The Pyramid Rock Festival 2012/13 @ Phillip Island, Victoria (29-01/12-01/2012-13)
The 2012/13 Pyramid Rock Festival at Phillip Island, Victoria was a much smaller event than previous years. The Main Stage was changed to a tent instead of an open air stage and another very small outdoor stage called the Pharaoh’s Stage was home to a number of the lesser known acts. A mediocre line up impacted on crowd numbers, but attendees were still able to enjoy a festival experience.
Stonefield were the first big name on the bill on day one, returning to the Pyramid stage after a busy 2012. The four sisters played an entertaining rock and roll set, with lead singer Amy Findlay busting out vocals before jumping behind the drum kit midway through the set. Drowning was performed very well live, proving the group’s great talent. A cover of Steppenwolf’s Magic Carpet Ride that the band performed for Triple J’s Like A Version pleased the crowd and they also played popular tunes, Black Water Rising and Through The Clover.
Melbourne locals, Children Collide were next to hit the Main Stage and did not disappoint. The indie rock outfit played a variety of old and new songs, mainly from their albums, The Long Now and Theory Of Everything. Frontman Johnny Mackay got the crowd rocking, with an intense death circle forming for a great part of the set. 2009 hit, Farewell Rocketship was a great crowd sing-a-long and a chance for many of the crowd to catch their breath. Skeleton Dance, made famous by featuring on the FIFA video game, was another song that got the crowd dancing.
Mashed in the middle was Loveless and Social Currency in what turned out to be a greatest hits set. The band finished with Jellylegs, with the opening riff drawing applause and resulting in a vast majority of the crowd jumping around and dancing. Children Collide proved to be one of the highlights of the festival and drew an energetic crowd.
Aussie Hip Hop act, Urthboy got Main stage bouncing in the afternoon. Punters sang along to Hellsong and from there the crowd did not stand still as the MC took control. His tracks with female vocals were a good listen, as evident by Ready To Go and Shruggin. But it was his most well known track that really impressed the audience. We Get Around was the pick of Urthboy’s set with the entire crowd dancing and singing along.
Following Urthboy was Sydney electro-pop outfit Van She. After a successful 2012, the group opened with hit Idea of Happiness and didn’t look back.
They played a number of tracks from their debut record, V, including Kelly and Strangers. When the tune for 2012 hit Jamaica began, the crowd sparked up and you could tell that this would be a perfect end to an impressive set. But the Pyramid Rock organisers had other ideas, unfortunately cutting off the band seconds into the track. Van She had this to say on their Facebook page, “Sorry Pyramid Rockers. We really wanted to finish playing Jamaica for you, but they pulled the plug on us because we went 2 minutes over. Enjoy the rest of your festival fun! See you next time.” A disappointing end to a great performance and surely 2-3 minutes could have been spared to finish a great song.
Xavier Rudd took all his time to get into his set, coming onto stage and jamming for a good ten minutes much to the disappointment of parts of the crowd. But when Rudd started to play his songs, the crowd instantly become more interested in the performance. Fortune Teller displayed what he is capable of as an artist. The combination of the didgeridoo, guitar picking and booming vocals paved the way for an impressive performance. A cover of Bob Marley’s Buffalo Soldier was a special moment for the audience, with a haze of smoke in the air. Let Me Be was another enjoyable track that everyone knew, which always makes for a fun time. Rudd played his new single, Follow The Sun for the Pyramid folk and although I wasn’t impressed with the beginning of the set, by the end I was very content and thought he put on a great performance.
Melbourne Hip Hop sensation 360 produced the biggest following on day one and performed a fun, energetic set. He took stage to applause and shortly had the festival goers dancing. Opening with Killer, he had the crowd’s full attention. The rapper continued through his catalogue of hits, including Child and Just Got Started. For the song that saw 360 hit the big time, Boys Like You, female vocalist Gossling joined him on stage. The songstress had played on the Pharaoh’s stage earlier in the day. This duet was a highlight of the set and impressed many of the punters. Although the artist cops his fair share of hate and criticism, I found a newfound respect for 360 and I feel he should be commended for his efforts in the music industry.
Sydney’s Pnau, kept the party going after 360 with the Electro duo pumping beats. Their set had it all, from old bangers Wild Strawberries and Baby to new hits The Truth and Unite Us. It could have easily been mistaken for the New Years Eve timeslot, with the crowd enjoying the party. Embrace was another highlight of an intense set from the duo.
Day two was a little thin on stand out acts compared to day one.
Pyramid Rock specialist Illy graced the stage for the third year in a row, and did not disappoint again. The Hip Hop artist has a relatively strong following and the crowd was jumping to beats such as The Chase and Put Em In The Air. Midway through the set, Illy called for his mate Pez to join him on stage to feature in Where Ya Been. Cigarettes was the usual singalong that you can expect from an Illy show as was Pictures. The peak of the set was It Can Wait, with the beat getting the crowd moving.
Playing the midnight timeslot on New Years Eve at a festival can often be a difficult assignment. It was a questionable move by the organisers to select Tame Impala as the band to bring in the New Year to the folk of Pyramid Rock. There is no arguing that Tame Impala are a very exceptional and popular band, but it was debateable as to whether their psychedelic rock melodies were suitable for the timeslot. That being said, the band put on a good show and played a memorable set. Opening with Apocalypse Dreams of their recent album Lonerism, you could appreciate that this band is something special. The group continued with a little bit of extended jamming before continuing with Lucidity and Sundown Syndrome. Solitude is Bliss was a stellar performance and new hit Feels Like We Only Go Backwards was a good chill out track midway through the set. Elephant was an ideal ending to an impressive act from the group.
The festival, which began in 2004, had low crowd numbers this year in comparison to the reported 15,000 punters that attended the 2006/07 event. Since then the event has struggled to sell out, resulting in an obvious downgrade this year. This year’s festival has left many attendees asking the question, is this the end for Pyramid?
Mitchell Guy
Follow me on Twitter - @Mitchell_Guy1
Stonefield were the first big name on the bill on day one, returning to the Pyramid stage after a busy 2012. The four sisters played an entertaining rock and roll set, with lead singer Amy Findlay busting out vocals before jumping behind the drum kit midway through the set. Drowning was performed very well live, proving the group’s great talent. A cover of Steppenwolf’s Magic Carpet Ride that the band performed for Triple J’s Like A Version pleased the crowd and they also played popular tunes, Black Water Rising and Through The Clover.
Melbourne locals, Children Collide were next to hit the Main Stage and did not disappoint. The indie rock outfit played a variety of old and new songs, mainly from their albums, The Long Now and Theory Of Everything. Frontman Johnny Mackay got the crowd rocking, with an intense death circle forming for a great part of the set. 2009 hit, Farewell Rocketship was a great crowd sing-a-long and a chance for many of the crowd to catch their breath. Skeleton Dance, made famous by featuring on the FIFA video game, was another song that got the crowd dancing.
Mashed in the middle was Loveless and Social Currency in what turned out to be a greatest hits set. The band finished with Jellylegs, with the opening riff drawing applause and resulting in a vast majority of the crowd jumping around and dancing. Children Collide proved to be one of the highlights of the festival and drew an energetic crowd.
Aussie Hip Hop act, Urthboy got Main stage bouncing in the afternoon. Punters sang along to Hellsong and from there the crowd did not stand still as the MC took control. His tracks with female vocals were a good listen, as evident by Ready To Go and Shruggin. But it was his most well known track that really impressed the audience. We Get Around was the pick of Urthboy’s set with the entire crowd dancing and singing along.
Following Urthboy was Sydney electro-pop outfit Van She. After a successful 2012, the group opened with hit Idea of Happiness and didn’t look back.
They played a number of tracks from their debut record, V, including Kelly and Strangers. When the tune for 2012 hit Jamaica began, the crowd sparked up and you could tell that this would be a perfect end to an impressive set. But the Pyramid Rock organisers had other ideas, unfortunately cutting off the band seconds into the track. Van She had this to say on their Facebook page, “Sorry Pyramid Rockers. We really wanted to finish playing Jamaica for you, but they pulled the plug on us because we went 2 minutes over. Enjoy the rest of your festival fun! See you next time.” A disappointing end to a great performance and surely 2-3 minutes could have been spared to finish a great song.
Xavier Rudd took all his time to get into his set, coming onto stage and jamming for a good ten minutes much to the disappointment of parts of the crowd. But when Rudd started to play his songs, the crowd instantly become more interested in the performance. Fortune Teller displayed what he is capable of as an artist. The combination of the didgeridoo, guitar picking and booming vocals paved the way for an impressive performance. A cover of Bob Marley’s Buffalo Soldier was a special moment for the audience, with a haze of smoke in the air. Let Me Be was another enjoyable track that everyone knew, which always makes for a fun time. Rudd played his new single, Follow The Sun for the Pyramid folk and although I wasn’t impressed with the beginning of the set, by the end I was very content and thought he put on a great performance.
Melbourne Hip Hop sensation 360 produced the biggest following on day one and performed a fun, energetic set. He took stage to applause and shortly had the festival goers dancing. Opening with Killer, he had the crowd’s full attention. The rapper continued through his catalogue of hits, including Child and Just Got Started. For the song that saw 360 hit the big time, Boys Like You, female vocalist Gossling joined him on stage. The songstress had played on the Pharaoh’s stage earlier in the day. This duet was a highlight of the set and impressed many of the punters. Although the artist cops his fair share of hate and criticism, I found a newfound respect for 360 and I feel he should be commended for his efforts in the music industry.
Sydney’s Pnau, kept the party going after 360 with the Electro duo pumping beats. Their set had it all, from old bangers Wild Strawberries and Baby to new hits The Truth and Unite Us. It could have easily been mistaken for the New Years Eve timeslot, with the crowd enjoying the party. Embrace was another highlight of an intense set from the duo.
Day two was a little thin on stand out acts compared to day one.
Pyramid Rock specialist Illy graced the stage for the third year in a row, and did not disappoint again. The Hip Hop artist has a relatively strong following and the crowd was jumping to beats such as The Chase and Put Em In The Air. Midway through the set, Illy called for his mate Pez to join him on stage to feature in Where Ya Been. Cigarettes was the usual singalong that you can expect from an Illy show as was Pictures. The peak of the set was It Can Wait, with the beat getting the crowd moving.
Playing the midnight timeslot on New Years Eve at a festival can often be a difficult assignment. It was a questionable move by the organisers to select Tame Impala as the band to bring in the New Year to the folk of Pyramid Rock. There is no arguing that Tame Impala are a very exceptional and popular band, but it was debateable as to whether their psychedelic rock melodies were suitable for the timeslot. That being said, the band put on a good show and played a memorable set. Opening with Apocalypse Dreams of their recent album Lonerism, you could appreciate that this band is something special. The group continued with a little bit of extended jamming before continuing with Lucidity and Sundown Syndrome. Solitude is Bliss was a stellar performance and new hit Feels Like We Only Go Backwards was a good chill out track midway through the set. Elephant was an ideal ending to an impressive act from the group.
The festival, which began in 2004, had low crowd numbers this year in comparison to the reported 15,000 punters that attended the 2006/07 event. Since then the event has struggled to sell out, resulting in an obvious downgrade this year. This year’s festival has left many attendees asking the question, is this the end for Pyramid?
Mitchell Guy
Follow me on Twitter - @Mitchell_Guy1