Playground Weekender

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FIRST THE bad stuff. I’m a Playground veteran, this being my 4th time there. So you would expect that the organisers would have ironed out the transportation and security “difficulties” of previous years. Oh no. No no no. Wanting to catch Caribou on the Friday night we left Sydney at lunchtime and got to Wisemans Ferry mid afternoon. Cue a 5 hour wait to have our bags checked for contraband alcohol (3 security guards checking thousands of bags). Caribou came and went. Then another almost 2 hours to get on the ferry and get into the festival. How’s our mood? Can you guess? At least we made the last act (Tricky), who was frankly underwhelming, bnut maybe we weren’t in the mood by that stage.

Now the good stuff. Saturday was as sunny as they come, and a Bondi FM bacon and egg roll was followed by a swim in the river. Then off to the pool where Nick Law gave us a lesson in classic old school house, tunes most of us hadn’t heard in 15 or so years. Another dip in the river and its time to get our fancy dress on. Me and my mate Dave are Rudy and Spider from Mighty Boosh and we are easily recognised as such, thankfully. The costumes are amazing as usual, making this day the best of the weekend. Off we go to the main stage to see Midnight Juggernauts. Again disappointing. So we seek refuge with the Paradise Lost DJs on the River Stage, the most picturesque and relaxed of the stages at Playground. These DJs know how to rock the discotheque and set the tone for what comes after, Toro Y Moi. This is one the highlights of the festival for me and an accidental discovery (Kool and the Gang were a tad daggy for me). I urge everyone to go buy a Toro Y Moi record. I’m calling it Stoner Tech. Waves of sound with a chilled beat to it. Part Phoenix, part the Doors, part DJ Shadow, all good. Then we’re off again to check out Norman Jay MBE, who once again brought a fun set to Playground. He played a mixed bag, bouncy drum and bass and cool stripped down house tunes, with the odd classic disco record in there. Hugs all round, strangers became friends in an instant. Happens every year. Then off to Bondi FM’s café/after hours hangout to sit around muntered and talk bollocks for what seems like hours.

Sunday was another scorcher, so we spent a lot of the day either in the river or the pool fountain. LTJ Bukem shows up and plays a house set by the pool, the old school beats again prominent. No-one takes our fancy and we chill for a few hours in the shack before again heading to our favourite stage for Bukem’s drum and bass set. Wow! Talk about mental with a capital Munt. We’re lost for interest after that and although I pop in to see Derrick Carter, I’m left thinking that there’s been a bit too much banging techno this weekend and I’m wondering where I can get some relief. So we head back to the tent, I go for a cup of tea and we happily miss the last set of the night, Tom Middleton’s cheese-fest (Lionel Richie anyone??). Good crowd this year, once again the UK ex-pats were out in force and in their element, making this a far from average festival experience and one I’ll continue to attend, although with more thought put in to the journey there next year.

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