There’s nothing like a music festival with a line-up filled with incredible Australian and international artists to kick off a new year and Wildlands, is a festival that always delivers the goods. After a week filled with wild and intense storms, festival attendees awoke to a blue, sunshine-filled sky, the perfect weather forecast for an end of year blast.
Wildlands started with a bang thanks to Peggy Gou’s iconic set. Bringing the energy early on, her performance really set the tone for the festival. As the sun shone down on the Brisbane Showgrounds, the vibe was high as attendees were dancing together and simply revelling in the fact that Peggy was able to deliver her most iconic bangers on such a beautiful day. Although the crowd was already moving alongside Peggy, the atmosphere changed as soon as the first few tones of ‘(It Goes Like) Nanana’ began to echo throughout the showgrounds. Punters who had previously been getting their bearings and surveying the festival site, suddenly all rushed to join the crowd at the Sahara Stage to sing the beloved track. Peggy was visibly taken aback when the entire crowd began to sing back to her, and although it was one of the last songs played during her set, it truly left a mark on everyone at Wildlands and ensured the festival kicked off with a roaring start.
After Peggy, Boo Seeka took to the Sahara Stage and delivered an incredibly fierce performance that kept the crowd dancing. There was a real strength that radiated from the stage and each track was delivered with ferocity and flair. If you wanted to continue to dance and absolutely let loose, then positioning yourself front and centre for Boo Seeka was certainly the way to go. However, if you were looking to wind down slightly and revel in some vibrant atmospherics and enchanting vocals, then catching Romy’s set at the Summit Stage was a great choice.
Amongst the crowd at Romy’s set you could find long-time fans, who had first encountered her gentle vocals in her early music days as a member of The XX, and new fans who had fallen in love with her after the release of her album ‘Mid Air’ in September 2023. Her performance was mesmerising, although there were no major theatrics, Romy was able to captivate the crowd with her stunning vocals and gorgeous melodies. When she began to sing ‘Enjoy Your Life’, by far one of her biggest tracks of 2023, the crowd all sang with her with some people even being brought to tears. There was a real connection between Romy and her audience and if you happened to be in the crowd then, you would’ve felt just how magical her performance was.
After Romy departed, the Summit Stage was taken over by Jayda G who really knows what she’s doing behind the decks. While Romy kept things feeling light-hearted and uplifting, Jayda G brought the swagger, and every single track had the crowd bouncing and just feeding off the vitality she brought to the stage. Losing yourself within Jayda G’s set was incredibly easy to do, mainly because every bar of every track is just so crisp, sharp, and downright groovy, that all you can do is just let the melodies move through you. Jayda G’s performance was incredibly fun and raised the energy levels of the Summit Stage high enough for Luude, the next act to grace the stage, to absolutely let loose.
Any keen raver would have most certainly been in the crowd for Luude. He truly went all out not only performing some of his most popular mixes, but also accompanying them with fire blasters, heavy smoke machines, and a stadium-worthy lightshow that was truly jaw-dropping. Luude didn’t waste any time delivering his fans with the high-energy, gritty electronic madness that he’s known for. He had one of the most mind-boggling performances of the evening, simply because he didn’t waste any of his time on stage and put on an absolute monster of a show that his audience will surely still be talking about well after they had left the festival.
After dancing off the dagwood dogs and hot chips we ingested, it was time to make our way back to the Sahara Stage to catch one of Brisbane’s most beloved acts, The Jungle Giants. The lights went up on the stage, the scene was set, and the crowd knew they would be in for a spectacular experience, courtesy of Brisbane’s finest indie acts, but not before the band’s lead singer shared the news that a lightning storm was brewing and was on its way to Wildlands. The Jungle Giants warned the crowd that they may have to pause their performance for a period if the weather became too gnarly before they began to play their electrifying set. Luckily, the weather didn’t put too much of a damper on the evening as The Jungle Giants slayed the house down with an incredible set full of their most crowd-pleasing tracks.
Following The Jungle Giants, British rapper Central Cee took to the stage and delivered banger after banger as the crowd joined in, reciting every word of his track ‘Doja’ with absolute clarity. Central Cee’s set was both strong and effortlessly smooth, as every beat was powerful but not intense, and the crowd was able to follow his flow and just allow themselves to be taken along for the ride as he strung together an incredible set full of tracks that felt both crisp and smooth.
Finally, at the end of the evening, Rufus Du Sol took to the Sahara Stage to help ring in the new year. 2024 marks the 10-year anniversary of the band’s debut album ‘Atlas’, so having them ring in 2024 at home in Australia, felt like a very special moment to witness. As expected, their set was filled with some of their most beloved tracks, but at midnight, Rufus Du Sol celebrated the new year by delivering one of the most dazzling (and memorable) performances of ‘Innerbloom’, as fireworks coloured the night sky and their own incredible light show cascaded over the Brisbane City skyline.
Wildlands has always been an incredible festival and this year was no exception. The line-up brought together artists who are just now beginning to carve out their own incredible careers, with industry veterans who already have a long catalogue of beloved music the crowd was absolutely thrilled to experience live. 2024 is set to be a fantastic year and if you spend the first 30 minutes of it at Wildlands in Brisbane, then you’re already off to a thrilling start!
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