FAST TIMES IN FREO

NORFOLK LANES YOUTH FESTIVAL

Norfolk Lane & X-Wray Café

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Summer had well and truly arrived over the weekend, and Freo was teaming with beach-goers, tourists, and punters for the Norfolk Lanes Youth Festival. The festival itself was set up nicely: the Norfolk stage was set up in the usually abandoned Norfolk Lane, with just enough space for a low-key festival. The second stage was an acoustic area at X-Wray, a cafe so very ‘Fremantle’ that you are more than likely to exit with dreadlocks and a fixie. The heat saw many punters heading to the X-Wray stage for some cold drinks (lemonade, it was a youth festival) and air-con for the first half of the day.

Proceedings kicked off with Tim Gordon’s sweet indie tunes, setting the bar high for those to follow. Gordon, who also fronts local band The Tumblers, manages to set aside the brash style of his band and transforms into a Buckley-esque acoustic musician with well-formed tunes. Following on, Billie Rogers didn’t disappoint, her strong, soulful folksy songs drawing a good crowd. Moustache was up next, bringing something a little different to the table with some multi-instrumental experimental looping and a most excellent moustache.
Blue Lucy put on a stunning set mid-afternoon, pulling quite a significant crowd. The female trio were armed with guitars, a ukulele, and a cello, and showcased some great original songs, laced with heavenly harmonies.
As the heat began to die down, many festival-goers headed to the Norfolk stage to check out the headliners. San Cisco are Perth’s sweethearts right now, and they sure didn’t disappoint. Though they looked as young as the crowd they played to, they performed to the standard of, or possibly to a higher standard than more seasoned musicians. Each member of the band has their role to play, and they meshed together flawlessly, pulling out some great indie pop. The kids went nuts for recent single Awkward.
Following on from San Cisco was the ever-beautiful Emma-Louise, bringing her acoustic guitar and band to the stage to play a quick half hour set. She ran through tunes from her recent EP Full Hearts and Empty Rooms, and tried out a few new songs on the crowd. Jungle was, of course, very well received. But it was when the band left the stage so Emma-Louise could play her last song, 1000 Sundowns, acoustically, that we caught a glimpse of what the songstress is capable of – the song told a story that silenced even the coolest kids in the audience, and there were definitely some tears out there.
The Novocaines hit the stage as the sun was beginning to go down, and the crowd was beginning to dwindle. But that didn’t last long after the band began to play, drawing in the audience with their insane energy and solid rock tunes. The Novocaines were the rock in a sea of indie pop and acoustic sets. It’s awesome to see a band not only writing classic, gritty tunes, but performing with the bold, recklessness of a true rock band, without missing a note. Though the crowd was initially a little shocked at the sudden change of genre, by the time the band performed Adhere To and Cup Of Coffee, the kids were loving it – some even imitating the Marriott brothers’ excellent hair-moshing.
Grace Woodroofe toned things down, closing the festival on the Norfolk Lane stage with a set of sultry, rolling songs from recent album Always Want. Woodroofe is renowned for her impressive shows and musicianship, and this set was no different. All up, Norfolk Lanes Youth Festival was well-run, the bands were great, and the line-up was a huge feat for a free, all ages gig in an alleyway.

_CHLOE PAPAS