Separated by car dealerships and community pools, Fortitude Valley's PCYC sits isolated from all the other live venues. It's definitely the king noisemaker of Wickham Street's northern end; given the closest contestant would probably be the local church's choir. After second-guessing the existence of a venue in such a place, it was nice to walk though the PCYC's doors and find a little nest of live noise. Full of animal costumes and all age rejoice, the vibe inside was completely insular to the nothingness of outside.
With a total of two stages, bands were divided between a basketball court and a tiny upstairs room- easily found by following the vibrating walls. The fact that these bands were playing all ages gigs should make people feel warm and fuzzy- but it probably won't. The festival featured bands from Brisbane, Gold and Sunshine Coast- from the noise of Those Clever Foxes to the cringey pop-punk of Double Lined Minority. There were dancing gorillas, stormed stages and more sounds than you could poke a stick at.
In the basketball court there was volume, room, and overused smoke machines. Head upstairs and it was the opposite. Everyone sitting down, mellowed out and entranced in the mild mood. That was until a band started on the basketball court. The volume boomed upstairs through the walls and floors, which resulted in herds of people migrating towards the tantalising rumbles. Apart from that, the festival seemed average for an all ages gig, and hats off to the bands though- playing to a sober crowd is always harder. Smoke machine abuse and sweaty costumes had taken their toll by the tender closing time of 9pm; just as the 18+ begin to swarm the venues of a Saturday Fortitude Valley.
