Review: Heaps Good Festival Adelaide 06/01/23

You need three things to run a successful festival: good music, good punters, and good weather.

Words by Hugh Mann

You need three things to run a successful festival: good music, good punters, and good weather.

The latest star in SA’s music calendar nailed all the key ingredients. Heaps Good Festival pulled one of the summer’s biggest festival bills, attracting tens of thousands to the Adelaide Showground to see big-name acts like Arctic Monkeys, Ocean Alley, Spacey Jane, Peggy Gou and Jamie XX.

Before the heavy-hitting musos played, local legends warmed up the crowd. Indie-pop five-piece and the Triple J Unearthed artist pick Mum Thinks Blue rocked the stage with their high-energy performance. Despite being midday, the mosh was at least a hundred person thick, and punters swayed and sang to tracks like Headspin. It was so good to see a young Adelaide band smash their set and have fun.

We boogied to DJs Claude and Ebony Boadu in the airconditioned dance space before rushing to see King Stingray. The up-and-coming band set the crowd’s tone for a big ol’ love-in, and the energy extended to UK pop princess PinkPantheress’ set. G Flip stunned with a huge performance, belting title tracks and playing the drums with speed and skill. Ocean Alley was next, and Heaps Good provided the perfect setting for punters to groove to their sunny, psychedelic songs.

Techno veterans Jamie XX and Peggy Gou delivered two mammoth sets back-to-back, and if we had magically transported to a warehouse rave in Berlin, we’d be none the wiser. Expertly mixed tracks and visuals elevated the overall experience and the crowd positively pulsated.

Closing the festival was the Arctic Monkeys. Frontman Alex Turner channelled rock ‘n’ roll superstar energy as the band moved through their expansive back catalogue, peppering the set with tunes from their new album, The Car. We can forgive them for not playing some of their most-known songs (R.I.P Fluorescent Adolescent) because it was incredible to see one of the world’s biggest bands live. Goosebumps. It’s no surprise that the Arctic Monkeys have achieved global cult status with their bass-heavy rock songs and insane stage presence.

The first year of Heaps Good went off without a hitch. The punters were perfect, the music was loud, and the weather was a sunny 31 degrees. Same time next year?