Posted by Danni Le Toullec on February 15, 2011
It’s always a sign of a great festival when you spend most of the day feeling torn by which act to watch. With five stages and more than 40 artists at Good Vibrations 2011, friendships were made and broken as game plans went out the window and programmes were clutched under rain soaked ponchos.
In his flat cap, vest and chinos, Aloe Blacc (pictured below) brought out the soul of the Sydney crowd at the Mr J stage with his seductive tune ‘I Need a Dollar’. He broke out into some funky New Orleans-style jazz dancing for his band’s instrumental solos and without missing a beat, launched into a lively rendition of Michael Jackson’s ‘Billie jean’ and Bob Marley’s ‘No Woman, No Cry’. The charismatic crooner urged the crowd on saying, “This ain’t TV. This ain’t the internet. This is real life. Get involved!”
Anna Lunoe had the Jager Star Bar bouncing although the early timeslot unfortunately meant a rather empty tent.
Erykah Badu teased us with those ambiguous opening lines of ‘Healer’ from backstage. Never before has “Humdi Lila Allah Jehova” sounded so good. She finally emerged, looking slightly like Cousin It with hair streaming out from under her hat down her back, almost reaching her hips. Once she took off the hat, she was resplendent in colourful high heels and forearms decked out in gold metallic cuffs. Commanding and powerful, her voice was flawless as we were treated to tracks from as far back as her 1997 debut Baduizm. Badu made us forget all about the rain pouring down on The Roots tent with ‘On & On’, ‘Window Seat’, ‘Solider’ and ‘Love Of My Life’. As she launched into a longwinded political rant, fans were left glancing at each other awkwardly and one of her roadies kept motioning for her to cut it. Thank god, she launched into ‘Back In The Day’ and all was well.
DJ Samurai kept the crowd going before New Zealand’s seven-piece dub/reggae/soul band Fat Freddy’s Drop took The Roots stage. Despite some initial sound problems, lead singer Dallas Tamaira (aka Joe Dukie pictured below) was amazing. The trombonist was definitely a crowd favourite, with boundless energy he jumped around the stage, and even fit in a quick outfit change which featured a shiny silver jacket and white short shorts. Their vocal tracks ‘Roady’, ‘Wandering Eye’, ‘Blackbird’ and ‘This Room’ went down a treat but instrumentals went on for that little bit too long and ended up sounding repetitive. It ultimately pushed them 30-40 minutes overtime which created a ripple effect for The Roots stage for the rest of the night.
Swedish indie pop band, Miike Snow (definitely not just one man) came out on the Mr J stage amidst a plume of grey smoke in silver masks. They performed a cover of a Vampire Weekend track which was pleasantly surprising. The rain came down unnoticed as the antler decorated instruments plucked out the beats of ‘Burial’. Andrew Wyatt’s voice was breathtaking on ‘Sylvia’, ‘Animal’ and ‘Black & Blue’ and the elements made it that much more epic.
Back at The Roots stage, Damien Marley & Nas were ripping it up. Following their collaboration on Distant Relatives (2010) the duo has established a legendary alliance. With the Jamaican flag sweeping proudly back and forth, ‘As We Enter’ completely blew the crowd away. Hearing Bob Marley’s youngest son perform ‘Could You Be Loved’ was touching and left a lasting impression. As did Marley’s dredlocks which hung to his ankles.
Now for the headliner spot, I attempted the impossible. Three stages at the same time. Ludacris at The Roots tent, Faithless at the Good Vibrations stage and Phoenix on the Mr J stage. For his first time in Australia, Ludacris gave us a sneak peak of some material from his upcoming eighth album – Ludaversal. Leading a ‘Luda’ shout out, he barrelled into his early tracks ‘Act A Fool’, ‘Disturbing Tha Peace’ and ‘Area Codes’. As he segued into the more commercial tracks that he has collaborated on, we hightailed it to Phoenix. The French four-piece didn’t pull as big of a crowd as Luda or Faithless, perhaps a bit too chilled for some but regardless they put on a great show as they reeled off the hits from their last five albums.
Faithless cornered the dance fiends among the Good Vibers and showed us all why they are still on top sixteen years after their first single was released. Although there were grumbles that the emaciated Maxi Jazz talked a lot, they came through with their classic tracks against the vibrant stage lightshow and were a perfect way to end the day.
As always, Good Vibrations Festival delivered across a variety of genres and left us all wanting more. Well for those of us wearing gumboots, not so much for the canvas shod.
The Good Vibrations tour will be heading to the Gold Coast for the 19th of February and then onto Perth on the 20th February. Be there or be rectangle!
Were you there? What did you think of the Good Vibes circuit? Don't let us do all the talking, tell us your thoughts via a comment or two.
faithless, erykah badu, fat freddy's drop, nas, damian marley, ludacris, aloe blacc, miike snow, phoenix, rusko