themselves well with the still small crowd but it was National Pornographic who was the pick of the early afternoon. Blessed with a naturally edgy physique and demeanour, National Pornographic’s vocalist draws eyes and crowds towards him. After a stellar but all too short set, climaxing in their hit single ‘hypnotise’, said vocalist created one of the moments of the day by jumping over the security fence to join the crowd in demanding an encore from the rest of the band.

After National Pornographic I checked out the much advertised Amateur Skate Arena where kids practiced their wares on the half pipe, before checking out Byron Bay group, Raz Bin Sam. With the stage decked out in flags and stars and the guitarist playing this funky guitar without a guitar head, Raz Bin Sam were very much the local crowd pleases, catering largely to the dreadlocked folk in the audience, of which there was no shortage.

With pass-outs available and with the mercury hitting 30 degrees, it was always going to be an effort to last the day without taking a swim in the neighbouring ocean and with the Red Riders being a late cancellation, it seemed like the perfect time. The water was pristine and, conveniently, the stages faced east so that from the beach one could hear the music from the dance inclined ‘fractured stage’, as several dozen people sitting in their vans by the beach could attest. Katalyst who was working the dance stage, with the absence of a competing band on the ‘rock it stage,’ entertained one of the largest crowds of the day and the crowd euphoria could be heard from the stage to well beyond the beach.

New Zealand drum and bass duo, Concord Dawn, entertained a smaller than usual crowd in the mid afternoon, with many punters relaxing in the shade and appreciating from a distance. Punk/ska veterans Bodyjar took to the rock stage amidst typical fanfare and lashed out a bit of a greatest hits set list with favourites, the bands cover of ‘Hazy shade of winter’ and ‘Is it a lie?’ earning the loudest applause.

The Sick Puppies were next on the rock stage and surprised me by how their music has matured since they first hit the scene, being unearthed by Triple J back in 2001. The Sick Puppies played a controlled set filled with plenty of rock pizzazz and punk exuberance and they deservedly attracted one of the larger crowds of the day.

After the Sick Puppies it was time for ‘Authentic Middle Eastern Cuisine’ from the side of a caravan before I headed over to see Pendulum, surely the most anticipated artist of the day. I have seen Pendulum before and knew what a great show was to come, but even so I was blown away. The biggest crowd of the day had assembled for Pendulum’s set and the excitement from both the crowd and artist was bordering on hyperactive. Of what I saw of the set it was brilliant, vintage Pendulum and probably the highlight of the festival for most.

I, however, drifted back to the rock stage to catch End of Fashion. End of Fashion copied a bit from everyone that night; facial hair from Jet, the opening riff of ‘Oh Yeah’ from the Pixies and drum smashing, though at a far lamer level, from the Vines classic 2006 Splendour in the Grass performance (and countless before). Regardless, End of Fashion was impressive and confident, playing perhaps their most known hit ‘Oh Yeah’ mid set before playing a very grungy cover of Nirvana’s ‘Aneurysm’ which sharply divided the younger members of the audience from the older.

By the time a bearded Peter Murray hit the rock stage at 8.20pm the crowd was decidedly relaxed with the vast majority of people viewing his set from a seated position. The scene was remarkable like the final set of a ‘Day on the Green’ festival. Murray was professional and played a predictable set with an emphasis on his most recent album, though ‘Feeler’ was the clear hit of the evening. At just after 9pm, with storm clouds approaching from the west, the crowd left contented and happy.

Beats on the Beach was something special, a throwback to an earlier era of festivals before festival hopping was the ‘it’ thing to do. It was the perfect way to start the New Years and here’s hoping for a return in 2008.

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