Live Review: Castaway @ Sandstone Hotel
It was a stinking hot day out at Queensland’s Bribie Island where hundreds of people gathered at the Sandstone Point Hotel for a very special day, the very first Queensland instalment of Castaway! With a lineup including the likes of Dune Rats, Golden Features, What So Not and more we were all in for a good day and the gods of weather were on our side.
“Loud and happy fans became a bunch of lyric screaming lunatics while giving the ‘Dunies 100% of their attention in one huge Mexican wave of fandom.”
Feeling like my new tropical home, Sandstone Point is a beautiful venue backing onto the river canals of Bribie Island. Congregating here from around Queensland, Castaway produced the perfect mix of semi-naked post Stereosonic guys and girls, hipsters, and hippies. Although it was a small venue, the turnout was great and punters soon filled every nook and cranny – no one really minded the sardine can conditions. With the sun beating down you could get a tan while having the cool sea breeze blowing over you and keeping you lightly toasted until the sun went down.
Gold Coast kings of surf-rock Dune Rats will never grow up and never get old, who could ever get tired of those catchy songs? Playing some of their most popular tracks such as Dahli Lama Big Banana Marijuana, Fuck It and Red Light Green Light, their energy was a reflection of the loose crowd whose circle pits were already giving security a run for their money. Loud and happy fans became a bunch of lyric screaming lunatics while giving the ‘Dunies 100% of their attention in one huge Mexican wave of fandom. Lead singer Danny has always been a bit of a joker, and made sure not to waste a second of having the mic, making sure the crowd’s high spirits stayed for the duration of their set.
Hitting us with his slow smooth and soul infused electric tracks, Sable not only played originals but also smashed us with some absolute magnificent covers. Originating from Perth, Sable has had many popular tracks such as Feels So Good and Foolin, receiving radio play and social media success. Kicking off his set with a well-crafted cover of the chart topping track by Jack U Where Are You Now, he quickly got every punter chanting back the lyrics. Pony by Ginuwine was up next, and it seems to be the type of song that no matter the time or place gets everybody booty bouncing and dredge up their slutty alter egos. Sable is an artist who produces easy listening content making you want to sway and dance, but isn’t all consuming – it was like a timeout, but in a good way!
Adelaide rapper Allday has built himself quite the reputation over the past few years with radio friendly tracks and his outspoken charm. Spitting rhymes with clarity over mainstream backing tracks, Allday says a lot without really saying anything at all. He ripped into his set with Mrs Jackson by Outkast before kicking the audience into overdrive with fan favourite Right Now. People started to congregate towards the stage by the third song and Allday soon enough had everyone singing along to Claude Monet and swings arms in the air along to the beat. He nailed a remix of 3005 by Childish Gambino, in which some punters sung the original and others sung along with Allday, who kept the chorus the same but created his own lines for the verses. He knows his audience, what they want to hear, and he delivers a performance full of finesse.
Up next was yet another fantastic Aussie artist Golden Features, who went off like a house on fire! Continuing the illusion of the man behind the mask, Golden Features was having so much fun on stage we all wanted to get up there and party with him. Playing all his classic tracks such as Tell Me and No One, the crowd just couldn’t stop jumping, shuffling, and muzzing…there wasn’t a person in the place who didn’t have a limb flying around. I have never been pummeled so hard in an EDM mosh of people completely losing their mind every second of every beat. The overall crowd pleaser was a tie between Guillotine and Telescope, both of which have that grungy addictive beat you feel throughout your chest like an infused heartbeat. Golden Features is a ground breaking individual who completely defies any given genre, you cannot pin exactly what his music is, it’s just simply Golden Features.
Headlining act What So Not had me thinking I died and had gone straight to heaven. Every punter at Castaway were jumping around to the beat with hands in the air, all the while being completely engulfed in the smoke and light show spanning throughout the grounds. The only way I could explain What So Not would be a grungy electrode trance god, the love child of Flume and RL Grime (if they made love in a dirty alley). We were soul driven, eyes closed, and arms up in worship as we let the music take over our bodies and moved according to our 6th sense leading the way.
“What So Not would be a grungy electrode trance god, the love child of Flume and RL Grime (if they made love in a dirty alley).”
Everyone was leaving their worries at the entry gate and submerging themselves into What So Not’s set, who had us hooked from start to finish. The crowd knew the words to songs such as Jaguar and Gemini and made sure to let What So Not know they did.What So Not instilled in all the gathered Castaway punters so much love and energy that it ended the night with excitement and happiness levels higher than at the start of the day. I had a blast, we all had a blast, and you could tell he killed it as people left the festival still chanting his songs all the way to the car park.
Thank you so much Castaway for a flawless sunny Saturday. If this is what it feels like to be a Castaway I’ll happily be one every year!
Check out our Castaway live Gallery HERE
