M and I went to the annual St Kilda Festival in Melbourne last Sunday
and spent most of the day at the World Music stage watching a variety
of bands. There was a good mixture of music, from Dallas Frasca's gutsy
distorted resonator riffs to the crazy antics of Barons of Tang.
Dallas Frasca has a fairly big following and I think a lot of that has
to do with her being a confident female who's not afraid to get up there
and play hard and loud - and with distortion turned up to 10. Her sound
is something like an early Janis Joplin and although her background is
in Roots music she certainly has a style all of her own.
We've been meaning to go and see Barons of Tang for a while but never
had the chance, so it was good to finally hear this band. They describe
themselves as "Gypsy Deathcore" and it's not too far from the truth.
The Barons of Tang swtich from frenetic 7/8 rhythms to waltzes Russian
riffs in a matter of bars. There's a definite Jazz School influence going
on I think as the switches are just so tight.
Their lineup is pretty interesting too with Tuba and Musical Saw adding
to the sound. The highlight was their Polish / Mexican wrestler making
a guest appearance on stage. Good energetic stuff!
Next we saw a 5 minute show by the Melbourne Bollywood Dancers who were
a nice change and danced really well.
The final act we saw before trying to make our way home through the
300,000+ crowd was The Currency, one of Melbourne's few Celtic Rock bands.
They're pretty loud and energetic and remind me a bit of a cross between
The Pogues and a band called Roaring Jack who unfortunately don't play
anymore.
Below are some photos we took of the day. Hope you enjoy them.
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