After having a corker of a time at last year’s Trackside festival, it was no doubt that I was eager and ready to go for another day of racy action at Canberra’s Thoroughbred Park. Once again the Trackside team brought to the nation’s capital a plethora of entertainment and enjoyment; including a solid line-up across a number of genres, comedy acts, rides, attractions and stalls. The perfect ingredients for twelve hours of fun!

Unfortunately there was one glitch on this fine, Canberra Saturday… The looming dark clouds, icy winds, rain and oh… hail that could’ve put a dampener on the day (somewhat different to last year’s heat wave!). Nevertheless, thousands of loyal punters rugged up, showed up and partied up; why? Trackside was the little ray of sunshine making us “happy when skies are grey”. And happy I was – for this year’s event once again, boasted an eclectic line-up that had me smiling, rain, hail or shine.

Starting off the days proceedings were Canberra locals and recent Triple J Unearthed winners, Hancock Basement who took charge of warming up the crowd. They played a rocking set oozed with school-boy charm and crazy shenanigans. Next up was Canberra’s ska/punk/dub outfit Los Capitanes who loved every minute of it; then Melbourne hardcore group Carpathian; who revved up the punters… and brought in the hail… luckily, it soon passed.

Once the crowd had defrosted it was time to sweeten things up with the joyous sounds of five piece outfit Little Red. Having seen them play earlier this year, I was yet again amazed with what the boys had to offer. They enticed the punters with toe-tapping beats, hand-clapping rhythms and impressed with their beautiful harmonies. The happy-go-lucky tune It’s Alright proved popular arousing smiles from all. A tight performance!

Next was four-piece rockers Sparkadia who put on a standout show. I was captivated by the amazing vocals of Alex Burnett who waxed lyrical with such authenticity and emotion. The set had a subdued beginning and epically unfolded featuring the wonderful tunes Too Much To Do, Jealousy and the ethereal Morning Light. They closed the set on a high with the rocking tune Animals. Goosebumps – need I say more?

The atmosphere continued to lift as Aussie hip-hop duo Muph N Plutonic took to the stage. They opened with Day Off – and yes it was – so the hands went up in the air immediately in celebration. They worked the crowd with call and response, scratch and use of cheeky lyrics. The sound was raw and organic and they played all the tunes we have come to know and love including Walk The Tightrope, We Got Soul, So Beautiful So Ugly and finally they finished with Don’t Worry About Nothing.

Moving on to Sydney five-piece, Blue Juice who proved that they had some punch for the punters. Both lead singers Jake Stone and Stav Yiannoukas were donning cool hats and sunglasses, stirring the crowd as they danced about the stage, feeding off each others’ enthusiasm and energy. The drumming was solid and the overall performance oozed dirty-meets-sexy-meets-very-cool. Feature tracks included Vitriol, Unemployed and the finishing touch was Medication. D-IRRR-TY! I thought I was out clubbing.

It was approaching 6pm when a ‘friendly’ shower of cold rain made an appearance, so I decided to relocate from the outdoors and take my place in front of the Triple J stage to see Perth band The Panics (my apologies go out to Bliss N Eso and Food Fight who I missed). Having seen the band play earlier this year, I was looking forward to being warmed up by their beautiful tunes and remarkable stage presence. The sound was outstanding; they played all my favourite songs including Cruel Guards and the song that brings you arm in arm with your bestie, Don’t Fight It. The multi-instrumented ensemble could be described as unique, classic and truly Australian… comparable to the likes of Paul Kelly. A special surprise during the set was a display of fireworks – now what would a gig in the nation’s capital be without a bit of bang?

The bangs kept coming, especially when it was time to catch a bit of Aussie rockers… but I was left with a choice of “where do I go and who do I see?” By now, three stages were operating and it was a choice between British India, D’Opus & Roshambo or Gyroscope. After some technical difficulty at the Landspeed stage, I decided to move from British India to check out Gyroscope. They belted out all the killer tunes including These Days, Snakeskin and Fast Girl. At first the sound quality was OK, but had improved immensely over the duration of the set. The four-piece thrashed all over the stage and sent the punters into an absolute frenzy. The highlight was a cover of Midnight Oil’s Beds Are Burning. Not only did it lift the room, but the way it worked into the set was just amazing.

Unfortunately, the mood was slightly lulled after an extended wait for Cut Copy to come on stage. There were a few technical difficulties, which can happen, but this could have been overcome with some music playing to entertain the punters as they eagerly waited. 9pm was approaching when the Melbourne trio finally lit up the stage. The crowd screamed with excitement and smiles could be seen from cheek-to-cheek. Cut Copy steadily worked the room and building the crowd into a solid groove as they unfolded the many hits from their album In Ghost Colours. Feature tracks that had me bopping included So Haunted, Lights & Music and Far Away. Cut Copy had the room in aura, jumping up, hands in the air and full of energy, as they closed with their world class tune Hearts On Fire... Woot! I know mine was!

To end this cold, dismal, but fantastic day and night I squeezed up nice and close to the front of the stage ready for rockers The Living End. As I watched the show I was taken me back to my high-school days. I loved The Living End for their rawness, edginess and coolness; and I wasn’t let down, they still had every bit of it. Front man Chris Cheney certainly knew how to vocally engage the audience. I was singing and jumping like crazy, especially when they played the old favourite Prisoner Of Society. Other hits included All Torn Down and Roll On, which was mixed and mashed with a rendition of Run To Paradise; proving a crowd pleaser. To say their goodbyes they closed with this year’s smash White Noise. What a great show.

It is now 11:00pm, it’s cold, wet and muddy and I’m exhausted – well done Trackside! It was a well-organised festival, with plenty to see and do. I’m glad that I got to get and dirty with you again this year. Bring on 2009!