Perth got its first On The Brightside festival riding on the lineup coat tails and immense reputation of East-coast cousin Splendour in the Grass. In fact, it is frankly a little surprising another version of Splendour hasn’t been attempted outside of Byron. With its proven track record of selling out pretty much every year, there is nothing short of a brutal battle for tickets going to secure a spot at arguably Australia’s favourite multi-day festival.

Upon entry, one could only feel sorry for everyone who had opted to pick their tickets up at the gate. The lines were backed up for quite some time with reports ranging from 45 minutes to an hour to get inside. After all, before a chord had even been played here, UK duo The Ting Tings had pulled the plug due to album cycle clashes, being replaced by festival favourites Art vs. Science. With this a one-tent festival and the crowd seemingly small compared to some of the bigger festivals, it seemed a worrying start. Thankfully those would be the only problem, with lines for drinks and toilets moving quickly and little waiting at all. Inside, the stage was enclosed in a very large big top. This became split down the middle between under- and over- eighteen year olds.

Up first were The Middle East and Bluejuice with reports of solid sets a soothing start to the day. The ever-reliable Bluejuice raising the tempo for the much anticipated set from London electro-poppers Hot Chip who appeared on stage around 20 minutes late. Opening with And I Was A Boy From School, the nerdiest band in pop played a very short “greatest hits” set with, including Over and Over and One Life Stand , finishing in 5 songs. It was a rather disappointing result considering they were one of the four internationals left on the bill. As always, three-piece Art vs. Science had the crowd rocking with their very popular brand of dance rock. All tracks from their debut EP got an airing, with Parlez Vous Francais?, being one of the most well received tracks of the day. After the raucous and party-filled atmosphere left behind by Art vs. Science, Band of Horses tried their best to keep the interest of the crowd. Unfortunately their idyllic brand of rock just didn’t cut it. This was perhaps the only other criticism of the day, with the artist programming leaving the crowd tempo going up and down like a yo-yo. There were possibly outside factors forcing the promoter’s hand, but surely the natural build of a climax is the best way to roll out a lineup. The same could also be said for Angus and Julia Stone who also seemed a little lost in the lull created in the late afternoon of the day with their breezy melodies and fragile vocals.

Things picked up again when Triple J Hottest 100 winners Mumford and Sons strode on to stage. Their musicianship was on show and the crowd swelled to the biggest of the day so far. The Cave, Little Lion Man and a number of other tracks had the crowd in full voice and got everyone in the mood for the days headliners. The Strokes hadn’t been in town since their Challenge Stadium show in 2006 and there were doubts they would ever be back after solo albums and rumors that the band was finished. On this day, they were back in full force. They opened with New York City Cops and backed it up with The Modern Age. The crowd had really packed in at this stage and things got even sweatier with the one-two of Hard to Explain and Reptilia, which, with it’s blistering guitar work from Albert Hammond and Nick Valensi, had the crowd jumping. No new songs may have been aired, but the crowd still loved the set – even when they finished early after a beefy 5-song encore.

The day – not without it’s hiccups – was a good example of breaking away from the summer festival mould. Perth’s first On the Brightside was a refreshing change as a winter show and, with a bit of refining, it surely will be around for years to come.