The Boroughs Festival, now in its third year, took place at the headquarters of The Globe, a skating clothing company based in Port Melbourne. Named after the Five Boroughs of New York, the festival was held in and around the loading bay area of the factory, which today had been transformed into a stage and skating arena, and served as a rather effective ampitheatre. The festival had a wonderfully cosy vibe to it, with a loose theme inspired by the city of New York. This was most evident with the headline act of the day, the legendary New York Dolls.
As one walked in, there were stalls displaying fashion loosely inspired by New York, as there was in the cafe, which was showing short films and artwork also inspired by the city. These were small displays, but interesting at the same time.
In what is becomming an increasingly popular trend with live events, the band performing today were broken up by half hour DJ sets from the likes of DJ’s from Melbourne venues such as LTM and Can’t Say. This served as a good way to make the day run smoothly in regards to stage and band change overs and also helped set a great mood for the crowd that gathered throughout the day.
The day proved to be a strong spotlight for local bands. One always feels a bit sorry for the first band of the day playing to only a handful of people at a festival. However, Masketta Fall put in a confident and assured set. Their music is very much inspired and infused by classic power pop from the likes of 90’s Australian alternative pop such as Ammonia and Spiderbait. A thouroughly enjoyable set from this young band from Werribee.
Next up were the Bonniwells. The three piece impressed with their wall of noise, inspired by great bands such as New York musical luminaries such as The Velvet Underground, Sonic Youth and the U.K’s My Bloody Valentine. It was great to get lost in their sound. Tracks such as “Dum Dum Surf” and “Lazy Daisy” entertained the gathering crowd.
It was good to see the festival kept to a smallish number, roughly around five hundred. With only one set of toilets and minimal food and drimk options and outlets, festival resources were in danger of being somewhat overstretched. Also, the majority of the area where the stage was set up was open air. Thankfully, on the whole the weather was decent for the day and the assembled crowd had a really positive and happy vibe to them.
One of the best bands of the day performed next. Deja, Pop with a twist is probably the best way to describe them. The four piece displayed a very charming and likeable attitude and quality on stage. Deja have a really interesting and unexpected drum and bass influence to them. They also had a strong female presence in lead singer Claire, with a strong presence and voice remeniscent of classic female frontwomen like Debbie Harry and Chrissie Hynde. A class act, featuring great songs such as “Skeletons” and “Wild Things”. A great set from a very promising band with a bright future ahead of them.
Apart from DJ’s between band sets, there were also numerous skating displays. Many in the gathering crowd looked like they were remembering their misspent youth watching the skaters do their thing.
Three piece Ghost Mutt were next to perform. While enjoyable, with their Helmet-influenced crunchy power rock, they didn’t really stand out in any way during the day. It was a nice background for the crowd, which had been slow to arrive all day, picking up and getting ready for the main act of the day, The New York Dolls.
Passport For Amy were next. The four piece put in a very polished and entertaining set. Reminiscent of bands like Bloc Party and U2 in their sound, especially the atmospheric and effective guitar sound, the band powered through a great set, featuring songs such as “Nine To Five” (no, not the Dolly Parton one!) and “Unprofessionals”. A young band, they are definitely one to watch.
As more people began to arrive, the vibe of the festival, which had been somewhat lacking previouly, began to pick up significantly. For this, The Fearless Vampire Killers were the perfect soundtrack. Sounding like they’ve come screaming out the garage of The Stooges, the band put in a storming set of 60’s inspired garage rock with a nice surf guitar influence to it. Out of all the bands playing, they were the closest in spirit and tone to the New York theme of the day. With their upcoming album release,”Batmania”, being released on 14th October, this is a band that is definitely going places. A pleasue to see perform today. “Tell Me What You’re Trying To Say”, the lead off single from the album, was the highlight of a glouriously rowdy set from the boys.
After the skating competition, which had been running on and off all day, had been judged and prizes awarded, The Hello Morning took to the stage. Unfortunately, through no fault of their own, their big sound kind of got lost with people gathering at food stalls and the bar and the resulting noise coming from both areas. This was a shame, as The Hello Morning, who also serve as Dan Sultan’s backing band, displayed real quality and style. This scribe would love to see them in the future in a more appropriate setting. Tracks such as “Don’t Let It” and “Without You” displayed a style and class definitely worth investigating.
Finally, it was time for the main act of the festival, the legendary New York Dolls. Featuring surviving members, lead singer David Johansson and guitarist Sylvain Sylvain, the band ripped into an enjoyable, if somewhat at times frustrating, set. The initially reserved crowd began to warm up as the Dolls did their thing and did it to a very enjoyable degree. This had been a problem during the day; the vibe of the day was very slow to warm up. This might have been better served by getting more well know bands on the line up. Something to consider for future Boroughs festivals.
The main souce of this frustration was a muddy sound mix, which unfortunately favoured a very tight and together sounding band over Johansson’s vocals. The result of this was that, unfortunately, the vocals came off as muddy and hard to hear. This was a shame as the impossibly skinny Johansson, looking like Mick Jagger’s long lost American twin, was in fine form as a front man this evening. He was ably assisted by Sylvain on guitar and, in a very nice and highly enjoyable surprise, ace guitarist Earl Slick, famous for his work with David Bowie, especially on this scribe’s all time favourite Bowie album, “Low”.
The Dolls showed the assembled crowd why they are rightly held as an influence to a vast array of bands that have followed in their wake over the past forty years. Mixing rock with musical elements such as rythm and blues, one can hear their sound in bands such as The Ramones, right down to some of the bands that had played earlier today. Tonight, they played for a curious, nostalgic and thankfully very forgiving crowd who enjoyed the band regardless of the sound issues. They also proved that it’s not what you play, it’s how you play it.
New songs, such as “Walking Backwards In High Heels”and “We’re All In Love”, sounded like they fit perfectly alongside more well known and older tracks such as “Jet Boy”, “Pills” and “Talk To Me Baby”.The attidue, passion and swagger with which they play is very compelling and infectious. The biggest crowd response came with what has become their signature track, “Personality Crisis”, which had the crowd stomping, singing and dancing.
All in all, a different and highly enjoyable day, which served as a nice alternative to over-populated festivals which have started to take over the live music scene. One hopes that, unless a location change is in order like what happened with the St Jerome’s Laneway festival a few years ago, the organisers keep numbers down and maintain this wonderfully small and intimite vibe that was like what one imagines a New York block party to be like.
-Neil Evans.
