By now you would have all heard about the extraordinarily long queues for toilets, food, drink tokens, etc. Thus, I’m not going to bore you too much with details about the logistics of the festival, because in between all of those shenanigans was some quite remarkable music.

We commenced the day on The Great Lawn stage, in front of the majestic Werribee Mansion, with the mighty nine-piece funk band Hypnotic Brass Ensemble. The Chicago based group bring a hip-hop aesthetic to the big band sound – indeed, they have performed with the likes of Erykah Badu, Mos Def, and Gorrllaz. In between songs, the group fired the crowd up with the call and response chants one would normally find at a rap gig.

The Family Stone, sans Sly of course, hit the stage next. For my money, this was one act that would either fall into the really good or really bad category. Fortunately for the rapidly growing crowd, it fell into the former. Playing all the hits such as Everyday People, Dance to the Music, and Thank You, they had the crowd boogying about with glee in the afternoon sunshine. Keyboardist / lead singer Alex Davis did a great job channelling Sly Stone, and certainly looked the part, decked out in a red feathery pimp hat.

Next up was Mercury Rev on at the Windmill Stage. As we arrived, we were greeted with the euphoric Holes from their classic 1998 album Deserter Songs. Their, at times, saccharine brand of pop-rock was probably more suited for a time of the evening when the crowd was winding down, as many of the punters were indeed horizontal and seemed to be saving themselves for later on.

Over in the Secret Garden Alex Davis from The Family Stone treated us to a diverse set that consisted of funk, hip-hop, and even a bit of Talking Heads! On closer inspection however, it appeared he was playing the entirety of his set via his iPhone that was plugged into the mixer. Say what you will about his methods, but the crowd didn’t seem to mind, seemingly grateful for an unpretentious boogie after their long waits in the neighbouring booze queue.

Back on the Windmill Stage, Mogwai came on to an appreciative and expectant audience. Switching between almost ambient rock and intense heavy metal, their set was a little too stop/start for most. Having seen them bring it two years back at Golden Plains, this was quite a disappointing set in comparison. In fact, the nude human pyramid that was going on at the back of the crowd seemed to draw more interest.

Geoff Barrow and Co. reportedly requested complete silence for their set, so at 8:30 all other stages went silent as the expectant crowd slowly filled up the main stage for the act almost everyone was here to see: Portishead. It has been thirteen years since Portishead last reached our shores – therefore, a great deal of the crowd (including myself) had not seen the live ever before.

Opening with Silence, the ominous and percussive first track from their most recent album Third, they quickly followed with major crowd pleaser Mysterons from debut album Dummy.

The centerpiece of the show was the brutal and industrial Machine Gun. The backdrop showing what appeared to look like an abandoned mine shaft, with images moving closer and closer to the darkness. All of a sudden the images were replaced with Tony Abbott’s giant boofhead, looking suitably evil with laser beams shooting from his eyes. This was, of course, much to the delight of the cheering punters.

The set was drawn equally from all three albums: Dummy, Portishead, and Third. Arguably the highlight was saved for the encore: The haunting and heart-breakingly fragile Roads from Dummy. As they left the stage, Beth Gibbons thanked the Melbourne audience, and seemed genuinely chuffed at the crowd reaction.

After a monumental, yet obviously dark set by Portishead, it was up to The Flaming Lips to wrap it up and try and leave the crowd with a smile on their face. With about fifteen minutes of their set chewed into by the late finish of Portishead, they were really only able to give the crowd a snippet of what they were capable of doing.

Ultimately they focused on the hits: hitting us with She Don’t Use Jelly, Yoshimi, and closing the set with the euphoric Do You Realize?? It was a lovely sight to see everyone singing along in unison. Complete with everything one would expect from a Flaming Lips concert: streamers, balloons, and a giant projection of Wayne Coyne’s head, smiling benevolently over us all.

I’d like to say that’s how it all ended, but with one exit to get out of the park grounds, it took about 45 minutes to get to the car, and another two hours to get out of the car park. However, still high from the amazing set delivered by Portishead, we were left with the overall feeling that we’d had a rather special day. Here’s hoping that next year the organisers can improve the facilities and transport, and we could have a truly great festival.