Under scorching sun and the threat of rain, Mountain Sounds Festival has given punters the taste of what music festivals should be like, a large backyard party with a great range of music that meets everyone’s needs. The crowd numbers felt a bit higher than last year, and were also right on the limit of comfortable. Hopefully for the organisers this puts them on the right side of the ledger.
As a photographer, this is the first festival where I have entered via the artist’s entry, and had full access to backstage, onstage, and have been able to shoot full sets. It is quite refreshing for a photographer to be treated as an artist, and is something I could get used to. Playing table tennis with the guys from Hockey Dad, lounging in the blowup pool with Albert Hammond Jr, free booze and food…. it’s something that all festivals should embrace.
The security for the event is something I really do need to comment on. As a so-called artist, the photographers were treated wonderfully. They were helpful, always greeted us with a smile, were up for a chat, and allowed us to shoot full sets. The way they treated the punters though was very heavy handed at the start of the day. I am sure someone had misread the memo because for the first half of the day, security at the main stage were on the WRONG side of the barrier, the punters side, and were trying to keep the crowd a couple of metres away. It was an impossible situation and one which became quite physical due to the frustration of the paying fans. It would have been comical if people were not being roughed up. It all came to a head when the drummer from Hockey Dad jumped offstage to explain things to the security, at which point they joined us shooters in the pit.
The sound leakage between the Bus Stage and Sailor Jerry Stage was a concern also. Unless you were right up close to the SJ stage, all you heard was the deep bass from the BS. It was a real shame cause there were some great bands playing on SJ, and if you could of heard them as you walked by you might have stopped and taken their performance in.
Where Groovin’ The Moo in Maitland has a dress code of girls wearing shorts way too small, at Mountain Sounds it was the side boob. They were everywhere my friends, and there was no avoiding them. Just saying.
Oh that’s right, there was music at this festival. Sorry, was distracted by the side boob.
Highlight of the day was Harts. Totally owned this festival and is a superstar waiting to explode. Hockey Dad were the surprise package for me. Totally enjoyable with a manic drummer with the biggest smile. The Lazys ripped apart the Sailor Jerry stage with their no BS R&R, with Matty taking to a shipping container because that stage just simply could not contain him. Loved hearing Holy Holy live, but then again, I love When The Storms Would Come. Classy stuff. Art vs Science took away most of Albert Hammond Jr’s crowd which was a shame cause he deserved more attention. And Violent Soho were loved by the punters but I just don’t get the fascination. Sure they go off on stage, and I feel this has a lot to do with their appeal… just call me old and jaded.
And that will do it. Mountain Sounds, done and dusted for another year. The organisers have a good festival in their hands, they just need to keep security under control.
Reviewer and Photographer: Kevin Bull
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