Sugar Mountain: a toppling, frosted pile of new and exciting music and contemporary art to provide the extra sweet edge. Or so it says. With Australian festivals either dying or dumbing down, the fact that Sugar Mountain had survived another year was impressive in itself. But whether or not it would be the unforgettable experience it promised was a different question.
Young Tapz started the breezy day off with a disappointing show. The set landed flat and sounded like a one-man karaoke session with boring lines over boring beats. To be fair to Tapz, making a rap act the festival opener only guaranteed there’d be no crowd to support him.
Jaala, on the other hand, was a breath of fresh air. Calling the audience her “preciouses” and complaining about the lack of candy at Sugar Mountain, Cosima Jaala and her band’s performance toed the line between tender and powerful. The guitars were screeching and soul torn at points, while Jaala would lightly shake her hair and stick her tongue out playfully.
American singer/songwriter Weyes Blood then took the stage with an all Australian band: Jack Ladder, Kirin J Callinan, and Midnight Juggernauts’ Daniel Stricker on the drums. She often lulled the audience into angelic stupor, but there were definitely times when the set felt like one big, sad folk song.
Moses Sumney also delivered—and more—looping his sweetly, delicate voice that worked best when it fluttered and faded. His stage presence was casual and appreciated, far from pandering to the audience.
With a lunch break in order, it was the perfect time to check out some of the art Sugar Mountain boasted. It was pathetic. Three galleries cramped into two rooms and portioned off with a black curtain, Robyn Moody x Caroline Polachek’s laser harp was cool but in a clearly “Woah, the lasers make sounds, dude,” way; Trent Crawford’s artwork was presented in an awkward room where, when Myriam Bleau wasn’t performing, looked like a table and a few chairs shoved messily into the corner.
It was obvious the art Sugar Mountain claimed to spotlight was a gimmick used to invite an “edgier”, hip crowd and develop its own reputation as a festival different to all the others. At Sugar Mountain, art was disrespected, stage decor, and something that apparently deserved to be kicked behind a dirty curtain.
Back to the music. Among a day of hit and miss sets, Big Scary were kidnapped by the festival sound demon, failing to captivate with a live show sucked dry of emotion, the saxophone sounding especially unflattering. While the Boiler Room was bursting with energy earlier in the day, it was a sad sight to see by the time Kornél Kovács hit the decks, his beats too quiet and ultimately buried under chatter.
Rolling Blackouts CF played a mostly tight set that was occasionally disrupted by shaky vocals or playing. Halfway between pub rock and dolewave, their marching rock songs went down well with an audience that was keen to slip some moshing into the evening.
And finally, The Avalanches, who had the rough job of impressing a bitter audience that bought tickets to see Blood Orange. While they did the best they could in a festival setting (the Wildflower singles usually paying off), they fare much better in intimate settings (as do most bands). The Avalanches, especially, are hard to enjoy if you aren’t extremely familiar with them, and in a street full of people who were looking for a drop to get down to, the band’s cruisey sampling wasn’t ideal.
Words by Jennifer Park
Image by David Harris
Highlight: Early acts like Jaala and Moses Sumney were some of the best acts of the day.
Lowlight: The “art”.
Crowd Favourite: The V MoVement stage was always pumping solid dance beats.
