“It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times”, that’s what Charles Dickens wrote right? I’m not too sure, I only skimmed A Tale of Two Cities in an attempt to pass my Victorian Literature class and additionally impress the girl who sat next to me. My mediocre academic and dating life aside, The Blurst of Times made a triumphant return this year, managing to bring the noisy guitar vibes to Sydney and Melbourne as well as its home in Brisbane. With a name that would make Mr. Burns furious, Blurst of Times was a non-stop party soundtracked to relentless guitar riffs, speaker feedback and crowd surfing. Not a shabby way to spend a Saturday evening.
Beers were downed, pits were moshed and the bands were unstoppable. WATCH Happy’s exclusive footage of The Blurst of Times below!
For its inaugural Sydney session, Blurst was hosted at The Factory Theatre and made good use out its small space in order to deliver a very intimate vibe. The worst part of going to big festivals – aside from the over priced tickets – is the distance you have to walk between stages. Not at Blurst. With everything literally in the same building, managing your time between different stages is a piece of rock n’ roll cake.
Just like the music, the atmosphere is pretty raw, there’s no pretension to be seen. The bands set up their stuff, do a quick soundcheck then explode into their brisk sets. It’s just like going to a battle of the bands competition, the only difference being that everyone playing here is actually good.
Blurst of Times deserves credit for putting on such an incredible lineup. A lot of great quality bands graced the stages with unshakable riffs and plenty of sweat, including Chicks Who Love Guns, Bloods, Apes, Blank Realm, Step Panther, The Creases, Donny Benet, TV Colours and Born Lion just to name a few.
It was quite a sight to see Velociraptor squeeze as many guitarists as possible on stage for their energiser bunny charged set, and they definitely got the punters all whipped up in a beer soaked frenzy. But the gold star for the day goes to the headliners, those beautiful, hairy bastards from DZ Deathrays. Man, do those dudes know how to light a fire under everyone’s collective asses. Every chord strummed and every cymbal smashed just took you to a whole other level. There was so much sweat involved I swear a small rain cloud formed over the crowd from the evaporated perspiration. Gross, I know, but I’ll be damned if it wasn’t some good old fashioned mosh pit fun.
During the course of the day I spotted a middle aged man in the corner rocking out by his lonesome. I would’ve made fun of him if not for realising that I’m looking at my future, and you know what? It’s a pretty good future if it’s full of days like this.
Enough of my yaking, if you’re one of the sorry souls who couldn’t make it to Blurst of Times, or you just want to re-live the experience, we have a nice audio/ visual presentation taken from throughout the day. Happy presents Blurst of Times in under two minutes! Enjoy!
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