Babe Rainbow @ Adelaide Festival Summerhouse, Elder Park, Adelaide 13/3/2022
The curators of the Adelaide Festival definitely have an eye for picking talent and the right sort of acts to complement their program and I reckon they nailed it with the inclusion of Babe Rainbow as part of the musical acts to play at the Summerhouse. Babe Rainbow are one of those bands that have been on my list that I have been waiting to see for quite sometime now and it is great to be able to finally say that I have been able to see them.
The beauty of what was experienced is that this band really do defy any labels or fitting neatly in to a box saying they sound like this or sound like that. Yep, there is a strong psychedelic sound that fits that surf culture vibe going on and no doubt you could spend ages analysing it and breaking it down further. It was the chilled kind of show that work famously as the sun started to set over the back of Adelaide Oval and the only thing that was over powering was lead singer Angus Dowling’s bright yellow “Climate Action Now” t-shirt. Nevertheless, the played an impressive hour long set spanning all corners of their discography to date.
Sunflower Sutra and Peace Blossom Boogy were great and then the crowd were encouraged to “stand all night and do whatever they like” as the grooves of Monky Disco got hips shakin’ and moving. Love Forever preceded Beautiful Morning Song to which Dowling asked the crowd “can your hear the birds?” With the band feeling warmed up they brought the funk on Johny Says Stay Cool. Zeitgeist and Eureka proved popular amongst the big crowd that was there. Current single Smash The Machine and Secret Enchanted Broccoli Forest went down a treat as well.
Great show and I’m looking forward to their return back to Adelaide.
Adelaide Festival Review By Rob Lyon