Live Gigs: Summersault Festival 1996 @ Freo Oval

Flashback live show today!

Triple/double J radio was talking about so-called Dream Festival last month and kind-of asking what is/was your Dream Festival? So for myself, going right back in time to an older 90’s fest Summersault of 96 was my Dream Festival! I’ve blogged about the huge Big Day Out’s and the smaller Mudslinger fest, both of the 90’s but by far and way the very best was the one and only Summersault. It’s some what forgot about by the J’s but not that I listen much to them so someone might talked about it? The promoter when bankrupted after this so it was never too happen again. In my mind it was too magic or dream like to do another one anyway. It’s 90’s indie music heaven with mix of big name oversea acts toured all state capitals with different Aussie acts playing each show on 7th January 1996 in Perth or well, Fremantle W.A. in dot points everyone who played:

• Beastie Boys
• Beck
• Sonic Youth
• Rancid
• Foo Fighters
• Bikini Kill
• Pavement
• Jebediah
• The Amps
• Bluetile Lounge
• Jawbreaker
• DJ Shadow
• Money Mark
• Outstation
• Wormfarm
• Thermos Cardie

Online stuff I can dig-up of this show is almost zero minus my local heroes Bluetile Lounge which I would go to almost every show they did play totally wasted and stand in dark and listen to them play. This would be the only time seeing them in the daylight. Almost everyone does seem to have forgotten them these days but somehow amazingly the two very long songs they did played that day was recorded by someone only uploaded to youtube sometime last year. Bluetile Lounge played the song The Weight (And The Sea) and Ambered at the 11 minute mark:

OK, let’s add just one song each from every act I kind-of remember them playing! Beastie Boys headlining set almost ended with Heart Attack Man which I’ll embedded below. Their set started a little bit earlier by joining Beck at the end of his set to perform Posse in Effect over Beck’s beatboxing on the side stage before jumping on the the bigger main stage to play a set-list of these now totally classic cuts so the whole thing was a total dream!

1. Posse in Effect
2. Eugene’s Lament
3. The Biz vs. the Nuge
4. Shake Your Rump
5. Sure Shot
6. Time to Get Ill
7. Riot Fight
8. Believe Me
9. Tough Guy
10. Jimmy James
11. High Plains Drifter
12. So What’cha Want
13. Money Mark on the Mic
14. Sabrosa
15. Shadrach
16. Do It
17. Something’s Got to Give
18. Gratitude
19. Skills to Pay the Bills
20. Get It Together
21. Hold It Now, Hit It!
22. Heart Attack Man
23. Sabotage

Beck played totally solo with his folky acoustic guitar on the smaller side stage which was a dream. Gave no sight of his career defining album Odelay only a few months away. I’m picking Pay No Mind (Snoozer) but his wonderful set-list on the day was:

1. The Diamond Sea (Sonic Youth cover)
2. Pay No Mind (Snoozer)
3. Alcohol
4. Buried Alive
5. One Foot in the Grave
6. Truckdrivin’ Neighbors Downstairs (Yellow Sweat)
7. Hollow Log
8. Posse in Effect (Beastie Boys song with Beastie Boys)
Solo Beatbox (while the Beastie Boys go to the main stage)

Sonic Youth played mainly songs from their last two albums at the time with three older classics thrown in but today I’m picking the title track of their then latest because it’s sung by Kim Gordon and it’s got lots feedback noise so that dream came true:

1. Teen Age Riot
2. White Cross
3. Bull in the Heather
4. Starfield Road
5. Washing Machine
6. Saucer-Like
7. Becuz
8. 100%
9. Skink
10. The Diamond Sea

Rancid that year somehow played both this fest and then Big Day Out touring around Australia twice that summer. All three members of Beastie Boys were spotted hanging out side of stage a month later at the Perth Oval. Picking Junkie Man song which on the album Jim Carroll does a voice-over giving them the title to their album:

 Foo Fighters had just released the debut self-titled album the year before and in 97 would put out their career defining album The Colour and the Shape but I would say This Is A Call was my set-list highlight:

Bikini Kill I’m pretty sure played a pile of then brand new songs which I would have like/love at the time more that the older songs I love more now. In April that year the album Reject All American was released. Off course, that was to be the last by them and finally breaking up in 1998. I’m picking R.I.P. song because I still to this day can’t believe I got to see them live in the 90’s so that dream came true too!

Pavement’s Bob Nastanovich enter the stage with drinks in both hands, topless with big black bold letters I LOVE PERTH written across his chest and ran the front to try to huge every single person there. They then played a new song called just that so I just have to pick that very short song now. Also did see them a second time in the 90’s when they played that Mudslinger fest in a couple of years time but they were way less drunk that time but this was totally insane dream set by them!

The Amps were a band who had one and only album entitled Pacer in 95 by Pixies/The Breeders’ Kim Deal with a couple of The Breeders and a couple of members of Guided by Voices. I had fall in love with Deal when The Breeders played the first Big Day Out in 94. So seeing her a second time in the 90’s was yet another dream came true moment, very under rated 90’s album which I got to pick Tipp City:

Jawbreaker is yet another very under rated band from the 90’s who don’t get talked about much these days. I highly recommend everyone looking/reading this post to check them out more because they did play a killer set. I’m picked Parabola song which was what they close their set that day:

Jebediah, Bluetile Lounge, Outstation, Wormfarm and Thermos Cardie were all the local Perth bands/artists. Which I’ve placed Bluetile Lounge above everyone else on the bill but I really can’t remember the other three local acts plus when googling them I can’t find anything at all about them. I’ve seen Jebediah play a million times so let’s finish with Leaving Home:

Both DJ Shadow and Money Mark who was the Beastie Boys’ keyboard player, I can’t remember a thing about their set too. So sorry to those who’ve I’ve forgotten!

The very long and thin poster/flyer!

I might, just blogged up some other dream gigs I got to see back in the day! Did you have a dream festival that came true? Please do, share it with me?

Cheers 🙂

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