Live Review: Listen Out 2016 @ Victoria Park, Brisbane

There was one consensus amongst the Listen Out 2016 lineup: Brisbane knows how to party.  Even early in the piece, Willow Beats packed the tent with an impressive crowd. Their soulful vocals were more than enough to keep a few hundred people cool in the tent while others braved the heat to watch Ngaiire. The electro-soul queen owned it in her torn stockings and leather jacket as her sassy backup singers worked up a sweat with the meticulously synchronised choreography. Baby Hercules never could have gone on long enough, all three of them working up a sweat onstage, but Once and House On A Rock were more than worthy follow-ups.

Meanwhile, Tash Sultana was busy hopped around the stage barefoot, throwing her hair around, and shredding her life away on the guitar. Like a female version of Matt Corby, she showed off incredible vocal range and a talent for handling silence in Welcome To The Jungle. With the confident rock chick persona down to a fine art and the talent to back it up, Tash left everyone feeling the buzz, even inspiring a proposal amongst the crowd.

As many sought refuge from the mid-afternoon sun, Cosmo’s Midnight drew a crowd of all sorts. Thudding synth beats could be heard and felt between stages, but it was worth getting up close to catch their distinctive, unusual melodies. The crowd clearly loved the fresh club style, but it was older tracks Snare and Walk With Me that got the good vibes and the most loosely-interpretive dance moves flowing.

While many took refuge on a patch of grass to catch Yung Lean’s last tracks, LDRU had guys and girls up on shoulders within minutes, finally beginning to lose their inhibitions as drinks flew through the air. Those hanging out to hear Next To You didn’t have to wait long – Savoi burst out ten minutes in to deliver the vocals and the crowd went nuts.

In celebration of his first Brisbane show and his glorious golden ensemble, Anderson .Paak brought all his energy to the stage with Come Down. As the smell of weed took over, the whole band began to throw themselves around like angry, unnaturally rhythmic children. True to his word, .Paak tore it up as if it would be his last ever show in Brisbane, encouraging the crowd to join in with a strong dose of psychedelic guitar riffs and thrashing drums.

For Bauuer, kicking off a set with anything other than Harlem Shake was always going to be a surprise, but no one was disappointed. To his credit, the set, packed with synths, beats, and bright colours, saw him keep his head down and at least one of his hands on the desk throughout. From the back, the crowd was just a sea of hands in the air and crazy dance crew clusters loving the jumps, build-ups, and manic drops, but nothing quite compared to the screaming match that became of Baauer’s take on LMFAO’s Shots.

Self-proclaimed Trap Lord ASAP Ferg kicked off with Let It Bang and had the crowd singing his praises within one song. Punters struggled to find space amongst the mess of bodies in the mosh, and a slower track offered only temporary relief from the constant motion and heat. The facial expressions amongst the packed crowd combined with intensely colourful lighting and Ferg’s passionate delivery made for one hell of a show. He proved nothing quite so effectively as his ability to get a crowd excited, revelling in the sound as they screamed out his name.

Jauz announced his arrival with the distinctive shark theme song before launching straight into an epic collision of sound. Like a musical puppeteer, the American DJ had an entire tent-load of punters throwing their hands into the air at his command, backed by the constant motion of his dramatic mix. One minute it sounded straight out of an action thriller, and the next like a product of Ancient Rome, but somehow everything made sense during his take on The Chainsmokers’ Closer. The track sent the sober into dance mode and the not-so-sober into a frenzy, and following it up with Disclosure’s Latch was like throwing fluorescent fuel on a fire.

Meanwhile, Travis Scott was ironically holding up his Kanye tribute to tell security off for handling a kid. Less ironically, the set that followed may have set a record for the most Kanye references in one performance, blended so smoothly that it almost could have been just one long track. Through 3500, singing turned to yelling and yelling turned to screaming, and before long Scott had scaled the wall beside the stage, looking down with elation at the crowd and the dust where the grass once was. Scott kept the energy up until the very end, proving himself the king of rebellion when he encouraged a few brave punters to climb the towers and flipping organisers the bird when they threatened to close the show.

Almost like an inextricably linked chain reaction, the smell of weed intensified as Rufus’ headline slot approached. The trio emerged from hazy red smoke in backwards caps and bomber jackets. They looked almost like amateurs preparing to play in a deserted jazz bar, but their impressive rhythm, synth work, and steady vocals suggested otherwise. With no trouble at all, they had everyone, including those riding shoulders, mellowing out to the sound of Sunshine before their fresh take on Take Me spurred a mass singalong. “We’re gonna take you on a journey for the next five minutes”, they announced, setting punters one hundred metres back into motion with Like An Animal, but nothing compared to show-closer You Were Right.

Check out our Photo Gallery from Listen Out 2016 HERE