Review by Wanda De Verelle-Hill
After a great Saturday at the Caloundra Music Festival I’m ready to sing its praises from the apartment tops and encourage all lovers of funk, soul and blues to join me at this festival again next year for a world class music experience. Memories of the day have morphed into images of a beach side town alive with bright lights, smiling faces of all ages and a sea of brass instruments pumping to a soundtrack of rich eclectic rhythms. This superbly organised festival considers everything and offers so much more than just music – including great activities for kids, conveniently located big screens for watching the football finals and a welcoming atmosphere in a stunning coastal location.

At the Surf stage, Allensworth from Southern California got the day started with a soulful wholesome vibe that blended perfectly with the surrounding pandanus palms, relaxed listeners, cool seaside breeze and ocean vista. Chase the Sun followed putting some rock into the scene with a gritty guitar and dobro set that had the blues crew in the crowd excited and wanting more.

The 26 piece band, Melbourne Ska Orchestra (MSO) fronted by conductor Nicky Bomba blasted away the chilled feeling with their huge collection of brass instrumentalists getting people up and dancing ready for the big night ahead, providing a perfect introduction for the headlining funk acts of the evening over on the Soul stage. Note to the festival committee – MSO should be on the Soul stage next year as they are hugely popular at festivals and deserve the pride of place.

Over to the Soul stage now, where Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue are blending so many genres all together creating a really exciting sound with the Trombone as the feature instrument. Funk, jazz, rock, hip-hop… maybe even a little punk… an explosion of old and new, New Orleans including timeless sexy brass and bass. With lots of hands up in the air and dancing like you just don’t care, the festival patrons were clearly impressed and pulsing in unison.

Another New Orleans based funk band, Galactic kept the highly charged atmosphere building into the night at the Soul stage, with each musician working the crowd and showing why they have been part of one of the world’s most popular Mardi Gras bands for 18 years. The mix of musical flavours got richer and deeper as the set progressed flying on the mind-blowing vocals of Corey Glover.

An unexpected highlight of the evening was listening to an hour of songs all about beards. With a beautiful blend of humour and excellent musicianship The Beards entertained an enthusiastic and diverse crowd with song after song in worship of facial hair. Surprisingly the joke did not go stale and at the end of the night I’m ready for some more songs about beards. This hirsute Adelaide four piece evoke a nationalistic-like pride in chin hair with younger members of the audience proudly wearing fake beards in homage.

So I only made it to two of the five stages, as there was everything I needed and more just at the Surf and Soul stages. Apart from fleeting glances at the Sunshine Coast Ukulele Masters affectionately known as SCUM playing on the Sand stage perched over the beach with people appropriately surfing just meters away, and noticing Clayton Doley being completely awesome on the Hammond organ as I passed the Sun stage I have no idea what was going on at the other stages, but I’m sure it was worth checking out.

Many of the things that can be a struggle at festivals were not a struggle here. There was plenty of seating, space to spread a blanket, space to dance, shade, water and eating options. As usual, the toilet queues were long but the reward was a clean facility. Getting in and out of the festival was painless with free parking and shuttle bus options.

If you like the beach, a relaxed atmosphere, a great selection of music and festivals free of mud, the Caloundra Music Festival is for you. Congratulations to the festival organisers and patrons for creating a family friendly environment full of funk, soul and good times. See you all again next year.

Review by Wanda De Verelle-Hill