MUSIC
Play On Victoria: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Amyl and The Sniffers, Baker Boy, Vika & Linda, Grace Cummings and Her Band
Sidney Myer Music Bowl, October 30
The sign spells “WOO”. Lovingly hand painted on three sheets of yellow cardboard with a certain psychedelic flair, it’s mainly for the Gizz, says Benji, though his mate Durham is more of an Amyl fan.
“I’m here for everyone,” third sign holder Dan says, opening his arms to the sky. Fair call. If a single thought bubble could summarise the mood of this occasion from seated stage front to carefully spaced picnic rugs on the hill, “WOO” will do nicely.
Baker Boy performs at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl on Saturday night.Credit:Chris Hopkins
Sprawling under threatening but mostly benign clouds, the flagship Play On Victoria concert is billed as a “COVID-safe Test Event”. With tickets capped just south of 4000, it trashed the box office test in a matter of hours last week.
Homegrown psychedelic voyagers King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard might have sold it out on their own. Likewise, middle-fingered mullet-punks Amyl and the Sniffers. Both are hefty international players. But Play On Victoria is about solidarity, not pecking order.
“You gotta go away to come back,” Grace Cummings barks for openers. She’s not the kind to wallow in self-help platitudes for those feeling frail from lockdown. She means business from her band’s first electric chord. Her voice is a bone-shaking boom and her attack anything but polite.
The seven-piece line-up morphs to include acoustic strings, violin and saxophone but Cummings’ commanding presence and growling blues-rock delivery is most of the show. It peaks with the ebbing and thundering drama of Storm Queen. Not a trembling soul will leave unconverted.
Vika and Linda Bull perform at the Play on Victoria 21 concert.Credit:Chris Hopkins
Aptly introduced as “Fitzroyalty”, Vika and Linda Bull pick up the gauntlet with another seven-piece ensemble led by guitarist Ashley Naylor and The Wait — their first album of original material in almost 20 years.
On a bill that skews mostly youth market, the sisters’ peerless voices and the pedigree of their band cuts through with new tunes by Kasey Chambers and Don Walker (look ’em up, kids) and the kind of shimmy that pulls the first dancers out of their chairs.
Play on Victoria review: Music lovers swoon at Music Bowl concert
Source: Philippines Alive
