Spoonbill – not the family of birds known as Threskiornithidae, but the rather rare and elusive Moynihan family, known to nest with a collection of infinitely detailed sounds. The aptly named Servants of Sound (SoS) had procured Spoonbill for our sensory delights previously, at their now famous Dragon Dreaming festival. During the excitement of his last visit, I actually missed out on most of his set, so lucky for me; he was back in Canberra once again.

SoS had organised the event at Rose Cottage, a heritage building built around 1870, which surprised me initially, however when how it was set up I was pleasantly surprised. The stage was set up outside in the gardens, with a spacious dance area, easy access to the bar within the cottage and a comfortable sit chill out area complete with a BBQ offering hot food. The stage was visually enticing with lights and décor reminiscent of the Pyramids of Egypt, if they happened to be built in outer-space.

The night started early at 5pm with renowned local producer Close?, his production skills are ever-increasing and as the sun started to set, his music slowly increased in intensity. Apply Steve followed afterwards with an engaging set that I could only describe aspsychedelic-dub-step-with-chainsaws. Brainstorma followed and brought a smile to my face playing a more breaky-psy-classic-*KLF* influenced set.

Spoonbill approached the stage and began his set, sounds played that confused and intrigued me. Champagne corks popped while voices, cut-up and alien, swirled around bells chiming in time with technologically advanced creatures doing their gardening. The sounds increased with complexity and perversity until they combined into a single sonic-Vulcan-mind-meld of harmony which constantly walked the line of what we can define as music. This man has obviously consulted inter-dimensional poets as the sheer detail contained in each track was almost too much to comprehend.

Following this amazing performance was C.L.I.Mate who brought the mood back down as the SoS crew started the Wooden Spoon Olympics which was named, I assume, after the first track on Spoonbill’s new album Zoomorphic. During this whole night, an 18th and a 21st birthday party were also going on inside Rose Cottage itself. They presented no problems to the party outside, and happily shared the only accessible bar with the unique and colourful members of Canberra’s psychedelic music scene.

Too sum up, a great party. It was extremely social and relaxed, cheap beer and food and great company. I look forward to the SoS crew’s next instalment.