We came, we saw, we slept for two days solid, and now we're back in the office and reflecting on the magic that was BIGSOUND 2018. Our editors Neil Griffiths, Jessica Dale and Lauren Baxter were on the ground in Brisbane, catching the shows, conferences and news as it went down. Here's what they loved from this year's BIGSOUND...
Neil Griffiths - Digital Editor & The Music Podcast Host
Top Acts
Slowly Slowly
They packed out Crowbar to the back of the room. Really tight, really strong, they did not look like an emerging band. They looked like a group who have been playing together for much, much longer than they have. The entire front group of the room knew every word to their songs which was insane to watch.
Carla Geneve
Incredible from start to finish. Powerful lyrics and vocals, her shredding skills would make any aspiring guitarist jealous. Stand out!
Samsaruh
Awesome sound, so much fun to watch. Completely in control on stage, which won over the crowd quickly.
CLEWS
Yeah, they were pretty great, especially THOSE HARMONIES!
Between You & Me
Pop punk isn't dead in Australia! New Found Glory & Mayday Parade vibes with these guys. Energetic, fast and fun!
Act that will blow up post-BIGSOUND
Carla Geneve
I only got to see one set from Carla Geneve and I am devastated by that. In 30 minutes (to a capacity room), Geneve managed to receive both deafening silence during her slower songs and overwhelming applause during her epic guitar solos. At just 19 years of age, Geneve has a polished live performance that would make anyone question what the hell they were doing with their life at that age.
BIGSOUND 2018 Highlight
Apart from getting to chat with all of the artists on The Music Podcast, it has to be the fried chicken at Blute's Bar. Popcorn chicken is real and it is amazing.
Jessica Dale - Assistant Editor/Social Media Coordinator
Top Acts
KAIIT
Trying to make our way into The Brightside to see KAIIT’s first showcase was certainly one of the more challenging tasks of BIGSOUND 2018. That place was rammed - like seriously rammed. We’re pretty sure she would have broken some kind of BIGSOUND capacity record there. The point is clearly everyone wants a piece of KAIIT - which was especially apparent the next morning when I saw a girl literally run up behind her to get a photo and then another group posing with her further down the street. She’s incredible, humble and deserving of every bit of success coming her way.
A Swayze & The Ghosts
I first saw A Swayze & The Ghosts when they opened for Luca Brasi on their club show run earlier this year. It was pretty clear then that they were a group to watch, which I certainly did at BIGSOUND - three times, actually. The Hobart four-piece take an classic Aussie pub rock vibe, stack a heap of punk sound on top and then spin it in a way that is totally their own. Frontman Andrew Swayze literally parting the very, very full crowd at The Foundry to play the tambourine in the middle of them will surely stick in everyone’s mind for a while. As should the band, because they are going to big, big places very quickly.
Nice Biscuit
Here’s just some of the things that were a part of Nice Biscuit’s set on Tuesday night - full coordinated choreography; costumes made of air-con ducting; two gymnasts dancing with glow in the dark hula hoops in the crowd. Their set is a fully realised journey. Nice Biscuit know what they’re about and they know what they want their crowd to experience - and they nailed it every step of the way.
Fortune Shumba
It’s hard to put into words exactly what happened at Fortune Shumba’s Thursday night set but I think the closest description would be a religious experience. The South African singer brought a set that went from 0 to 100 in no time and had a whole crowd of BIGSOUND attendees dancing, chanting and crying. Yes, crying. Shumba’s performance was incredible, affirming and uplifting, and everything that we should be celebrating in music. A self-described kid from a small village in South Africa, Shumba was visibly blown away by the love of the crowd, and it was truly an incredibly special occasion. He's in the country until the end of the month but I’m sure that you’ll be hearing some of the tracks in clubs all over soon enough.
VOIID
I’m pretty sure there’s nothing about VOIID that I don’t like. Seeing them at The Zoo on Tuesday night, they put on a set that was unapologetic, high energy and that certainly got the crowd talking about them the next day. They joked on stage that they thought it would be just five people in the audience, which could not have been further from the result they ended up with.
Emerson Snowe
Firstly, I’ll preface this by saying I've become a big, big fan Emerson Snowe in a short, short time. Everything about the Snowe persona, the work of former The Creases’ bass player Jarrod Mahon, is just perfect. The look, the songs, the messsage - everything. I walked in on Tuesday night to Snowe’s cover of Androgynous and was sold in an instant. It’s clear that this has been bubbling under the surface for Mahon for some time and I am god damn glad Snowe has emerged.
Conference highlight
Former Big Day Out publicist turned personal coach, Viv Fantin, shared a session called Tuning Out Your Inner Critic, which was informative, helpful and got the crowd joining in, sharing and learning how to silence their own inner critic.
Act that will blow up post-BIGSOUND
For me, this year is a three-way time but all for different reasons. Nice Biscuit will be on the international festival circuit in two seconds flat (especially after their album drops this week). A Swayze & The Ghosts are surely going to be on every Aussie festival for the summer. KAIIT will drop her EP and sell out shows across the country, just like she’s already done for The Corner in Melbourne.
BIGSOUND 2018 Highlight
Jen Cloher continuing to appear in showcase crowds throughout the week. Interviewing KAIIT for The Music Podcast. Watching the crowd nod in unison for pretty much every A Swayze & The Ghosts beat. Meeting Mrs Grohl. Chatting with Fortune Shumba following his incredible set. Nice Biscuit’s coordinated tambourine playing. The Music’s Mullet Watch.
Lauren Baxter - Qld Editor
Top Acts
Nice Biscuit
It takes a lot for a band to stand out amidst all the BIGSOUND noise, something I think comes a lot down to professionalism, and that is something that Nice Biscuit brought in droves. Anything that brings to mind a The Mamas & The Papas/The B-52’s mash-up, with costumes thrown in for good measure is A-OK by me. The band has seemingly mastered the science of time travel and with a well-oiled performance, tight grooves and choreographed tambourine playing, Nice Biscuit ain’t no Iced VoVo. They are the Tim Tam of BIGSOUND and I might just finish the whole pack.
Tape/Off
The Brisbane dad-garage rockers Tape/Off are all fuzzed-out, aggressive guitars at their showcase but I don’t hear songs, I hear anthems. Witnessing the band live for the first time, my fist is now clenched firmly in the air with them. Grab a copy of Broadcast Park, crank the stereo up nice and loud, and channel all of your societal angst and anger at the apathy and you might just join me.
Fortune Shumba
There’s not a whole lot to say about Fortune Shumba’s set other than to say people were actually crying. With nothing but love in the room, we danced, chanted and celebrated the power of music in an all-inclusive party Shumba was throwing. A certified slayer, I hope the future is going to look a whole lot like this.
Emerson Snowe
The well-deserved winner of the Levi's Music Prize, Emerson Snowe’s set was pure sunlight. A seasoned performer through his work with The Creases, Jarrod Mahon has created a character on stage that's impossible to tear your eyes off. There are ‘a folk Johnny Thunders’ or maybe ‘a punk Buddy Holly’ comparisons thrown around but no, this is Emerson Snowe and at the moment, there’s nothing quite like him.
Joey Cape
OK, OK, this might be a cop out but an acoustic set from US punk legend Joey Cape at Ric’s Backyward! Come on... I couldn’t not include it! Taking requests from the audience, Cape is effortless on stage, bringing out the Lagwagon tragic in all of us. There’s got to be a shout out here too for Zach Quinn (Pears) and all his green-headed glory and Jay and Lindsay from Frenzal Rhomb who played before Cape. It is a mood.
Conference highlight
I think the keynote from the collective rock world’s matriarch is best summed up by our 'Overheard': “I wish Virginia Grohl was my mum.” Imparting her wisdom in a way only mothers can, Hanlon Grohl spoke about raising Dave, prioritising family and potentially writing a rockstar mum cookbook and now we cannot wait until From Cradle To Stage comes to the silver screen as promised.
Act that will blow up post-BIGSOUND
There’s a lot to be said about who is in the room at a BIGSOUND showcase and by the turn out at these gigs, I’d say Andrew Swayze and his band of Ghosts are a hot favourite. Bringing the raucous with a pure punk attitude at the heart of it all, A Swayze & the Ghosts are my top pick for blowing up.
BIGSOUND 2018 Highlight
It is difficult to pick one highlight from the blur that is a week of non-stop live music. Other than the aforementioned acts, as a first time attendee I think my highlight probably comes in the overwhelming feeling of inclusivity BIGSOUND seems to impart on the Valley. Whatever your music taste, there is something for you here and BIGSOUND will more than happily wrap you up into its boozy arms and take you along for the ride.
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