All good things come to an end, so it was on the third and final day of Synergy Live 2011. Like most people, we packed up early and then hung around to watch a few more bands before making the trek back home.
Juke Royal were up first and were cool as always. They made a big impression on one of the bouncers too – he stopped me as I was coming back from taking some photos and asked me if I knew them, before telling me he really liked them and wanted to talk to them to give them some tips…like including some horns. I told him they used to be Checked Zebra and play ska, he was very excited to hear that. I dunno if he did end up talking to them but I hope he at least downloaded their free EP.
The Little Kings are also always cool and Synergy was no exception. They have a very summery sound, perfect for a sunny Sunday morning.
We were set to leave but had lost Dani…and proceeded to run around looking for her for the next 2 hours. That’s the problem with weekends without electricity – phones are bound to die. Anyway, we finally found her and made our way out.
I was actually quite surprised at how quickly the campsite had been emptied; there were still people watching the bands though, and as we left there was a steady stream of day visitors which also surprised me.
So ended an amazing weekend! In summary, here are the highs and lows:
Good stuff:
- The line-ups – quality acts across all stages incl. 3 international headliners
- The LMG stage – bigger and better than last year and a real contender to the main stage
- The location – beautiful setting, level campground
- The shuttles
- Spur burger for breakfast
Not-so-good stuff:
- The fest was too big – the distances between the parking, camping and concert areas were torturous to walk, especially while carry camping equipment in the hot sun.
- The sound on the main stage – good for the most part, but there was a lot of feedback and popping throughout the weekend
- The toilets – yes organising facilities for thousands of people can’t be easy but I felt like they were worse than last year. They were out of water and paper by my second visit.
- The shuttles weren’t obvious – an amazing service that we discovered by chance. If they was advertised anywhere, I missed it.
- The armbands and security – when we arrived Dani had to buy a ticket, so we got out at the door to buy one and I asked where I had to go to get mine. We then had to drive out and down to another entrance for media accreditation. Going back through the main entrance we were pulled over and asked for our IDs (we weren’t asked the first time around, 10 minutes prior).Once the bands started playing and I started moving around, I was told I had the wrong armbands. After a lot of running around and speaking to various people I finally got the photographer’s orange one. A few of the security guys still gave me grief initially (and some even after the 3rd or 4th time they’d let me through that night) but most of them seemed to lighten up and be quite friendly after a while.
In spite of that longish list of gripes, the good definitely out-weighed the bad. I had a fantastic time and can’t wait to do it all again next year!
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More on: Juke Royal | The Little Kings | Synergy Live | Your LMG
