This was published 8 years ago
Caloundra Music Festival: high praise at the altar of Xavier Rudd
By Simon Holt
A girl, aged maybe 5 or 6, sits entranced, oblivious to the 8000 or so people behind her as she sings every word to Xavier Rudd's best-known hit, Spirit Bird.
A group of people in the crowd immediately behind her, probably aged in their 30s and 40s, raise one hand and close their eyes more like they were at a cult religious service than a rock concert.
Xavier Rudd & The United Nations stole the show on Saturday at Caloundra Music Festival. Credit: Max Mason Hubers MMH
The crowd at the drawcard show of Caloundra Music Festival's second day were at the church of Xavier Rudd, in the palm of their preacher.
It might not have been a religious message, but the 90 minutes in Rudd's presence was a spiritual message of peace, love, and respect for all people.
San Cisco keeps the audience moving at Caloundra Music Festival.Credit: Simon Holt
"Thank you for bringing this beautiful vibe here tonight," Rudd says at what was the last stop in a national tour before almost three weeks of shows in the United States.
Rudd mastered the stage with calm and precision. He controlled his band, the United Nations, with poise and the odd hug.
Rudd does with a didgeridoo what Pele did with a football, exercising complete precision amid the tremendous energy around him.
The set covered off hits such as Follow the Sun, but was bolstered by songs from his 2015 release album Nanna.
Xavier Rudd and his Band the United Nations, captivates the crowd at Caloundra Music Festival on Saturday night.Credit: Simon Holt
His smile and on-stage charisma is infectious. If he was indeed starting a cult, there would have been thousands of followers ditching their shoes and amassing a head full of dreadlocks out of pure respect for a masterful performance.
Rudd was preceded by Western Australian indie pop band San Cisco which, thanks to singers Jordi Davieson and Scarlett Stevens who also plays drums, momentarily held the title of the festival's best set.
It's been a six-year slog for the band whose bass player Nick Gardner is arguably more famous for shooting himself in the foot on a farm 100km from a hospital than he is for his music.
But it would be no surprise to see them soon packing larger venues in their own right.
Sunday's headliners, the Hoodoo Gurus and Baby Animals, are expected to attract a slightly older demographic than the predominantly teen audience which crushed themselves against the front fence for San Cisco.
So far however, it's been Rudd who's stolen the show and brought generations - and cultures - together.