Now in its third year, Paradise Music Festival continues to grow from strength to strength.
We were there over the weekend and were once again reminded why this little gem has earned a permanent spot on our festival calendars. It’s much more than a pre-Meredith warm up at this stage – it’s become something completely of its own.
From the bands that won over our hearts to the many stunning sights of that were etched in our retinas, these are the lessons we took away from this year’s instalment.
Paradise Is Still Australia’s Most Beautiful Festival
There’s a reason they call it Paradise. Offering one of the most unique festival settings around, Paradise is held on Lake Mountain Alpine Resort, high amongst an endless sprawl of towering, dead white trees that were burned down during the Black Saturday fires in 2009.
It provides an eerily beautiful backdrop that never loses its awe no matter how many times you return each year, or how many times you catch yourself daydreaming mid-performance at the sea of grey trunks that stretches out around you further than the eye can see, and in numbers far beyond the brain’s comprehension.
It becomes an adventure to try and find the best hidden spot to soak in these picture-perfect surroundings. From climbing down to the bottom of the creek, to scaling the forest that looks out onto the stage to find a perching spot big enough for all your pals, or sitting on the water tanks on the hill (I’m still jealous of the genius who pitched their tent on one of them), there’s plenty to explore. No filters necessary. Ever.
You Should Check The Weather Forecast Before You Go
The breathtaking views do, however, come at a slight cost. It does get very cold. Hot tip: just because it’s on the verge of summer and you’ve seen so many Strongbow commercials lately that you think all festivals by law have to be sunny and warm and soundtracked by that Naked & Famous song that came out over half a decade ago, don’t forget that altitude is definitely still a thing and mountains used for skiing are still bound to plummet to fuck-off levels of freezing at some point. That said, you only have to brave the cold until midnight when the festival goes inside the chalet for Clubland, so it’s not that bad. If you really had to complain about something this year, it would be this year’s complete lack of potato cakes in the cafeteria. Dim sims made the cut, but no PCs? Not on. We need answers.
Habits Are The Ones To Watch
There’s nothing quite like being there to witness a great local band have their breakout moment at a festival. It happened earlier this year with Total Giovanni at Golden Plains, when a packed out amphitheatre saw the then little-known Melbourne troupe come out of nowhere to steal the entire weekend with a performance that instantly made them known as the band to see live. (They went on to sell out a national tour, including five back-to-back shows in their home city.) And this weekend, Habits’ electrifying set felt like a distinctly similar phenomenon.
The Melbourne duo’s mid-afternoon display of avant-goth electro took the crowd by complete surprise. The pair’s strong onstage presence is impossible to take your eyes off – the dual vocalists will be letting out heavily distorted Auto-Tune shrieks one moment, then the next they might switch into serene harmonies, before all-out dancing to their abrasive, heavy beats with arms flailing and their eyes wide with a blood-thirsty intensity. As it went on, there was a growing sense that something special was taking place before us. Sure enough, the number of people dancing by the end had quadrupled, and the final applause would’ve earned an encore had things not been running on a tight schedule.
Habits demonstrated that they exist out of any kind of binary classification, challenging mainstream notions of contemporary pop, politics and gender in a way that’s raw, gritty, and punk. They are fearless, fierce, and a force to be reckoned with. Let’s hope Aunty Meredith catches word of this performance, because the pair could easily make lightning strike twice with an even bigger stage and crowd to play with.
Meanwhile, The Harpoons Once Again Proved To Be Festival Favourites
And it’s official: The Harpoons can make hearts swoon like no other.
Pulling the biggest and most enthused crowd of the weekend, the adored four-piece delighted with their utterly infectious pop anthems. Among cuts from last year’s acclaimed debut LP Falling For You, as well as their latest single ‘Ready For Your Love’, which proved to be their biggest hit, the Melbourne outfit also stuffed their setlist with a generous serving of previously unheard material.
While some of these preview tracks hadn’t been completely road tested (“We haven’t figured out how to end that one yet,” lead singer Bec Rigby joked at one point), the soulful, gooey centre of The Harpoon’s sound was there in spoonfuls in these new songs. Not only that, but with those denser synths and already memorable hooks, it’s possible they’re getting even warmer and fuzzier – and that makes the prospect of their impending sophomore release incredibly exciting.
(Also, thanks to Bec for reminding everyone of the power of power suits. #TrendForecasting)
Clubland Served The Goods Cooked To Perfection
It could just be that people are happy to get out of the nah-this-can-get-fucked night air, but the atmosphere soars into great heights of weirdness when things transition from outside to the Clubland phase. Clubland’s roster boasted a wide range of the most exciting names on the Australian club scene. Highlights included seeing Nick and Misha of friendships back onstage together in their full animalistic glory following Misha’s recent accident at CMJ; Perth producer Catlips’ fiesta of metallic, bouncing beats; Butter Sessions staple Cale Sexton bringing hypnotic analogue house vibes; and the euphoric closing disco sets from both Misty Nights and Post Percy on either night.
It all ended on Sunday morning with the latter dropping a remix of David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’. Looking across the room at the hundred or so giddy remaining faces, dancing away the dying moments arm in arm on fallen confetti as the rising sun shot kaleidoscopes through Clubland’s giant glass windows, it was a fitting way for the weekend to go. Only at Paradise, you can be a hero not just for one day, but three.
We’re in the last halfa of the night ~ solid house and disco courtesy of Misty Nights in Clubland A photo posted by PARADISE (@paradisemusicau) on
The Takeaway Message: Small And Local Is The Way To Do It
Paradise has emerged on the circuit at a time when Australian festivals continue to drop like flies, which makes its success particularly impressive, especially given the fact that it is relatively small in terms of both its crowd and lineup.
Whereas fallen names like Soulfest and Sea ‘N Beats aimed high with international headliners and minimum ticket sales of up to 7,500, Paradise exclusively books homegrown talent and keeps things small at around 2,000 attendees.
Its lineups have a clear focus, and this in turn brings in a dedicated niche crowd which creates an overall stronger #Vibe. Paradise’s success is a testament to both the strength of our local scene and its dedicated fans.
