Live Review

Red Deer Festival @ Mt. Samson, 3rd October 2015

After announcing a pretty formidable line up in July, Red Deer Music & Arts Festival came back swinging on the weekend after a one year hiatus. The festival encountered some issues with the local council last year, but returned this year with a lineup including Andy Bull, Frenzal Rhomb, WAAX, Cheap Fakes, Mosman Alder and Ayla.

Red Deer is located at Mt Samson, a modest 34kms outside of Brisbane and halfway between Samford and Dayboro. Meaning that although the isolated location gives you the vibe of camping out in the bush, it is still within a tolerably close distance to the city for those travelling home the next day.

The area was once home to the Bella Vista Deer Farm, but is now home to 20 cattle. Luckily they were nowhere to be seen, as I can imaging that mixing some of the rowdier festival goers with large bovine animals would have turned into somewhat of a disaster. 

The festival had all the right components. A decent line-up, plenty of room for couches and food stalls serving every kind of deep fried drunk food a patron could ask for. Oh and it was BYO, saving you from the endless purgatory of festival drink lines and excessive prices. 

Some of the earlier acts should get a well deserved mention. Sundown Jury started my afternoon pleasantly with some alternative country rock. Finishing their set with a great Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros cover. 

Red Deer regulars The Dashounds, who were returning for the fifth time, brought in some more interesting vibes. To put it simply, their set included a 1997 medley beginning with Semi Charmed Life by Third Eye Blind and continued with a cover of Everybody (Backstreet’s Back). Now, before you judge, don’t pretend like you don’t know all the lyrics to that song. If I remember correctly, my sisters and I had that dance routine down pretty tight when we were kids. The crowd definitely didn’t seem to mind, with a significant number of people immediately assuming the role of backup singers. 

Bad Pony brought multitasking back into music. The dismantled drum kit was being played in parts by each individual band member. 

There were some strange interludes. A DJ set was sporadically interrupted by a frisbee throwing contest which noticeably confused some people. Why they put that through the main sound system, with an empty main stage and a DJ set simultaneously happening, I’ll never know. Of course there was also the festival dude bros in indian headdresses losing their minds up the front. But these things can rarely be avoided at a festival. If anything I think I envy their stamina. I can’t fathom the energy required to dance in a cape for any longer than 30 seconds. 

Local Brisbane band Mosman Adler were, as always, a pleasure to watch. As were post-punk locals WAAX, with front-person Marie Devita bringing some serious energy to their set.   

Frenzal Rhomb brought out the night with some expected sarcasm. I mean what else would you expect from a band with songs such as ‘Johnny Ramone was in a Fucken Good Band But He was a Cunt (Gabba Gabba You Suck)’, ‘When My Baby Smiles at Me I Go to Rehab’ and ‘Just Because It's Soap Doesn't Mean It's Clean’.

One of my favourite part of the night might have been securing myself some chicken wings. However, most good things in my life still fall second to eating wings and drinking beer so that is not an insult. Judging by the graveyard of cars left after the RBT van in the morning everyone else also had a good time, even if they did have to find a way into Samford on foot the next day. 

Red Deer was a genuine boutique festival and offered pretty decent value for money. The lineup had a mix of local and national recognised artists and overall everything ran pretty seamlessly. The organisers put on a good spread and setup for the night. Let’s hope we won’t have to wait another two years for the next one. 

- Chelsea Heaney

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