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The morning of the Livid Festival was not particularly kind to me. For one, I’d taken my editor’s advice and tried to escape reality at a great Powderfinger/Carbines gig with one too many Vitamin Bs, working on the principle that restraint the following day would be easier.

Fortunately, this theory went untested with a power blackout frustrating my search from Toowong to West End for an auto teller. The coins in my pocket would have to suffice.

This had to be one of the strongest Livid line-ups ever, but to me the bill is only part of the reason why the Livid experience is so popular. Walking around Livid in the sunshine with half a can of warm VB and bumping into old and familiar faces is about as much fun as anything on stage. Some people damn Brisbane for that kind of familiarity, but it’s something I find quite endearing.

“Justice Can Be Blind,” sang Michelle Shocked, and in the year of the Indigenous person Brisbane seemed to agree. From what I garnered, Michelle Shocked was one of [the] hits of the day. Her casual, yet captivating presence was offset with her raw country rhythms, richly enhanced with fiddle and harmonies. For many, like myself, at the back of the tent the noise of Caligula coming from stage 2 was just frustrating. With two of the most diverse performance’s sounds clashing, the staging problem was highlighted.