Smashing Pumpkins headlined a terrifically emo lineup of charismatic rock acts at the one day World Is A Vampire Festival on Bribie Island.
Initially suppposed to be the kick-off event of the WIAV festival tour, Sunday's Sandstone Point gig ended up being its sophomore outing, after selling out so quickly that promoters decided to slot in a Saturday event at sister venue Eatons Hill.
The event felt fresh and electric; a carefully curated lineup of loud, crunchy rockers with dark edges, interspersed with hammy wrestling antics thanks to the National Wresting Alliance, a company owned by Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, and WAOA (Wrestling Alliance of Australia). The day was clear, the crowd was full of over 40s in black band t-shirts, the bar lines were short, the staff friendly, and the food tasty and quick. With an older audience that had been going to festivals since the nineties, it was an easy day for security.
Local act PistonFist kicked off the day with a screech, followed by Sydney sci-fi-inspired metalheads Battlesnake, draped in priestal robes, the perfect start for such a theatrical ticket. Sydney hard rockers RedHook were next, with electrifying frontwoman Emmy Mack ghouling things up thanks to a bunch of fake blood pouring from her mouth. She jumped into the crowd at the end of the set, tearing up their biggest hit 'Bad Decisions' with her raw, high-octane vocal delivery. These guys are big, loud and going places.
Amyl and the Sniffers are known for absolutely bringing it at live shows, and they certainly held true to that reputation. In yet another case of a frontwoman that leaves blood on the stage - although perhaps in a more metaphorical sense - Amy Taylor draws all eyes with her aggressive, balls-to-the-wall physical and vocal stage presence. A punky pub rocker through and through, this Melbourne pocket rocket leaves nothing in the tank, strutting and headbanging in her short shorts, shouting herself hoarse and delivering the band's zero fucks lyrics with everything she has to give. This fiercely indie group is doing things their way, and totally smashing it. A welcome additon to a rollicking lineup.
We took a minute before Jane's Addiction to grab some to-die-for loaded fries and check out a bit of the wrestling. It was Americans V Aussies, with the US stars playing the villains (obvs). While wrestling isn't something I would personally buy a ticket to see, having some entertainment made the wait between acts much more bearable. A nice bit of fun.
Jane's Addiction - sadly sans Dave Navarro - hit the stage and began to make plenty of glorious noise. They trotted out some of the hits like 'Stop', 'Three Days' and 'Been Caught Stealing', to the crowd's obvious delight. Frontman Perry Farrell was clearly having the time of his life. Dressed in his usual uniform of bondage-style black leather with chains, scarf and leather cap, the skinny, husky-voiced rocker grinned at and flirted with the crowd, drinking straight from a bottle of "fine Australian shiraz" while making vague political statements ahead of 'Idiots Rule', and commenting on his prediliction for "consensual violent sex", which was apparently how he'd started his day. No wonder he was grinning.
Stunning, scantily-dressed women danced and writhed on equipment over the stage, including a large rocking horse, as Jane's launched into several extended versions of classic faves, featuring Farrell's signature wailing vocals with the reverb dialed up to ten, and plenty of guitar feedback. It was trippy, colourful, sexy and silly, all at once. Just like Jane's.
An extended instrumental intro featuring layers of gothic, 80s-sounding synths marked the start of the Smashing Pumpkins set, before the largely black-clad band strode out to immense cheering from the crowd. King of the Emos Billy Corgan wore his signature long black tunic (how do these guys do this in Australia?) and black pants, and seriously vamped things up from the get go. Not exactly known for being Captain Smiley, the enigmatic frontman and musical genius was nonetheless animated; even somewhat playful, and more engaged with the crowd than I've ever seen him, dancing and chatting away about loving Australia, how long the band has been together (35 years!) and giving background on some of the songs.
It was actually the best I've seen the Pumpkins, and really ramped things up a notch. 'Empires' kicked things off, followed immediately by 'Bullet with Butterfly Wings'. As soon as the immortal lyrics 'the world is a vampire' were uttered, the crowd swelled towards the front, hands in the air, singing and shouting at the top of their lungs. It was a heady feeling, to be a part of a musical moment that clearly has meant so much to so many.
'Today' followed quickly, then 'We Only Come Out At Night', with Corgan encouraging the crowd to sing along to the chorus. After a few of the newer songs with some of the long, meandering instrumentals the band is known for indulging in at live shows, 'Ava Adore' got the crowd more engaged again. It took a second for us to recognise the cover of Talking Head's 'Once In A Lifetime', as it was given such a huge degree of industrial treatment.
The band, except for Corgan and lead guitarist / founding member James Iha, then left the stage, and the duo chatted about some of their history before launching into a beautiful, stripped back version of 'Tonight' under a spotlight. Given the band's various tensions and break ups and reformations over the years, it was quite a poignant moment. They did get quite off track too during the set, seemingly just for fun, mucking around with various songs like The Church's 'Milky Way' (they looove The Church'), taking a bite out of the 'Thunderstruck' riff and John Farnham's 'You're The Voice' - aka Australia's unofficial anthem.
'Space Age', 'Cherub' and 'Zero' followed once the full band was back on deck, then '1979' brough the house down, before they launched into 'Beguiled' - complete with on-stage wrestling - and finished off with 'Silverfuck'. Hugely grateful and thanking the fans over and over for their long and continued support, the band was clearly genuinely humbled by the turnout and their ability to still keep doing what they love doing. It was an eclectic, soulful, moving, theatrical rocking two hour set, and the perfect end to a bloody good vampire festival.
The World Is A Vampire Festival continues as per below. Tickets here.
19 APR 2023
SYDNEY (NEW SHOW)
The Hordern Pavilion (All ages)
22 APR 2023
MELBOURNE (NEW SHOW)
PICA Port Melbourne (18+)
23 APR 2023
BALLARAT
Kryal Castle (18+)
26 APR 2023
ADELAIDE
Entertainment Centre (All Ages)
27 APR 2023
MELBOURNE
PICA Port Melbourne (18+)
29 APR 2023
NEWCASTLE
Entertainment Centre (All Ages)
30 APR 2023
GOLD COAST
Featuring local act The Silencio
Broadwater Parklands (18+)