With the evening upon us, it was time for Culture Collide to bring out the big guns on what was the final night of the three day event. King Kahn and his seven piece troupe The Shrines – featuring no less than three members making up a brass section – were the first band to enjoy a mass attendance; it was clear everyone who had come to Culture Collide had Khan on their mind.
And it should come as little surprise – the guy is something of modern James Brown. He is a phenomenal entertainer, with some brilliant songs to boot. This included a track dedicated to “all the welfare cases out there”, “Bite My Tongue”, and “So Wild” which was dedicated to the late Jay Reatard; one of the set’s few guitar driven tracks… with brass of course!
Birth of Joy from The Netherlands were a bit heavier tonight than the set I saw from them the day before, and very entertaining. A repeat performance from Melpo Mene was sweetness, likewise, but this time he was performing with a two piece on keys and drums, which rounded out his sound nicely.
Liars may only be a three piece, but with two drummers, a whole heap of energy courtesy of Angus Andrew – not to mention his impressive falsetto – their sound is bigger and indeed heavier than most. There’s something tribal to their music, as they move with ease from tracks a bit more down tempo, to ones with a world of energy and distortion. And bass. Lots of bass. Liars are something truly beautiful.
After briefly catching Ireland’s impressive Kid Karate, I moved over to The Echo for the closing performances of their festival, where Brooklyn all female quartet Heliotropes were well into proceedings when I arrived. Their dreamy rock has plenty of 90s influence, with a style reminiscent of The Breeders. Gliss from Denmark followed and continued the trend of the festival towards duos and bands with female vocalists (though I’m told they normally have a third member, who I didn’t spot during this set)! Fantastic to see so many at Culture Collide. These cats were of the dreamy variety as well, though a bit more danceable with electronic beats and male backing vocals. “A to B” was the set highlight for me. It’s a beautiful track, switching things up with Martin Klingman on vocals and Victoria Cecilia running backing track and effects. It was cinematic with standout melodies and a great vibe.
And then came three piece The Raveonettes, a band who I’d wanted to see for years, but always neglected when they came to Australia. I had intended to stay for half the set but found myself so entranced by the music that I couldn’t leave. The set incorporated four tracks off their debut EP Whip It On! and a pretty even mix of the rest of their back catalog. They also played a recent return to their set, “Evil L.A Girls”, which was a rejected track for the aforementioned EP. The older material is definitely heavier, with Sune Rose adding a bass line to the mix, with ” Bowels of the Beast” featuring some particularly sweet bass, and ample strobe light to match. It was a highlight of the festival without a doubt… a perfect way to close things out.
SETLIST
You Say You Lie
Blush
Dead Sound
Curse the Night
She Owns The Streets
Young and Cold
Break Up Girls!
Sleepwalking
Attack Of The Ghost Riders
My Tornado
Chains
Evil L.A Girls
Bowels Of The Beast
Aly, Walk With Me
The night ended, fittingly, back at Taix, where Bobby Gillespie and Andrew Innes from Primal Scream were DJing as the clock went well past 1am. Bobby even came down and danced with everyone, keeping it loose and giving Culture Collide the perfect send off.
Culture Collide is a fantastic event, and one unlike any I’ve attended. By focusing on having 2 or 3 acts from countries from all around the world, the festival is better than most at serving up a potpourri of talent. You never know what you’ll discover at Culture Collide, and needless to say that’s exactly what the organizers strive to achieve. The schedule in itself is designed to allow for ample music discovery.
By moving the event to the week before CMJ, rather than two weeks out, they are locking themselves in as a viable option for bands ahead of an appearance at the New York event. It will be interesting to see what changes they make next year, as they continue to refine their model and work towards making their event one of the must attend festivals on the annual music calendar.
