Harvest Rock Festival 2025 delivered everything you dread in festival weather and everything you live for in live music, all in one drenched day. After a foreboding forecast and an ominous pre-show feel, the Harvest weather curse struck again just like the very first one. When Cloud Control wrapped their set, the stage whispers came in: “Step away from the stage, thunder storms are coming.” The gates shut, patrons were warned not to huddle under trees, and the merch tent became the unexpected refuge for the drenched and the determined. The irony? A band named Cloud Control had absolutely no control over the clouds.
For those who stuck it out, the payoff came hard and sweet. Genesis Owusu blasted onto stage and gave a masterclass in resilience and reinvention. The last time he played here the heavens opened then too. This time he stripped back his production (no full legion of backup dancers), yet adding a sinister face-painted Joker-style dancer as a “death-cult zombie” figure for theatrical effect. He piled into newer material rather than playing it safe. The crowd, still damp but more alive than ever, rode his waves of funk, hip-hop and rock like surfers caught in a storm surge.
It’s a pity that Wolfmother and Bag Raiders had to cancel; Bag Raiders’ electro-sunshine would’ve provided a welcome contrast to the grey skies and Wolfmother’s absence on the main field left a gap in the day’s rock arc. Wolfmother did sneak in a surprise late slot at the Metro at 11:30 pm.
Vance Joy, Lime Cordiale and Jungle Giants wielded jangly guitars and sun-sealed hooks for the millennial crew even when the sun itself refused to turn up. Vance Joy wore an Adelaide T-shirt and, between songs, reminisced about his friendship with Sia Furler before delivering a spot-on cover of Paul Kelly’s To Her Door. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he rolled into a faithful version of I Was Made for Lovin’ You by Kiss; maybe for the first time in history, these two almost-antithetical songs were covered in the same set. Near the front, the duo from Teenage Joans, who had opened the day, danced ferociously to Riptide. Lime Cordiale and Jungle Giants kept things breezy.
When The War on Drugs took the stage, arguably the first full rock-band slot of the day, they opened into sprawling solos and drawn-out transitions that brought depth and colour but perhaps a little too much introspection for a sun-absent festival evening. Their set felt more suited to ear-phones in a darkened room than people wobbling on sodden grass and bouncing to the beat.
M.I.A. called the rain a blessing, proclaimed the crops were finally getting water, and transformed the thunder into background bass. Her energy was ruthless and rhythmic. Suddenly the weather wasn’t a problem; it was narrative.
2025’s Saturday line-up lacked a unifying theme. We traversed indie pop, mainstream guitar, rock jam, global anthems and electro-soul without signposts telling us how it all connected. On one hand, that’s a freedom and a strength; on the other, when the rain is banging on the canopy, you miss cohesion. Logistics faltered a little under nature’s pressure: shelter options were tight during the big wash-out, and while the operations team deserves credit for keeping attendees safe, the cover at the merch tent overflowed quicker than you’d like.
Still, the high-points were undeniable. Many had waited decades for The Strokes closing set. Genesis Owusu, M.I.A. and Vance Joy each made moments that will stretch into memory. When the music hit perfect pitch, even with soggy shoes and saturated sound cables, it reminded you how vital live music is in moments of disruption. Harvest Rock Festival 2025 may not have been flawless, but the weather, rather than spoiling it, somehow amplified the defiance. If you endured the storm, you were rewarded not just with good sets but with the feeling of survival, together, under open-sky resistance.
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