Gig Reviews

HOMEBAKE!

Thu Dec 8 2005

In an increasingly hectic summer festival schedule, Homebake has always managed to stand tough on its ‘this is Australia, we have music to rival the rest of the world and we won’t take no guff from no one’ platform. And every year it proves to all of Sydney exactly that: there ain’t no music like Oz music.
Over the past years Homebake has diversified its lineup so that it really is the defining showcase of all alternative Australian music. In the time since 2001, say, electronic music (dance, hip hop, beats) has made a massive surge in this country. Bands like The Herd and Cut Copy stay at the amorphous ‘you could call them electronic’ end of the spectrum and DJs like Paul Mac keep the more traditional style of dance represented. At the same time bands like Wolfmother keep taking the rockin’ 3 piece form akin to so many of the most popular Aussie bands to new levels. You could almost do a backflip with the excitement.
So with such high expectations of what this festival can deliver, I always approach each one with caution – wary of the crushing disappointment which could swallow me whole if the bands don’t deliver. But since my first one in 2000, Homebake has pulled it off time and time again in remarkable style: good bands, good crowd, good venue: good times.
Unfortunately festivals are extremely hard to review. If I say Wolfmother were awesome (as we would expect after they took out the J Award), those people who saw Sarah Blasko don’t care. The Rogue Traders stunned many with an incredibly animated and loud performance of their Neighbours-star-toting, borderline-pop-dance-Top-40 tunes. But fans of the Go-Betweens probably think I’m soft for seeing such a mainstream act at an alternative festival. (I admit, it was a bit of morbid curiosity that drew me to the Big Top, but they were surprisingly good).
However, the finishers definitely knew how to do their thing. The Dome Stage and The Cat Empire… Everyone knows the reputation their live show has earned them. But, by God they are deserving. They have it all: horn sections and tambourines making Latin to reggae to jazz tunes topped off by Felix’s soothing sounds and Harry’s one in a million voice. And then they dance! And ladies swoon… And men know that if they had half as much rhythm they would be much more attractive to the swooning ladies… Some people have it.
The Finn Brothers also have it. But what is it exactly that the Finn Brothers have? I watched from a distance pondering what it is about Crowded House and the Finn Brothers that has made them Oz music royalty. Their songs sound nice, are well constructed and flow like the Murray, sure. But what really shines is the feeling they put into each song. Some of these songs were written 20 years ago yet when they play them now they can still move an audience just as they did when they were first released. There is a genuine aspect to the music, as indeed to Neil and Tim which can be found only in very few musicians. Even if you don’t like them, you still don’t mind them, and that’s what kept about 20,000 people screaming their behinds off until the brothers took their final bow and left the stage.
After cruising around the Domain for 12 hours jumping, dancing and adding to the general chaos that abounds (and is half the fun of) Homebake, it goes without saying that one is a little bit tired. But just because the festival is over doesn’t mean the fun has to end. Watching 20,000 sweaty, bedraggled, beaten and battered festival goers invade the city in search of some public transport that hasn’t already been packed over capacity is a sight to behold. Especially when there’s people dressed in tuxedos and cocktail dresses walking all over and they have no idea what is going on, or why this hoard of scruffy young people has suddenly descended upon the city.
So, I suppose Homebake lived up to itself. Again. And the funny part is that it’s difficult to tell now if it was the bands that did it (because, let’s be honest, the bands kicked arse). Perhaps it was just that first taste of festival fun with the knowledge the whole summer is to follow. Or maybe the bottom line is that Homebake just did what it was there to do and I’m reading into it too much. Yep… That could be it.