2003 Livid Sydney Reviews

Boys with the hoods clean up
Sydney Morning Herald, October 13, 2003

Local hip-hop and punkabilly acts raised some heat amid the icy winds at Livid, writes George Palathingal.

It might be stretching it to say that the summer festival season officially started on Saturday with the travelling circus called Livid.

Not because Livid is any less of a festival than its brothers. For quality, if not quite variety, it's certainly up there with the hallowed Big Day Out, and looks set to have the legs the short-lived M-One and Rumba! festivals lacked....

On the way to the higher-profile attractions at the bigger stages in the park was the ingeniously located, excellent FBi Stage. At every pass there seemed to be something fresh, exciting and local going on there, from the superb (Sea Life Park) to the bizarre (Spod).

On to the Main Stage, where a veritable banquet of rapidly rising Oz-rockers (Gelbison, Rocket Science, et al) was served, via trapeze artists braving the wind and the intense performance theatre of the Bangarra Dancers, who gave the day an entertaining, if somewhat tokenly arty bent...

Ultimately, however, Livid's crowning glory this year was the line-up under its Triple J Big Top stage. If this correspondent wasn't reviewing, there's a good chance he would have happily set up camp and stayed there all day.

For even when a given band's music bordered on the unlistenable (Whirlwind Heat, Liars), the frenetic onstage activity was often utterly unmissable.

And none more so than when a little round man, balding underneath a frizzy mullet, strode onstage in a red robe announcing, "Are you ready to watch me f---ing rule?" True to his word, the deadpan-hilarious but also genuinely, outrageously funky Har Mar Superstar proceeded to gyrate, thrust and strip his way across the stage, winding up in just his Y-fronts by the end of the day's most unforgettable set...

It became apparent soon after the BRMC set that the only way one stood a chance of seeing the White Stripes - undoubtedly one of the most exciting rock acts in the world at this point - was by staying put in the Triple J Big Top.

Although this personally proved a wise and emphatically rewarding decision, it means anyone interested in Linkin Park will have to track down one of their many fans to find out what they were like.

Read the full review here

Livid Saturday 11th October Moore Park

Festivals are like the lolly aisle of a supermarket - there is so much to choose from.

To start the day, I headed to Offcuts for some deep tribal funk where the two MCs had the early crowds grooving.

Deciding to go for a wander, I stuck my head in at the Bumblebeez and heard them drop a Beyonce track for some booty shakin’ appeal. Meanwhile, the SKB Crew were on the breaks stage busting some skilled moves to a receptive audience.

Back to the 3D World Annex for Cut Copy’s blend of 80s electro dance rock, and then it was time for some rock on the main stage where both Pacifier and Rocket Science played excellent and energetic sets. Moving onto the Resin Dogs where a big crowd had gathered for some funked up hip hop. Shame the sound was shocking turning their layered beats into distorted confusion.

Next up were trip hop act Lamb playing their atmospheric and chilling sounds in full band mode. Louise Rhodes soaring vocals were mesmerising and the love song Gorecki was beautiful. Main stage saw Jurassic 5 take quality control of the crowd, and attracted big cheers. The wind drifted their voices slightly but their smooth MCing skills were not lost.

Freezing cold, I headed inside and caught the tail end of Mad Professor and his blend of crazy dub beats. Dexter mixed an excellent choice of thumping breaks, complimented by an awesome visual scene of an animated dancing crowd spanning the width of the venue.

The White Stripes took their majestic place on stage in the Big Top and played a brilliant rockin set. Such huge sound from the two musicians, culminating in an encore of the funk hit Seven Nation Army which had the crowd in raptures.

Bringing the festival to a close were legendary act The Roots. Playing their diverse style of hip hop and paying homage to the guitar at one point, The Roots topped off a great day. Live it, love it, livid!
Nicole Craig 3D World

Red white and blues so cool.

Elsewhere it was the Triple J Big Top that provided most of the entertainment for the slightly older, left of centre demographic in the crowd. Local acts such as Perth's Little Birdy and Sydney's the Beautiful Girls provided gutsy pop charm and rootsy introspection respectively in their early afternoon performances.

Later the extravagant Har Mar Superstar managed to squeeze humour, soulful pop and striptease into his 45 minute set.

The top three on the Triple J stage, however, prompted the biggest and longest hundle of the day. New York's Yeah Yeah Yeahs were not at their best, with singer Karen O noticeably restrained after her fall off stage in Sydney last week.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, on the other hand, were on full throuttle, blitzing through their spirited dirge with even greater aplomb than on their tour here last year.

Which left the White Stripes. Red White, black and magnificent, Jack and Meg White are occasionally accussed of being limited in what they do, simply by the fact that they are a guitar and drums duo. Even so, there's a raw passion to the bluesy roar they make - and it's quite a spectacle as well. As rock 'n' roll goes, you really can't ask for much more than that. Of course if you can huddle to it, all the better.

Iain Shedden. The Australian Mon Oct 13 2003

Forget the rugby, teens are to rock on

Rugby. What rugby? That was the question asked by 25 000 music fans yesterday as they gathered for the Livid music festival at Moore Park....

“I did save up but if you work out all the bands you’re meant to seed, it’s about $5 a band,” Frances Meadows from Glenmore Park said. “It’s all about the atmosphere”, Sarah Hogarth, 22 of Mona Vale said. “It’s so good to see so much good music and to see everybody enjoying it.”

Organisers confirmed security had been boosted for yesterday’s event mainly due to the increased number of fans at this at this year's festival.

Christine Sams 12 Oct The Herald Sun