International music acts parachute into Sydney last night

11:30am Friday, 29th January 2010

This was a good one. 4 music acts on one stage in one evening, stopping by on their way to Parachute music festival in New Zealand this weekend.

The gig opened early at 6.30pm with New Empire, full of ironic gen y poise and attitude hailing from Sydney's Cronulla beach.

Awful haircuts (irony), faux 80's wardrobe - you get the idea. The music was great. Good pop songs and adoring fans in the pit.

Newworldson are one out of the box. Refusing to be classified, I will try by labeling them 'The B52s with a conscience'. Think Rock Lobsters for Jesus. Or maybe not.

Great musos, especially the bassist, and they really connected with the crowd, which Family Force 5 struggled with.

Maybe it was the every-member white spandex and black singlet. Maybe it was the style of music that went from Red Hot Chilli Peppers to a heaviness the other acts didn't put out. Whatever, Family Force 5 were tight, good performers but lacked the buzz with the crowd that the earlier acts enjoyed.

Leeland - what can I say? Superb as usual. A fitting end to a great evening.

Now the bands head to NZ for the weekend for Parachute. Why don't we have a Parachute in Oz each year? Well, we have Easterfest, and Black Stump, and other fests - but it would be good to see this pre-Parachute east coast showcase morph into a major act on the calendar each year. Here's hoping.

Café

International music acts parachute into Sydney last night