Live Review: Against The Grain
Pond at Against The Grain. Photo credit: Kelsey Doyle (@kjdoyle)
Last weekend, sold-out Against the Grain Festival took over Woolloongabba’s Clarence Corner precinct with a whopping five stages. The festival served up healthy portions of both local and international acts, featuring some pretty heavy hitters like Stereolab, Pond, Protomartyr, and Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever. This GRAIN x Open Season feature was one hell of a block party, with the festival encompassing the likes of The Princess Theatre, Brisbane Brewing Co., Birria Boy, C’est Bon, Woolloongabba Art Gallery, Echo & Bounce, and beyond, to craft a curated urban music festival experience.
And there really is something to be said for being able to sit down for a meal in a restaurant in the middle of a bloody music festival. Damn.
After seamless entry and a brief reconnaissance of the sprawling live music landscape before me, I grab a black lager and scoot to the front of The Princess Theatre to catch Acopia; an ethereal, shoegaze three-piece from Melbourne. Kate Durman’s vocals are excellent, and the trio produce a very tight, polished sound. A dreamy delight.
I then venture out to further explore the offerings; a hop, skip and jump across Stanley Street and up Jacob Lane to see 01 Thurman. This cool little carpark stage behind Echo & Bounce and Season Three matches the band’s lo-fi noise rock vibe. The charismatic frontman ensures there is no dead air between songs while waiting for a quick guitar changeover – a little crowd banter and a lot of meme sound effects really go a long way.
A quick dash back to The Princess Theatre, and Canadian three-piece, Cola, are onstage. There’s something reminiscent of The Strokes in the guitar sound here, and at times, perhaps a touch of The Kills, but it’s all a bit more pop and the sound leans a little British. This festival capped off the band’s debut Australian tour, so understandably these guys really draw a crowd.
Back outside at the Clarence Corner Carpark stage, I catch the end of an effervescent Hatchie drenching the crowd in her signature brand of dream pop.
A swift change of pace, and Gut Health’s high energy set in The Princess Theatre is a real standout for me. Lead vocalist Athina Wilson is an absolute rocket on stage, dressed in a plaid two-piece which provides a dramatic finale as she rips off the skirt to fully let loose. Hailing from Melbourne, their contagious dancey, punk rock attitude has the crowd moving.
Meanwhile on the main stage, psych-pop legends Pond edge the crowd even closer to the mood that would welcome Stereolab to close out the evening.
After such an eclectic lineup, Stereolab was the beautiful cherry on top. This iconic British-French band with their whimsical vocals, retro yet futuristic synth sounds, and soft jazzy electronica was the perfect finale to an incredible day out for music lovers. Since their formation in 1990, this is only the fourth time Stereolab has played in Brisbane, with their previous Australian tour in March 2020 (yikes) having been cut short. Their last performance in Brisbane was way back in 2009 as part of Laneway, so their top billing in Against the Grain Festival was a massive drawcard for fans.
The set heavily features tracks from their latest album, Instant Holograms On Metal Film (2025), and rightly so, because it’s a brilliant record that stays true to their original sound. To start, they launch into instrumental, Mystical Plosives, followed by the clean, solemn vocals of Aerial Troubles. Melodie Is A Wound is a personal favourite from the new album – a track that sucks you into a trance-like groove with its repetitive pitch changes and quick tempo. This and Esemplastic Creeping Eruption really suit the live format as they almost seem to have their own encores built in. If You Remember I Forgot How To Dream Pt. 1 & Pt. 2 with their combination of analogue synth sounds, bossa nova beats and guitar effects evoke childhood memories of mucking around with my dad’s little Korg Pandora and good old Casio mini keyboard presets. Fans would have been satisfied with the set’s journey through decades of acclaimed discography, dotted with old favourites from early albums Peng! (1992), Emperor Tomato Ketchup (1996), and Dots and Loops (1997).
And I’d like to take moment just to recognise how truly well-organised this event was. On top of a killer lineup, this festival really had it all; i.e. ideal location for public transport, great selection of food options, no long queues for drinks and loos, respectful patrons, and brilliant sound at every stage; an event tailored to a community of music lovers who genuinely appreciate the effort (see SOLD OUT). And as much as we all love the Valley, it’s great to see this festival model work so well in an alternative creative hive like Clarence Corner. So, serious kudos to the GRAIN team for pulling this one off.
This is what Brisbane needs. This is what Brisbane wants.
I look forward to many more editions of Against the Grain Festival in the years to come.
Photo gallery by Kelsey Doyle (@kjdoyle)
