Grapevine Gathering @ Sandalford Winery
Saturday, October 1, 2022
The sun was out in the Swan Valley as patrons descended on Sandalford Winery for the return of Grapevine Gathering, and the first festival for many in two years.
Soul/R&B singer Becca Hatch eased the early comers into the day with her smooth vocals, followed by Nyxen whose electronic pop beats got the crowd dancing. Alice Skye serenaded the crowd before Big Twisty and the Funknasty brought the vibe back up with their funk-tinged hip-hop.
Jack River lit up the stage in the early afternoon, playing all the hits, closing with Fools Gold, however her earlier hit Palo Alto was missed from the setlist, it would have fit right in amongst the sunshine and grape vines. Confidence Man brought the complete opposite energy to the stage. Janet Planet and Sugar Bones never stopped dancing and managed to fit in three costumes changes into a forty-minute set. Feels Like A Different Thing and Boyfriend (Repeat) were highlights, as well as their recent Like A Version cover of DJ Sammy’s Heaven.
Perhaps one of the most anticipated sets of the day, The Veronicas were next onto the stage, and lit up golden hour. They provided the biggest sing-a-longs of the night, with the crowd loving older hits, Everything I’m Not and Take Me On The Floor, new hit In My Blood and loved-by-all classics 4ever and Untouched. The Origliasso twins sounded just as fantastic as they did thirteen years ago, and they made a whole lot of festival-goers very nostalgic.
Ball Park Music provided their usual wholesome goodness, opening with Manny before jumping into old favourite Everything Is Shit Except My Friendship With You, which had friends singing with arms wrapped around each other. With such an extensive catalogue, it must have been hard for the band to whittle down their setlist to forty minutes, and unfortunately some old classics had to be omitted, but newer hits Sunscreen and Stars In My Eyes made up for it. Closing with She Only Loves Me When I’m There as the sun finished setting was perfection, and this set only proved, once again, that Ball Park Music are Australia’s most wholesome band.
Having just landed from the UK, The Kooks hit the stage with a run of songs from their debut album Inside In/Inside Out to celebrate its fifteen-year anniversary, playing Seaside, See The World, Sofa Song, Ooh La, Eddie’s Gun and She Moves In Her Own Way in succession, much to the delight of punters. Singer Luke Pritchard’s voice sounded sensational, and the band were as excellent as ever despite their jetlag. Unfortunately, the crowd were not as enthused by songs off their latest album, which caused a bit of a lull in the middle of the set, but the mood was resurrected with Junk Of The Heart (Happy) and closer Naïve.
After hosts The Inspired Unemployed brought the anticipation to an all-time high, Peking Duk appeared one man short for their headline set. One half of the duo, Adam Hyde, brought the energy with set opener Fire, which showcased some real fire in the way of pyrotechnics, before explaining his other half, Reuben’s, absence. Lucy Lucy was on vocals duty for the night, but the real vocal tracks from the recorded versions of the songs played loudly over the top obscuring the sound of her live vocals.
Arno Faraji was a welcomed special guest, as was Ben from SAFIA, who appeared for Take Me Over. Other highlights included a remix of Savage Garden’s Cherry Cola, as well as the inclusion of Fatboy Slim’s Praise You. Wasted and Stranger were popular cuts from the duo’s own discography, and Hyde managed to mix bits and pieces of all of their releases into the set, even if only a few sentences, as was the case with Nothing To Love About Love. Even on his own, Adam Hyde produced a set that induced non-stop dancing in the crowd, and drew every single patron in to watch, I’m sure Reuben would have been proud. High was a euphoric end to the set and the festival and was the perfect ending to a fantastic day.
Perhaps the only issues were the abnormally long bar lines, as there was only one bar on site, and the hour wait to get out of the carpark after the fact due to poor traffic management. Despite these, Sandalford Winery was the perfect venue to soak up some sunshine and music, and the atmosphere created was really special.
KIERRA POLLOCK
Photos by Talia Ferguson
