Gig Reviews

Shoreshocked 2005

Tue May 10 2005

On Saturday 9 April up to 10 000 people descended on St Leonard's Park,
North Sydney for the annual Shoreshocked festival. This year's line up
of bands and hip hop artists guaranteed it would be the biggest festival
to date, with Spiderbait and Bliss N Eso headlining.

The weather was perfect and the afternoon started early with Preshocked
bands hitting the stage at 12midday. Local favourites The Outfit proved
very popular with the crowd and band of the moment The Suitable Few
pulled off a fantastic set. Last year's Fitz Band Comp winners Lady
Peroxide, who have momentarily relocated to Melbourne, wooed the
audience with their funky stoner rock meets Inspector Gadget riffs. The
slow down lounge was proving popular with the Chai tent and acoustic
expression sessions. The afternoon was just hummin' with the Fret Fetish
crew working their way through acoustic songs as people dreamily laid
back and listened to the vibes.

Kid Courageous and The Camels were crowd favourites with thousands of
young people coming together by 5pm to rock out to the Coastal Surfari
that the Camels had been riding for the last month. Their infectious
melodies echoed out into the crowd and saw people dancing to the late
afternoon sun in a mix of beats and grooves. Meanwhile the hip hop tent
was going off with the MC battle taken out by a grrl and great
performances by Hyjack and Torcha and 206 Collab.

Faker and The Panics certainly got the crowd ready for the headliners
and at 8pm the energy was incredible. Spiderbait are huge and they
played a huge set. They loved the crowd and the crowd loved them. Their
music is loud and it's awesome Australian rock. With ten thousand people
spilling out at the back of the park, it was an overwhelming sensation
to be a part of. The 'Bait closed their set with an eight minute Black
Betty and worked the audience into a total frenzy. The energy was alive
and it was simply awesome to watch.

National Youth Week is about celebrating Australian youth culture in a
positive way. This year's Shoreshocked festival was about celebrating
Aussie hip hop, rock and as many different aspects of youth culture as
possible. It rocked out with the best of them and bought home grown
talent on the mainstage for Sydney to see. Can't wait until next year!