Review: Australians Take the Gold at Nelsonville Rock Fest

BUCHTEL, Ohio – The contingent from Down Under ruled at the Nelsonville Music Festival this year.

Courtney Barnett and Amyl and the Sniffers, the two acts from Australia, made the biggest impact at the three-day rock event last weekend in southeastern Ohio.

As the Saturday night headliner, Barnett’s 90-minute set started just before sundown. The hot and humid air suddenly turned remarkably cool and created perfect natural acoustics. Barnett’s laconic voice, Dylan-like lyrics and indie guitar sounded clear as a bell throughout the festival site and campgrounds.

Amyl and the Sniffers’ Friday evening set will never be forgotten.

At the start of their set, kinetic front woman Amy Taylor laid down the ground rules in her thick Aussie accent: “If anybody falls down, you help them up. Don’t touch anyone who doesn’t want to get touched. Get row-deee!”

And they did. Amyl and the Sniffers’ ability to tense up a crowd and then get it to explode is second only to IDLES – and that is high praise.

You couldn’t take your eyes off Taylor, a petite dynamo who bounced around the stage for an hour and left the throng exhilarated. 

Crowd surfing is a rarity at laidback Nelsonville, but yes, it was inevitable during Amyl’s set. 

Nelsonville takes place at Snow Fork Event Center in the tiny village of Buchtel, Athens County. Snow Fork is a mostly flat and grassy clearing surrounded by woods. 

When you enter, you gladly leave the world behind. And it’s a good thing, because cellphone and internet service is practically nonexistent.

The festival lineup every year is outrageously eclectic, and it holds its own against the best festivals of its type in the country.

Indie rock is dominant, but NMF mixes in folk, bluegrass, hard rock, rap, world music and experimental sounds. It always brings in a few legends, plus a host of unknown bands that will be famous in a year’s time.

Friday’s headliner was Killer Mike, the Atlanta rap god who is also half of Run the Jewels.

His meaningful songs were abetted by a turntable/hype man and a handful of backup singers – all clad in white – who gave the set a righteous gospel flavor.

The festival actually got off to a slow start Friday, only slamming into high gear with the Spoon Benders set on the side stage. 

The hard-edged Portland-based act brought the fury that had been missing up to that point. It’s led by take-no-prisoners singer Katy Black and guitarist Buffy Pastor, who is a psychedelic solo machine. 

LA LOM (which stands for Los Angeles League of Musicians) was a suitable choice to kick off the main stage schedule Friday evening. The trio proved to be an exotic appetizer with its South American cumbia-style instrumentals.

As for Saturday, Barnett wasn’t the only highlight.

Bob Mould – the singer, guitarist and songwriter for legendary ’80s punk rock band Hüsker Dü who is currently touring with Barnett – played a solo set that worked better than expected. 

He accompanied himself with an electric guitar, playing his more melodic material. If he had a full band with him, it would have been headliner caliber. 

Wall of sound power-pop band Sheer Mag has only one speed: pedal to the metal. The Philly-based act is paced by a tight guitar corps and powerhouse vocalist Tina Halliday, whose narrow vocal range is at the top of the scale and morphs easily into a scream. 

Even though they play fast, Sheer Mag’s music has an old-fashioned sentiment that left the crowd ma-ma-ma-moonstruck.

On the lighter side was Indigo de Souza. 

The North Carolina acoustic artist – who was backed by a full band – is a deep and soulful singer who slowed down time. 

She was followed by Snõõper, the rambunctiously fun L.A. band with a fetish for diacritical marks (because the tildes makes their name look like a set of eyes, I guess).

Snõõper’s rare blend of pop-punk and goofiness has the band riding a mild wave of hype, although their live show borders on novelty act. 

With two giant props on stage – an arcade video game and an old-school mobile phone – they got an exuberant mosh pit going.

Frankie and the Witch Fingers, also from L.A., had one of the festival’s best time slots, coming on right after Barnett for the last set of the night before the party moved to the campground. With staccato guitars, repetitive riffs and a lot of echo on the vocals, they had a scary vibe. 

Bonnie Prince Billy brought tears to the eyes of some during his set, which might have broken the attendance record at the leafy Creekside stage. The respected folky legend was something of a co-headliner Saturday, and was a treat for the hammock-swinging crowd.  

Sunday at NMF always has an abbreviated lineup, but some of the best were saved for last.

SUSS introduced a rapt audience to a genre that it calls “ambient country.” 

It was arguably the most unique act of the whole weekend. The New York-based trio used a plethora of instruments: resonator guitar, steel guitar, mandolin, harmonium, acoustic guitar and synthesizers.

They had the mad scientist demeanor of studio geniuses who rarely see the light of day. Imagine an early Pink Floyd jam with a steel guitar. Engrossing.

SUSS’s set was recorded for NMF’s Sycamore Sessions channel on YouTube, so check them out once the show is posted.

Sunday’s lineup also included excellent British tunesmiths The Heavy Heavy, as well as the musically dazzling Afrobeat act Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 and headliner Thee Sacred Souls.

Nelsonville Music Festival moved to the remote Snow Fork Event Center two years ago. 

It took place over Labor Day weekend the first year and moved to the last weekend of July – when it’s scorching hot – last year.

But in 2025, it will take place the third full weekend of June. Let’s hope this is a permanent change. Nelsonville has changed its dates way too much in the past decade.

Much credit goes to the festival team, which has made rapid progress in ironing out the kinks that come with a new location – especially one with little to no infrastructure like electricity, water, Wi-Fi, roads and parking.

The festival brain trust is slowly turning Snow Fork into an awesome site, and the June weather next year will be one more improvement.

Pictured at top: Courtney Barnett performs at the Nelsonville Music Festival. (Photo by Chris Crowell)

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.