It can be sad when things come to an end, knowing you have almost a full twelve months to wait until the festivities resume, but it's hard to be too sad when the finale of a month long celebration of arts, culture and music is a stacked lineup at the iconic Riverstage in Brisbane Cities Botanical Gardens. Despite it being a drizzly night, the massive venue was packed out with fans waiting to catch a glimpse of Brisbane veterans Violent Soho, who were headlining the event.
The day started off with sunshine, but upcomer MANE brought with her an eerie fog. Her rich, emotive voice bore down heavy on the crowd, but not in a depressing way; her dark ballads were ominous and commanding, and her presence on the stage strong and practised. Tracks like new single Save Yourself were crowd favourites.
The rain started to sprinkle and the line for poncho's increased massively in length as Brisbane favourites WAAX took to the stage; illuminated by a blue screen bearing the text I've Been Disappointed Lately. WAAX have been commended as one of the most promising acts that Brisbane has seen in the later years, and their mid afternoon performance was a perfect display of why. Lead singer Marie De Vita is captivating in her vocal performance, at times looking possessed and entirely consumed by her gut wrenching singing, and at other times slightly awkward, in an endearing way - it provides that slip of reality that shows you who is up on stage, and that they're a real person too. Their set went between classics like Same Same and Wild And Weak, and some new tracks from their upcoming record, before ending with latest single Labrador.
The sun started shining through the drizzle and the punters ran down the hill when the opening chords of Methyl Ethel started up, and the crowd in the mosh pit had swelled - possibly because everyone was a bit wet and stuck together, or because the afternoon beer had started to kick in. Mostly playing tracks off their latest record Everything Is Forgotten, the band showcased their musical versatility, going from grungy rock, to indie sweethearts, to psychedelic rocks, all in the space of a 40 minute set. Tracks like No. 28 and Twilight Driving gave the band backbone, but were no comparison to the energy (and singalong) or Ubu, which boasts their most memorable lyric 'Why'd you have to go and cut your hair?'.
Meg Mac was up next, and for a minute I had to double check who was on stage, as she was not wearing her signature hat. As soon as she opened her mouth though I was not in doubt, as there is no comparison to her rich, soulful vocal timbre, and the once exacerbated crowd were brought down a notch - the crazy mosh that had been a key part of the previous set was reduced to a low calibre sway. Opening with Turning, her effortless performance captivated even the most unruly attendee, and reminded me of what an absolute powerhouse she is. playing through her archive of music from her last record Low Blows, as well as early tracks and a new one of too, Mac was the perfect choice of artist to set the vibe for the true reason for Riverfire - the fireworks.
Orchestral music played from the speakers and the punters settled on the hill as the opening sparks lit up the Brisbane night sky. There's nothing quite like that sheer number of fireworks, and sitting on the hill at Riverstage made it feel as you were in a dome, with lights illuminating the sky on all sides. It wasn't long though until the real show started - Violent Soho took the stage.
With a mammoth fanbase, and being regarded as Brisbane music veterans, Violent Soho knew how to work the crowd. They opened with InThe Aisle, and Viceroy garnered a huge response from the crowd, who had taken it upon themselves at this point to pass a full size garbage bin across the top of the mosh. As expected, tracks from WACO dominated the first half of the set. Unexpectedly though, was their cover of Powderfinger's These Days, but not as unexpected as the sudden appearance of the latter band's lead singer Bernard Fanning, who joined them on stage for the rendition. They finished with Dope Calypso before calling it a night.
All in all, it was an odd amalgamation of artists to play together at a show, but somehow, it seemed to work, AND be the perfect representation of all the facets of the Brisbane music scene. Everyone left the showcase sweaty, smiling, and in good spirits.
Olivia Shoesmith