The Showgrounds is kind of a weird place to host a festival. Sure, the facilities are great, it’s close to the city and when you stand in front of a stage you can actually hear the music (not naming the names of other less-audible gigs, you know who you are).

But wobbly plastic beer glasses, concrete under foot and a disturbing area where international superstars are asked to play in an aircraft hanger did concern me a little as I arrived.

But I shouldn’t have worried. Once I’d poured several of those wobbly beers into my excited head and bumped into more friends than I realized I knew, things started to pan out nicely.

The one band I disappointingly missed came at the very beginning when my dangerous crew decided to down shots at Young and Jackson, instead of pulling our collective finger out and catching Little Red.

Ho-hum, they’re the darlings of Melbourne so I’m sure I’ll get the chance again.

But here’s a round-up of all the acts I did manage to catch:

Cut Copy: Man, if I hadn’t seen this band more times than I’ve scratched my arse I would probably think they were the best thing ever. But I was a little bored, having “been there, done that” about a million times so we kept moving.

Roisin Murphy: Her decision to not wear a bra drew me to the front of the stage and left me pleasantly surprised (not just for the titty-tease, the music was pretty good too). Tight band, great arrangements and …….oh, alright it was the nips that took out the prize. It would have been nice if the ex-Moloko singer had played a bit later when the place was full, but those shirt potatoes still made it all worthwhile (they kinda followed me around the festival, long after the gig had finished).

The Rakes: Impossible to hear properly and a little too blah for me. I hung around for about 12 bars of music, then set of to find a bar full of beer.

CSS: I thought they were terrible and nothing like I’d heard. Then I found out that I was at the wrong stage, so fuck knows who I was watching.

QOTSA: Move over sliced bread. Not as long or as intense as the sideshow gig, but still the highlight of the entire festival without a doubt. The perfect mix of old favourites and new tracks from Era Vulgaris, an amazing performance from all (the drummer should have played Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull). The guitar solos could take the rind off bacon.

Jesus and Mary Chain: Solid performance, legendary band, little bit boring. Still well worth checking out, as these guys are as much a part of history as Captain Cook or organized religion. I’ll probably get shot by a dodgy English rocker in Safeway for saying that.

Presets: When Asian Dan sang of ‘his people’ I didn’t realise there were so many of them. The boiler room was pumping, the electro sponges were waving their arms around (like they just don’t care) and I danced so hard I dropped my beer into a chick’s handbag. Couldn’t do it again if I tried.

Duran Duran: Apparently two decades of snorting coke on a yacht is good for you. Simon LeBon actually sounded a bit better than he did when I saw them in the 90s, despite the excesses of excellent life. Apart from the cheesy segues I quite liked it.

Smashing Pumpkins: Maybe he does it on purpose to get a bit of passion happening at SP gigs. But Billy Corgan (sorry SP fans, you’re not going to like this) is the biggest tosser since Dougie the Pizza Boy first showed his annoying face on TV. What the fuck happened? One minute he’s taking over the world, the next he’s whining like a jet engine and turning anthems into 20 minute, self-indulgent poop. No, not for me.

Overall I have to say the festival was excellent, so ignore any criticism of the bands that played as I'm still glad I saw them (apart from the one I thiought was CSS....yuck).

The event was well organized, had an interesting and eclectic line up with none of those pesky sniffer dogs to ruin your day.

Transport in and out was manageable, the event staff were helpful and I got my ticket for free. So all in all it was a fucking terrific day.