Review and Photography: JD Garrahy
Whoever said that festivals were a dying breed was way off. If you were on the Gold Coast on Sunday, you would know that this was false information. Festivals are alive and kicking and Look Out Festival showed the Gold Coast exactly how an event should be run.
When you have international heavy hitters to the tune of Live and Incubus, you HAVE to make sure their supports are equally as amazing. Cue the late 90’s, early 00’s Aussie brilliance. Now, it would be remiss of me not to highlight what spectacular performances were offered by our own local talent before I get into our visitors from the good ol’ US of A. Opening the gates at 12:30 for a 1:30 kick off guaranteed that no one misses one part of any of the bands. Well done Look Out Festival, you’ve put your best foot forward before any band had struck their first chord.
The Superjesus, what more can you say about this band that hasn’t been said before? High energy, performers of the highest calibre and every bit the embodiment of the rockstar attitude. These guys rock! Playing every bit of nostalgic brilliance that you could want, TSJ get the crowd moving and as the punters scramble in to get their spot on the barrier, you can see why TSJ was the perfect band to launch the Gold Coast leg.
Eskimo Joe take the stage and with the greatest hair in the Aussie music scene, Kav Temperley takes centre stage and rocks the masses until they are left screaming for more. The musicianship of these guys is simply amazing in a live setting. Given a 1 hour set, there is not one minute wasted, with every hit that you want to hear, and even a comedic flash back to the days of some fresh faced 17 year old lads from Freo busting out Sweater. Great to see them have a laugh at their own expense. Fantastic show from one of Australia’s finest rock bands.
Birds Of Tokyo. Wow, just wow! Every time these guys have played, I’ve missed out. But not this time! The sound was on point, the vibe was infectious and the lighting and graphics behind the band certainly gave the feeling of a outfit that can command a stage equal to some of the biggest international acts. With so many songs in their back catalogue, the tidy outfit blasts out every song you want to hear and more. As they close out their set with Lanterns, the crowd sings in unison and the start of a beautiful Gold Coast sunset provides the perfect backdrop for such an exquisite bands finale.
There isn’t a band that encapsulates the 90’s rock sound more than Live. Ed Kowalczyk still has his signature sound and has not lost one bit of his skills or energy. I saw them back in 2017 and there is not one bit of brilliance lost. Still masters of their craft and playing every single song you want to hear. Whether it was Lakini’s Juice, The Dolphin’s Cry or even their set closer, the phenomenal Lightning Crashes, if you came to Look Out Festival to see just Live, you got pretty damn good bang for your buck.
With so much talent upon one stage, its hard to tell where to focus your attention. As Kowalczyk & Co depart the stage, everyone is feeling invigorated to get into the groove for our co-headliner, Incubus to take the stage.
Incubus need no assistance in describing the type of live show they deliver. If you’ve been to a show, you know. If you haven’t, you’re about to find out. With groove inducing bass lines, (Nicole Rowe you absolutely smashed it tonight), the stellar (yeah, pun intended) fret work of Michael Einziger, or Brandon Boyd’s awe-inspiring vocals, Incubus put every bit of ferocious passion into their massive set.
With the majority of the songs from Morning View and Make Yourself, they even managed to fit in a couple of fantastic covers, The Beatles, Come Together for one, there was not one person in the crowd that was left out. From young to old, no one was forgotten on such a musical journey. As this iconic turn of the century band proved that the headline spot of this festival was no more deserving to be in their hands.
The final 4 songs of this set are huuuuuge. Megalomaniac, David Bowie classic Let’s Dance, Drive and the always amazing Wish You Were Here, round out one of the greatest sets I’ve been witness to in recent years. There was not one bit of energy wasted, not one moment spared. For the entirety of the set, we were gifted the songs we loved, the ones we haven’t heard much of live and some that we always hoped would make their way onto any of their sets. This was a great display of a band that has been around for decades and still manages to put out the same quality of music that they became famous for all those years ago. Come back soon, we can’t wait that long again.
As the event comes to a close, where the crowd was plentiful, the layout spectacular, and the lineup incredible, it’s hard to know how this could be topped. Well done Look Out Festival. You have set a new level of festival greatness, proving that you don’t need to stack the bill massively, just get some top-quality bands and the crowd will be there.
– GALLERY –
