I, like many of you, have had my doubts about attending Future Music Festival. A festival noted for having crowds of shirtless meatheads, ripe with Southern Cross tattoos, of girls with shorts so short and shirts so non-existent that you think they’d have had to have sent their dads comatose just so they could leave the house that morning. While some of the aforementioned stereotypes did knock about on a rather brisk day in Melbourne, they went unnoticed as a festival I had once viewed with a stern eye turned out to be one of the better festival experiences of 2012.
Kicking the day off with a bang was British popstar Jessie J. For anyone who has doubts about Jessie J the live act let me put those to rest for you immediately. A mixture of Katy Perry’s radio friendly pop and Lily Allen’s cockney ladette charm, Jessie J owned her early afternoon set in denim overalls (because it’s not about the money, money, money), while current commercial hits such as ‘Domino’ and ‘Price Tag’ got FMF2012 of to a hand-waving start.
Quickly following Jessie J were fellow Brits Chase and Status, whose explosive set certainly set the tone for the Las Venus stage. If Jessie J had a more sing-a-long effect, Chase and Status got the crowd thrashing, and fist pumping all over the place, calling out ‘get stupid’ to spur on the punters, not that most needed encouraging.
I made my way over to catch The Naked and Famous and managed to catch the end of Gym Class Heroes, who were solid if unspectacular in their delivery of wave after wave of generic radio rubbish.The Naked and Famous pretty much followed suit, in one of the more disappointing sets of the day. Chalk it down to a bad day at the office or a static crowd, but the Triple J regulars failed to hit the mark, and perhaps committed the greatest crime of all which was making me head over to watch Skrillex instead.
For a man who divides musical opinion between messiah or massacre, Sonny Moore AKA Skrillex delivers in a live setting. This is coming from a man who’s opinion lies within the latter of the aforementioned. Dropping bass and picking up the crowd in one fell swoop, the head pioneer of dubstep emerged victorious through a rain of confetti, smoke and pyrotechnics, drawing one of the biggest crowds of the day. While a still wouldn’t have him anywhere near my iPod, I did gain an appreciation and an understanding behind Moore’s appeal.
After being audibly assaulted by Sonny Moore and his bass dropping antics I headed back over to the Madza2 Flamingo stage to catch Indie-dance kids Friendly Fires show off their latest album Pala to the Melbourne punters. Frontman Ed Macfarlane certainly has got the moves like Jagger, as his exaggerated dance moves seem to push the crowd into doing much of the same. The peak of the set came in the form of the band’s breakthrough track, ‘Skeleton Boy’, as it’s Presets-esque melody had the crowd dancing wildly.
Personal highlight of the day came in the form of The Rapture. Whilst non-reliant on flashy stage shows and hearsay, the pioneers of dance-punk are still one hell of live band. Skrillex can drop bass, but lines The Rapture produce, mixed with the high-shrieked vocals of Luke Jenner, is pure dance gold. After drenching the security in an act of defiance for their habit of soaking people sitting upon others shoulders, Jenner smiled wryly “we’re gonna take care of you guys” and that they did. Opening ‘In The Grace of Your Love’ off their latest album, the band followed with a collection of hits, new and old. However they saved the killer trio of ‘House of Jealous’, ‘Echoes;, and ‘No Sex For Ben’ for an explosive ending that left every punter wishing they had a cowbell the hit the fuck out of.
The Wombats managed to squeeze a performance in, in-between what I can only assume has been a week for property hunting for them. While they have seen better performances in their last visits, the band still put on a crowd –pleasing, This Modern Glitch-heavy set. Matt Murphy’s comically melancholic lyrics were sang in unison from all sectors of the crowd, while Tord Øverland-Knudsen’s energetic stage antics got them bouncing, and some even throwing their denim shorts on stage (which I’m sure they later regretted, because I was freezing and I had jeans on). The band finished off with the fitting ‘Let’s Dance to Joy Division’, leaving the stage for those who are as close as you can possibly get to the iconic 80’s legends.
New Order were met with a criminally small crowd, with the majority of the festival preferring
Leaving Flemington Racecourse was an odd experience; did I really just have a good day at Future Music Festival? I sure did. Where there men without shirts roaming in packs? Sure. Where there young girl’s bum cheeks hanging out of their almost non-existent shorts? Absolutely. You hear about all those misconceptions but none of them ever effect your day, apart from the occasional facepalm, and I would happily admit that FMF2012 was probably one of the more positive festival experiences I’ve had. Kudos to you Future, kudos.
