If there is a hell, be assured that there’s going to be a lot of dust there. The 2012 Adelaide leg of Future Music Festival certainly featured copious amounts of dust (and a dearth of shaded areas), but with such a stellar lineup, including headliners Swedish House Mafia, New Order and Fatboy Slim (as well as support acts that were arguably more impressive), Ellis Park was far from the Infernal Abyss this March 12.
One of the earlier acts was the London songstress, Jessie J. Accompanied onstage by a hula-hoop, her sweet yet hip voice lured the crowd in from wherever else they thought they should be going. Indeed, one patron stopped in her tracks to head towards the main stage where Jessie had begun “Price Tag”.
Next up could be found American rapping rockers, Gym Class Heroes, who advised members of the crowd against bringing their girlfriends to GCH shows, as “you might not leave with her!” Thoughtfully, lead vocalist Travie McCoy, impressively dressed (considering the heat) in golfer-style slacks, a long-sleeved polo jersey and bucket hat, then dedicated the next song to all the couples in the audience. Thus their much loved cover of Supertramp’s “Cupid’s Chokehold” began (“Take a look at my girlfriend / She’s the only one I got…”).
At this point in time, with the sun was beating down with a vengeance, it seems appropriate to mention one of the novelty features of the festival: the Foamarama stage. This set-up, a little off the beaten track, was home to DJs throughout the day and, most importantly, a couple of giant contraptions that bellowed out foam and bubbles over the delighted dancers.
On the other side of the festival grounds were Canadian techno/house quartet Azari & III who were playing to a crowd that was, if not unresponsive, then just taking the opportunity to sit under the shade of the pavilion that enclosed the stage area. It seems a shame, when you have a band so evidently enthusiastic about their music, and about sharing it with others, but there you go.
A little later was The Naked & Famous, who had the unfortunate lot to play at the same time as Skrillex, about which all the festival seemed to be abuzz. With what seemed like at least half of the festival’s attendees battling it out to get a good spot at the main stage, these talented indie rockers from New Zealand were left with a fairly scanty crowd. Still, they finally seemed to warm the audience up by the penultimate song, “Girls Like You”, and were really rocking by their last, “Young Blood”. It is a shame that more people did not skip Skrillex, who just sounded like so much noise, to see this set.
By this point, a few hours into the festival, an anomaly had begun to make itself clear. Amidst all the late teens and 20-somethings, could be seen the odd male in his forties or fifties. You did not need to see the one or two with their Joy Division T-shirts on to know the reason they were at Future Music at all… Still, the day was not yet done and there was more to come before New Order were to hit the stage at nine.
Like Friendly Fires, an English electro-party pop group, who may well have stolen the entire day (despite persistent sound problems that had the crowd chanting “turn it up!” for at least a third of the set). A half-hour before they were to start, there was already a decent crowd patiently assembled, despite the fact that Skrillex’s set was not yet over. When at last the boys came on stage, they took no time to warm themselves up, with lead vocalist Ed Macfarlane immediately flinging himself, full-throttle, into the most enthusiastic, joyous, hip-swizzling, body-gyrating, uninhibited dancing that this reviewer (and, from the astounded looks on their faces, the majority of the crowd, too) had ever seen in a live rock performance. He was truly a photographer’s dream.
The Rapture was on next. Entering the stage on by one, so that each instrumental layer was added successively, they began with “In the Grace of Your Love”. The lead vocalist’s voice, not a far cry from Andrew Stockdale’s (of Wolfmother fame), was just as beautiful live as it is via mp3, yet following the histrionics of Macfarlane, the performance did feel a little flat by comparison.
Nevertheless, The Rapture may have pulled a bigger crowd had Fatboy Slim not started his set in the middle of theirs. Introduced by a gigantic head (overly reminiscent of the great Oz’s, except blue, not green) on the screen behind him, Fatboy Slim started his set with “Praise You”, which had the crowd going wild. Unfortunately, he only played a snippet of this hit, as he was to do with other snippets of songs from other artists, which would be thinly peppered throughout his show. The rest of it was filled with generic house beats that would not have been out of place had you stumbled into any pub, club or bar on a Friday night. He did spend an inordinate amount of time layering the phrase “I’m in Australia, bitch!” (which then just degenerated further into “Bitch!”) over these beats. It got old, fast. Not just a mediocre set, as it would have been coming from anyone else, but a disappointing one, as Fatboy Slim could have been so, so much better.
In a sense though, this disappointment was a blessing as it allowed us to leave early without qualm, in order to mark out a prime spot for The Wombats. These likely lads, hailing from Liverpool, were charming in a way that only Brits can be (“This is our last night on tour for Future Music Festival, let’s make it a rather ridiculously severe one”). Paying hits from both of their albums, they had the crowd in ecstasies, with girls popping to the shoulders of their boys like the ground was on fire (no, all that ‘smoke’ in the air choking you was actually just dust that had been foot-pounded into the atmosphere by the ardent crowd). In a veritable coup of well chosen words – especially considering the aforementioned band’s set – vocalist Matthew Murphy announced that they had two songs to go, “before you go to another Future Music stage and someone presses play for you…” Predictably, but no less wonderfully for that, their last song was that which brought them fame and adoration, “Let’s Dance To Joy Division”, which they dedicated to the next band playing (guess who?).
Eighties electro innovators, and the band that formed after the tragic end of Joy Division, New Order followed The Wombats (and dedicated their set to Miles Davis, “for reasons known only to ourselves”). As was the case with Soundgarden at this year’s Big Day Out, we found ourselves with a headlining band that, while important and acclaimed in their time, feel just a tad irrelevant now (especially at a concert which showcases some of the most popular – rather than best – artists of our time). It was no wonder then, really, that New Order played to an underwhelmingly sized audience (everyone else seemed to be at the main stage for Swedish House Mafia). A number of overwhelmed attendees had even managed to find some plastic chairs from somewhere to sit on, and did so at the fringes of the crowd. Such a shame, but again, no wonder.
And so concluded Australia’s Future Music Festival for 2012. If anyone remembers anything upon waking up the next day, they’ll remember some great bands and others that should have been, but weren’t. And if their memories don’t do it for them, the fine particles of brown grime that they find in their ears will remind them of all that dust.
-Serrin Prior
