Artist: Various – Scene and Heard Festival
Venue: Eatons Hill Hotel, Brisbane
Date: 2nd November 2019
Reviewer: Carlie Tanithskye
Photographer: Carlie Tanithskye Photography

For the first time, after announcing an interstate expansion to Queensland, the Scene and Heard festival hits Eatons Hill in Brisbane today. I absolutely love this venue! The intricately beautiful ceilings are a photographers dream, The sound is always great and the aircon is always on haha! With a lineup reminiscent of a Triple J Hottest 100 back in the 90s/2000s , and after an explosive debut last year in Newcastle ,the team have added 2 dates in Brisbane and Cairns respectively. Aren’t we lucky?! I’m totally excited for this!

Aussie veterans Even kick off today’s proceedings to a decent crowd of early festival goers, and the sound is just as I remember them in the 90’s. Working through their set with crowd favourites Shining Star and Black Umbrella , they thank the punters for coming out early and seem genuinely happy to be here.

People start swelling into the Grand Ballroom as Butterfingers take the stage to rousing applause. I forgot how fantastic these guys are live! Their energy is high as fans shout back the cheeky lyrics to the band. I Love Work  , FIGJAM , Every Time and Yo Mama are the highlights, with Evil Eddie musing as punters dance their asses off ” I cant believe you’re still here to see this shit in 2019!” The crowd are loving it as Eddie jumps off the stage and disappears into the crowd with a see of people dancing and singing around him. Happy punters cannot wipe the smiles off their faces, and neither can I !!

Since putting in the hard yards in the Perth music scene in the late 90’s, Gyroscope have become one of Australia’s most celebrated rock acts over the last 20 years. Treating us to a diverse list of their back catalogue today, we get transported back to the Hottest 100 days, when Triple J reigned supreme. Vocalist Daniel Sanders gets up close and personal with the adoring crowd , scaling the barrier with his guitar.1981 , Fast Girl and Baby I’m Getting Better give me all the nostalgic feels. Stellar performance lads!!

British India are busy boys! Smack bang in the middle of their East Coast Tour, and showcasing new guitarist Jack Tosi , they bring their special brand of high energy garage inspired rock to Eatons Hill today. Vocalist Declan Melia introduces Jack , telling us that we still need to applause even if he plays well or not! Vanilla , Plastic Souvenirs and Suddenly with a Mighty Mighty Bosstones intro are the highlights of their set.

Alex Lloyd graces the stage next. Celebrating the 20th anniversary of his double platinum selling album Black The Sun , and an extensive Australian tour, tonight we are treated to an extensive list of songs from that album and then some. The audience sings loudly to Lucky Star , Black The Sun and Something Special and vocally he is brilliant , unchanged. He closes his set with Amazing  (which we all sing loudly) and Coming Home , and we all know that we’ve witnessed something special here – no pun intended.

Sneaky Sound System are possible one of the hardest working Aussie bands out there. Founded in 2004 , the current husband and wife team of The Devine Miss Connie and Black Angus have had a string of chart topping dance hits and accolades over the last 15 years.Connie Mitchell is resplendent tonight in a white pantsuit and flowing cape. She commands the stage seemingly effortlessly , and I cannot take my eyes off her.Vocally her performance is flawless, and I almost cannot believe that I’m hearing this vocal live. She is insane! With a non stop selection of hits, I Love It , UFO , Pictures and Kansas City , as I look down from the Mezzanine below to a packed house, Every person is dancing! How can you not? This is a definite highlight today!

Throughout today I’ve overheard much chatter and anticipation about The Dandy Warhols . I myself , and my sidekick Jess are here for this very reason! The insanely adored 90’s alt-rock team love Australia (visiting our shores frequently) and Australia loves them right back!!Currently working their way along the East Coast on their 25th Anniversary Tour , we are extremely lucky to have them on the bill today.The lighting is dim and moody, as the Dandys casually take the stage with no fanfare. they launch straight into Forever setting the mesmerising psychadelic tone for this evening. The band including Brent De Boer , Zia Mc Cabe , Pete Holstrom are all in a line onstage with Courtney Taylor – Taylor set back a little to the rest, which makes for an interesting dynamic.

They depict an air of nonchalance as they play their instruments which add to their urban cool vibe we have all become accustomed too. Favourites including We Used To Be Friends , Bohemian Like You , Everyday Should Be A Holiday all get played and they close with Boys Better to rapturous applause! Zia is the last one to leave the stage after letting all of us know that they’d be at The Foundry after Wolfmother’s set and to come find them. i could’ve watched them all night to be honest. They were simply awesome! Usually at their gigs there is a strong scent of Marijuana that permeates through the audience, but not tonight. Rather well behaved crowd we have in here ! 

After a short break where everyone cleared the ballroom for some fresh air, we all piled back in for tonight’s headline act Wolfmother. Performing at Splendour In The Grass earlier this year and fresh from an international tour , Wolfmother are firing on all cylinders! Whilst taking photos in the pit for this review, and even with earplugs, I felt like my face was being melted off by their heavy hitting rock sounds.The 3 piece on a huge stage tonight have plenty of space to move around and they do so to the audiences delight! Highlights including Woman , Dimension , and closing with The Joker And The Thief which everyone knows, wowed the crowd and to be honest it was freaking EPIC!!

As exhausted punters (myself included) filed out of the venue after the set ended , late night revellers were treated to Irish Duo Potbelleez Djs. I take my hat off to you guys! I’ve had the most fun day/night but it’s time to take these old bones home.

Serious props to the team organising and running this event. The Sound was awesome , each band ran on time which was a mean feat for the setup crew , and the staff were brilliant! In my eyes this day was an absolute success, and I really hope Scene and Heard returns to Brisbane next year. Thank you so much to Gyrostream and Hear 2 Zen for allowing me to be a part of it.

Until next time