LuliePalooza packed a mighty punch this year thanks to Always Live, PBS radio and the Lulie Tavern. A two stage extravaganza in the shadows of the Victoria Park grandstand in the heart of inner city Collingwood, this festival was back to basics and back to fostering local talent. Despite the heatwave, the conditions were more than manageable – plenty of sunscreen, lots of free water and ample seating and shade for those punters wanting a spell. Kicking off the event was Milly Strange in the blocked off Lulie St Stage, a 5 – piece guitar fuzz band who braved an early wind storm but took it in stride. A bit wistful and introspective, giving off slight Mazzy Star vibes, they held their own and grabbed the attention of the early arrivals. As I surveyed the scene, I ran into the headliners, LA’s own Starcrawler, who had just come from the airport from Japan to soundcheck then rode the mechanical bull before heading back to their hotel for 40 winks in preparation for their set later in the evening. Now that’s rock’n’roll! Despite some cajoling from Guitarist Henri Cash and drummer Seth Carolina, I didn’t follow their example as I wanted to be alive to witness their only Australian show exclusive to this festival.
Next up was Jaded – a 2-piece crass core outfit on the smaller grandstand stage, who sang about beer – “the second best drink in the world, first is Yakult”, lesbian chicken and doing it doggy style. The blokes swarming the front of the stage were enraptured to say the least.
Hannah and Jessie Lee’s Bad Habits brought a country rock vibe ala Lucinda Williams to stage 1. With a groove laden rhythm section and twangy guitars, there was a lot to like about this 4-piece. Despite the front of house dropping in and out at times and a few technical issues, they remained unruffled and delivered the goods.
Skyscraper Stan and the Commission Flats were next on stage 2 and the first to feature some brass. Their folk rock, ska punk songs kept everything upbeat with a big sound for a 4 piece. A standout song for me being Let Me Be Frank With You, a song they wrote about the pit with great harmonies and a very melodic sound.
The 3 piece Miffs brought their combo rock and rumble surf guitar, swampy 60s sound to stage 1 and would have comfortably fitted onto the soundtrack of Russ Meyer’s She Devils On Wheels had they been around back in that era. The Burn, their instrumental opener moved straight into a glam rock and roll hair metal and back again. They provided a big, full sound for a 3 piece with no passengers.
Brisbane band Platonic Sex hit the grandstand stage and continued the 3 piece format as they were down a guitarist for the gig. A big rock sound with frenetic drums more than compensated for the loss. We were warned upfront that the set has highs and lows and to stay with them, a request that was easy to comply with and their short and sweet set really packed a punch.
By the time Eagle and the Worm hit the Lulie street stage the crowd had really started to build as the heat of the day passed. They brought the traditional festival vibe with an expansive brass section encompassing trombone, trumpet and tenor sax. Victoria park train station was adjacent to the stage and worked into their rhythms and energy as they careened their way through an energy filled set. It’s the first time this 8-piece have played in 7 years and they got the crowd pumping as a hint of rain and the longed for cool change threatened.
Collingwood favourites Batpiss were right at home under the grandstand bringing their mean and dirty rock n roll and summoning up a squally wind and much welcomed downpour. Thankfully the storm was short lived and Gooch Palms had punters ambling back to the Lulie St stage to wrap their ears around the 2 piece rock the stand up drums and guitar. Originally hailing from the self declared greatest city in the world of Newcastle Australia, they emphatically urged the crowd “lets fuck shit up Luliepalooza!” With wowsers like The Period song and spontaneous renditions of the theme from The Lion King, they provided a sincere community service announcement before exiting the stage of “No means no, keep your hands to yourself and look after each other”. There were lots of western shirts, cowboy boots and hats in the crowd today so it wasn’t out of place to see people enthusiastically embracing the
Country Boot-scooting demonstration and lesson going on over at the grand stand stage. Meanwhile, for those prepared to rock in the metal persuasion, Battlesnake certainly was the vehicle you didn’t know you needed. Decked out in priestly albs with headgear more akin to satanic creatures than the Vatican, songs like I Am the Vomit and Pterodactyl Fire Hawk had the crowd going off!
The double kick on the bass drum was fast and furious as robes were stripped off and a key-tar thrown out to the crowd for a spirited cover of AC/DC’s Let There Be Rock. Theatrical metal to the max complete with a grandstand stair climb, jock clad swinging from the stage scaffolding and pyrotechnics. Cash Savage and the Last Drinks brought some sensibility back to Lulie St with their grinding blues rock and no bullshit demeanor.
Savage really connected with the crowd, and appropriately, at this once hallowed AFL site, mentioned that the AFL used their song Pack Animal during tv broadcasts this season. Funnily enough, and unbeknownst to the AFL, Savage declared “it’s not a positive song! Go the bombers!”
After a good 8 hours of music, it was time for the only international act on the bill, Starcrawler who really turned everything up to 11 and then some. Vocalist Arrow De Wilde announced upon hitting the stage how happy they were to be back in Melbourne and that they were “not here to fuck spiders now!” Playing a blistering set spanning their 3 albums to date, Starcrawler were on fire and certainly didn’t appear weary from their epic travel day. I Love LA was a set highlight along with the Roger Alan Wade cover If You’re Gonna Be Dumb You Gotta Be Tough, the latter prefaced with “we love you Melbourne but this song is about you!” Road Kill and Stranded, from their latest album She Said were melodic and raucous. By the time they launched into their cover of the Ramones’ Pet Cemetery, any of the crowd who were previously uninitiated in the world of were totally converted. Guitarist Henri Cash was blistering on his modded out and customized collection of guitars, swaggering through the crowd during the main set closer Bet My Brains with the longest guitar lead in history before inviting a young punter up to play out the song with them. She Gets Around was the perfect ending and let’s hope we see Starcrawler back in Australia for a full run of shows sooner rather than later.
The LuliePalooza festival really had a well balanced gender mix both on and off stage which was great to see and be part of. I found the whole atmosphere refreshing, despite the heat mainly because it was purely a celebration of mostly independent music. There were no aggro patrons and everyone seemed to be there for the same reason – to embrace great music. I really loved this festival from start to finish and hope to see it continue.
