Live Review: Field Day 2023 @ The Domain

Bold Western Sydney rapper A.Girl has scored one of the biggest breaks of her still-blossoming career by getting to open the main stage of Field Day. There's just one problem: Poor thing is losing her voice. In what turns out to be an incredible save and a remarkably generous use of the platform, A.Girl instead opts to bring several of her friends out to perform their own music in the middle of her set. Unfortunately, we don't quite catch their names, save for her previous collaborator Jaecy. Nevertheless, the early arrivals are wholly supportive of everyone that takes to the mic and foster a welcoming, positive environment for every performer.

That energy continues into JK-47's set, with the Minjungbal/Gudjinburra rapper passionately delivering rapid-fire bars with focus and conviction. With a long-awaited second album, Revision for Regrowth, set for release in 2023, the conscious and political MC is starting the new year right by giving punters a preview in tandem with some of his tried-and-true radio favourites – including his powerful rendition of Tupac's Changes.

It's odd to consider a festival main stage somewhat intimate for Tkay Maidza, but you have to consider the scale on which she's been operating in 2022. Fresh from arenas and stadiums around the world in support of both Billie Eilish and Dua Lipa, the pint-sized multi-hyphenate kept that big-picture momentum up with a deceptively-muscly two-piece band in tow. Syrup had bodies moving in amidst the ongoing heat, while Kim saw Maidza leap down into the front row to rap alongside her devotees. In-between releases, Maidza is running victory laps – and sets like this are just her showing off in the best way possible.

Photo by Jordan Munns

“I didn't know if anyone in Australia knew my songs!” American internet-pop darling Remi Wolf – decked out in a golf visor and a fishing vest – is utterly overjoyed at her Field Day reception, with the now thousands around the stage showing her love. Regardless of if you're a day-one die-hard or this is your first time experiencing her music, it's immediately easy to see Wolf's appeal. She's acutely self-aware, humorously waddling around and pretending to be a cat in her looping video screens, while her boundless energy and on-stage chemistry with her band are both eye-catching and endearing. If that wasn't enough, bloody hell the kid's got pipes on her – especially when she tears into a cover of the Gnarls Barkley staple Crazy, one of the most covered songs of the last 20 years, and makes it sound new all over again.

From the moment Benee bursts into the tropical grooves of Find An Island, it's clear that her return from across the ditch has been welcomed with open arms. Still only 22 years old (23 in a few weeks' time), the indie-pop Auckland native is still developing her persona and stage presence – which, in its current form, is as loud and eccentric as you like. She screams apropos of nothing in-between most songs, adorably interacts with fans and lets off some of the most knowingly-daggy dance moves of the whole day. She's not interested in coolness, but that's central to the appeal. Not to mention the fact that Supalonely, Snail and Glitter still hold up incredibly well – and her newie, Green Honda, is already vying for a best-of-2023 list.

How best to describe Aitch to someone who'd never heard of him? Two words: 'English Macklemore'. A mainstream facsimile of an underground rap scene? Check. Corny bars about how all the girls want him? Check. A track featuring the one true king of hip-hop, Ed Sheeran? Check. The only difference is that Aitch does't have the sense of humour for a Thrift Shop or a Downtown. No, our man is far too serious for that. The Mancunian has already comfortably slotted into the low point of the festival when he leads into Rain by saying that it “never rains in Australia”. Wildly insensitive after three La Niñas and multiple floods across the country – but, then again, this is the same guy who painted over the Ian Curtis memorial with promo for his album. Class act.

Dolly Parton once said that you've got to put up with the rain in order to get a rainbow. She couldn't have been more literal in this instance – not long after the Rain subsides, the highlight of the entire day arrives in the form of Denzel Curry. Although sadly, without his backing band, the fearless Floridian MC only needs a DJ and his own chutzpah to get the packed crowd going absolutely buck-wild. Circle pits, crowd-surfing, moshing, and all the naughty stuff they say you're not allowed to do is kicking off left, right and centre. RICKY is rapped so loud that Curry barely needs to use a mic, while his world-famous rendition of Rage Against The Machine's Bulls On Parade brings utter carnage in its wake. Curry barely has time to get going before his time is up, but with any luck, a proper tour later this year will rectify the set's sole shortcoming.

Kaytranada is an immediate mood shift from intense to lucid. It should be stressed, however, that there is not a decline in quality whatsoever. The Haitian-Canadian DJ eases punters into the sunset with a visually-arresting set, brimming with good vibes and free-spirited dancing – ranging from his own tracks like 10% and tracks he produced like Chance The Rapper's All Night to remixes of songs like The Weeknd's Out Of Time and Rihanna's Kiss It Better. Not even a minor beatmatching mishap and accidentally calling Sydney “Perth” can dim the shine.

Both Dom Dolla and Diplo are big-budget DJs that could headline festivals like this in their sleep. Each brings out the CO2 and the flames, each gives their own little twists on songs that everybody knows and loves, and each cleverly navigates BPM changes and shows off some impressive accompanying visuals. Does it compare to the high spots of earlier in the day? Not at all. Does it need to? Not at all. By this juncture, the masses just need something fun to dance to – and both guys deliver in that regard. Nothing more, nothing less. Happy new year, folks.

Photo by Jordan Munns