On Sunday, Yours & Owls moved conveniently into Wollongong city centre and the streets came alive. The festival’s second day has a different character entirely, and you’re moving between venues, following music down side streets and catching acts you happened to hear through an open door.
Mini Skirt, the Byron Bay punks who’ve been going since 2016, played fast, snotty punk from ‘All That We Know’, which landed in the ARIA Top 40 last year. Their set was short, sharp and entirely uninterested in wasting time.
Slim Krusty played inside Roppongi restaurant and I’ve never needed a residency more. The folk-punk artist writes songs rooted in love, pain and taking the piss, and the tiny restaurant setting suited the intimacy of the set perfectly.
WAAX brought Brisbane’s loud, melodic rock, complete with enormous hooks and an equally formidable frontwoman. It was difficult to tell who was having more fun, the band or everyone watching them.
Then came my all-time fave, Princess Chelsea. The New Zealand songwriter, producer and artist makes baroque, helium-voiced pop that has developed a cult following well beyond her home country. She arrived with her charming seven-piece band, The Dream Warriors, and songs like ‘I Love My Boyfriend’ and ‘Cigarette Duet’ still have the strange, timeless quality that made them favourites in the first place.
Secret World, the Sydney sextet made up of hardcore veterans, played melodic punk with 1990s alt-rock instincts and enormous choruses. It was loud, sweaty and completely to the point. Always a pleasure to catch.
Down and Out, the Adelaide pop-punk band, kept the guitars fast and the hooks big.
Newcastle’s Dust closed out my night with their blazing take on post-punk, sax included. Their songs sit somewhere between melancholy and abrasion, with enough atmosphere to pull anyone in. A fittingly loud way to finish the day.
Merry Gong-mas!
