Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley saw out one final day and night live music and conferencing on Thursday, with BIGSOUND entering its last round, sending hundreds of musicians and delegates throughout participating venues to witness some great emerging artists, buzz bands and established favourites.
The SA Music showcase in the afternoon took place at Ric’s Backyard, bringing together the likes of Electric Fields, Heaps Good Friends and Lonelyspeck – three acts who were soon to land themselves on many a highlight list for that Thursday. Particularly in the case of Electric Fields, the Adelaide duo drew one of the strongest crowds of the afternoon – impressive, given they weren’t even an official showcasing act. Lonelyspeck also struck a chord, with their evocative production sending shivers of emotion throughout the Thursday afternoon crowd.
As the final night of BIGSOUND came through, the Black Bear Lodge hosted an all-in choral jam sesh as Mama Kin Spender brought through a 16-piece choir to the upstairs venue in Brunswick Mall. Throwing back to Ric’s, Ziggy Ramo, Billy Davis and The Good Lords and Midas.Gold each came through with their own level of finesse and way of whipping the crowd up into a frenzy.
It wasn’t just up-and-comers that proved standouts for BIGSOUND. Post-rock four-piece Sleepmakeswaves unsurprisingly left their audience stunned as the event wrapped up, playing us into midnight with but a handful of material that included their exceptional cover of Robert Miles‘ “Children”. Each and every piece was a masterclass in atmospheric post-rock world-building, ballooning from fragments into loud, intense swells of emotive rock.
Additional words by Chris Singh.
Photo: BIGSOUND.
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