Live Review: Hits And Pits Festival

Holy shit, punk is fun. Talented lads (and lass) with awesome songs and a cruisy crowd, all there for a good time. Strung Out killed it. A straight-up festival set with a brief Lead Belly interlude and manic stage cannonballs – the sign said 'no diving' and they didn't.

Unwritten Law didn't play the entire self-titled album as billed, but threw in some rare older and newer tracks, then brought out Grinner Phil Jamieson for a cover of More Than You Are. Face To Face won sweatiest band, with a little man-lovin' kiss between axe grinders during the newbie Bright Lights. The Casualties had the man mohawked reprobates dancing while screaming Life On The Line or The System Failed Us Again, but their biggest sing-along was a shit-hot Ramones cover.

Standouts were Ten Foot Pole, with A.D.D. still a killer anthem, and The Punk Rock Hillbilly, who gave all the drunkards a rousing sing-along. And my new favourite band – Big D & The Kids Table. Their first time in Oz and their first festival line-up, and they were FUN.

Special mentions to Death By Stereo, who sound like In Flames with Serge Tankian vocals and cranked the Slayer cover, and Masked Intruder, who brought the crowd-rallying officer and weird TISM/Wiggles flashbacks. The acoustic stage provided nice smoko music, but mostly drew attention with the covers, like Scott McLauglin ripping The Ataris and Josh Arentz busting out Asshole.

Heartsounds' full-throttle chords and nicely isolated licks explained the Thin Lizzy T-shirt on the singer, and the male/female harmonies gave them something different from the rest. Implants set the tone for the day with some Strung Out guesting as band members hopped from set to set and even a tour manager joining Unwritten Law at one point.