Canberra music fans flocked to the UC Hub and courtyard on March 22 to experience FUNLAND, a once-in-a-lifetime celebration of local Canberra music. Local talent was the highlight of the festival with the stacked lineup boasting some big names.
Hosted by local band Smartcasual, FUNLAND celebrated all the great things about Canberra music.
FUNLAND was a different type of festival – and it was unusual for Canberra.
Smartcasual, along with some help from UC Live, curated a bustling lineup of some of Canberra’s best acts along with some headliners of national status that did not disappoint.
The hosts brought games, food, drink, facepaint and so much more to the small venue, UC Hub, which played host to the eight-band lineup for the afternoon. The pre-show energy was high.
Chatting with Smartcasual, the day before the show, and many other Canberra musicians on the day, I felt that the excitement around this event was infectious!
Talking to Ewan from Smartcasual a day earlier, he was really looking forward to what the day had in store.
“It’s just going to be so much fun and it looks like it’s going to be a cracker of a day as well. I just can’t wait to boogie outside for the DJ. Eat my Grease Monkey. Have a quintessential Canberra experience and then get to play!”
Ewan (Smartcasual)
The eight bands that were lucky enough to see themselves with the opportunity to play FUNLAND were an unusual collective from all reaches of the country.
The lineup saw local legends; Archie, Sonic Reducer and, of course, Smartcasual, take centre stage at the festival.
Outside of the locals were friends from Adelaide – Sunsick Daisy and Swapmeet. Also, the bands who made the drive from Sydney for the afternoon egoism and headliners Tired Lion. But impressively the surf rock tones from Verge Collection, had to come all the way from the beaches of WA to play the gig for the Canberra crowd.
The early sets
Sunsick Daisy kicked off the day. This group were quick to rise to a national level with several of their early songs gaining a lot of attention online. They were super cool to see live and all seemed to have a lot of fun up on stage.
In a chat afterwards, they were disappointed they weren’t getting to go to Questacon the next day. Despite this devastation, they were all happy to hang out around FUNLAND and get to see the best Canberra has to offer.
Next up were local legends Archie who have so much energy and never fail to give it to the crowd. The band is very well balanced and they’re all so musically tight and well-rehearsed.
Along with this they genuinely look like they’re having an absolute blast up on stage.
I’m glad this band are at the forefront of Canberra music because they deserve it. I can’t wait to see them again in the future.
After Archie was another Adelaide band Swapmeet. They kept the vibes high and energy flowing.
My highlight of the set was when the bassist jumped off stage and started jamming out in the courtyard to all the slightly confused people trying to eat their Grease Monkey or get their face painted.
Then came the attention grabbers – Sonic Reducer. This punk group found their origins playing in Canberra’s DIY scene. The part of Canberra music that takes pride in putting on performances in places like stormwater drains?
I’m not sure how it’s possible either.
They certainly brought the DIY feeling in the best way possible. They were ultra-punk but very exciting and cool.
The group just came off a tour in Europe opening for Royel Otis which they said was awesome but it’s shows like this, at home, that they love doing.
Numerous times throughout, I couldn’t keep up with everything happening: Cormac throwing himself around the stage, Ryleigh clearly overheating from all the guitaring, the Hello Kitty stickers on Louie’s bass guitar, and an eerie similarity between the drummer, Lachie, and a young George Harrison, only he was playing the wrong instrument.
It was certainly the most interesting and entertaining set of the day.
How it happened and what it means
After Sonic Reducer performed, I ventured outside to chat with some of the people that made the day possible.
The cool Canberra afternoon breeze had arrived but was still warm enough to wake up the mosquitoes living in the UC veggie patch.
It was there, that I spoke to Sonic Reducer and Grant from Archie. In a chat with Grant, he shared his honest thoughts on what this festival means to him.
“This new model of having smaller festivals I think is working really well for where we’re at right now – I really think it is the future and Canberra is getting really good at it. There’s a lot of initiative being taken and UC is phenomenal at what they do. So many amazing artists come through to Canberra purely because of UC, so for them to say yes to this festival and also the government for giving money towards hosting a night like this, makes me proud to be a Canberran.”
Grant (Archie)
I asked all the artists I interviewed the same question and they all shared similar thoughts. It’s a hard time for touring artists and bands all over the country. So bands who step up and take initiative with great ideas like this help the future of the industry immensely.
After the festival, I spoke to one of the co-organisers, Georgia from UC Live. I asked her about the impact UC has on the Canberra music scene.
“Over the past couple years, so many Canberra venues have been closing and we’re lucky enough to be part of the university institution which has absolutely helped us stay. But yeah, I always get those feelings on nights like that ’cause I’m like, oh, look at everyone coming together and everyone’s enjoying it and sometimes it can feel like people aren’t interested in live music and they don’t want to be a part of it. But it’s always nice on nights like that to see how much, like, it means to people and how much they enjoy it.”
Georgia (UC Live – Live Music Coordinator)
The rest of the night
Now we come to the group that made it all happen. Smartcasual. The set that everyone had come to see, and it did not disappoint. By this time the room was all but full.
Their set had some extremely high points where everyone was dancing, singing along to their songs and the awesome covers they’d brought too.
There were also slower points in the set, where Toby and the group played some beautiful, meaningful music and reminded us to check on our mates and tell them that we love them.
Later in the evening he seemed genuinely stunned by the support the band were getting for the night, noting how many people were there.
“There are so many faces around that have been so important to us and so many new friends too,” Toby said.
Talking to the band before the big day they seemed a mix of nervous and excited to see how their idea would come to fruition. They were proud of the EP and all the music that was made in Chris’s (the drummer) lounge room.
The EP was produced by lead guitarist, Blake, and its release has meant they’ve been able to go on their first full headline tour for a big body of music.
When I asked them about how the idea of FUNLAND came to be, the band’s bassist, Ewan, told me it all started with joking amongst the band.
We’ve always had this joke about, you know, we don’t want to close the show, we don’t want to headline the show because we want to be able to party with everybody afterwards. And so this idea of running a festival was kind of a fun way to be like, let’s actually have a major celebration, let’s have heaps of fun. And then, you know, let’s pick the bands that we love and get them all together.
Ewan (Smartcasual)
The last two bands to grace the FUNLAND stage were Verge Collection and Tired Lion. These bands are veterans of small Australian venues having played shows for over 10 years.
Verge Collection brought that classic surf rocky tone with them to the show and very quickly had the attention of everyone at FUNLAND.
Tired Lion were the perfect closer. Their hard rock style and pub band sound was infectious inside the glass doors of the hub. The biggest sing-along for the night was definitely their song ‘Cya Later’.
It was fitting, the band that influenced so many others on the lineup got the opportunity to finish the show.
Overall, FUNLAND was an awesome experience.
The Canberra music scene needs more shows like this so it can stay alive and small bands can keep improving and playing for more people. It was a quintessential Canberra experience that will hopefully open the doors to many more in the future.