St Kilda Festival 2012

So yesterday, lovely and I trekked all the way from east to south for the annual St Kilda Festival Sunday. It was not our first St Kilda Fest together, but this year had the potential of being particularly enjoyable, thanks to the wonderful hospitality of dear Kat, friend and resident of Fitzroy St. It certainly made a difference having a base so close to the festivities, to have some drinks and to hide from the rain! Thanks Kat :)

I love walking the streets of St Kilda during St Kilda Festival, there’s such a broad range of activities on that it brings out all sorts of people; hippies mingling with hipsters, street performers chatting to families, and even North siders making an effort to cross over to the beachside suburb. Festival Sunday doesn't judge!
You can buy silk happy pants, silver jewellery, happy herbs (the legal kind, although I'm sure you could get some of the illegal variety if you so desired), and deep fried spirals made from potato, if you can be bothered waiting in line. I couldn't, but everyone seemed to have them, and they looked delicious!

Another great thing about St Kilda festival is all the free shows they have on. We managed to get to four different acts throughout the day, all of which were very impressive in their own right.


Owl Eyes

I've written about Owl Eyes before, so I'll keep this short and sweet. All I can say is that Brooke is now completely in her element, her dancing is just as adorable as ever, and if the two new songs she previewed are anything to go by, I can't wait for her to release her first album! The rain came down pretty much as soon as we made it to her stage, but she seemed to be enjoying it, and I've always been a fan of a good dance in the rain!

Busby Marou

This was a such a lovely set, despite the fact that the rain meant it had to be cut short by 15 minutes. However, by the time they started the afternoon sun had decided to show up, and became the perfect complement to the warm hazey feeling created by the music. And man,can they play a mean guitar/ ukulele!
Most notable songs were of course Biding My Time, and Girls Just Want To Have Fun, a triple J's Like A Version inspired cover, but my favourite moment was neither of those in fact. It was the final song, Underlying Message, at the beginning of which a light shower began to fall, dusting the stage and crowd with a sprinkle of sunlit raindrops. Given that the first line of the chorus to that song is "Don't you love it when the rain falls down upon your face,"  it was one of the moments that could really only be perfectly orchestrated by fate.

Alpine

 
I only knew one song by this fledgling band, but I was so impressed with it that I dragged Lovely back to the garden stage to see them. I found them to be a very enthusiastic live act, and although the songs in the middle of the set seemed to blend in to sound a little too similar, the harmonies of the two female leads were as seamless and ethereal live as they are recorded, which is what drew me to them in the first place. Most people didn't seem to be too impressed that one of the leads was urging the rain to start falling again, but I wouldn't have minded to be honest. Rain is lovely to dance in, even if it makes your clothes a little soggy and your hair a little messy afterwards. Highlight was of course Villages, the aforementioned song that had got my attention, which they, of course, played last.

Miami Horror DJs

The last act of the night, the Miami Horror DJs commanded the attention of everyone who had stuck it out past dinner time. This was nothing more than a party set, which at that point in the night was just what we needed, good dancing music and good vibes all round. I'm not the biggest 'house music' enthusiast, in that I really have to be in the mood to enjoy it, but thankfully I was in this instance. And they did play a great remix of I Follow Rivers by Lykke Li which I thoroughly enjoyed, so I have to give them props for that too.

There was also some dancing at the George on Fitzroy St, both before and after the DJ set, and Coneheads for dinner, which can make any day a good one. On the whole I enjoyed St Kilda Festival Sunday immensely, and I highly recommend you to go only next year if you have the chance! Now excuse me while I go and try to patch up my dancing shoes...