The final day of Harvest Rock’s second iteration was another feast for the senses, offering stellar sounds and plenty of food and drink options to choose from.

Julia Jacklin provided a perfect Sunday afternoon vibe with her nuanced songwriting and emotive voice. Her smooth vocals are quite irresistible and work so well with her talented ensemble. While it was a great set to sit in the afternoon sun and soak up, the finale of ‘Pressure to Party’ had us up and moving.

The mid-afternoon choices fell between the 70s psyche groove of Babe Rainbow at the Vines Stage and Nick Murphy’s cool creations as Chet Faker on the main stage. Playing solo, Murphy showed off his talents, switching between instruments while looping sounds. The vision of the crowd on screen backdrop was a nice, engaging touch.

Baker Boy arrived a little late on stage following some technical delays, but it was well worth the wait with a thoroughly enjoyable set for the growing crowd. Danzal Baker is the complete entertainer: singing, rapping, dancing and playing vocoder across the performance. His appeal was also evident from the diverse range of ages front of stage – from many younger children through to much older (cheekily, Baker dedicated his version of Bernard Fanning’s ‘Wish You Well’ to the “older mob out there”). Opening with his breakthrough hit ‘Meditjin’, there was plenty of crowd interaction through to the end of the set.

It’s great to see Conor Oberst back with indie auteurs, Bright Eyes, and here performing at Harvest. Armed with a fantastic collection of songs and some beautiful arrangements that the talented ensemble bring to life, it was a perfect early evening set.

The legendary Sparks were over at the Vines Stage at sundown, treating us to an energetic and theatrical set. With five decades of material to draw from, the glam / synth pop pioneers drew heavily from this year’s The Girl is Crying in Her Latte – unlike Glastonbury, there was no appearance from a dancing Cate Blanchett here for the title track, but it didn’t matter: this was a thoroughly dance-worthy set.

Last year at Harvest, Crowded House delivered the great antipodean songbook – a role played this time by Paul Kelly and band. It was a hit after hit, with ‘Before Too Long’, ‘To Her Door’ and ‘Deeper Water’ along side some deeper cuts. Kelly’s backing band of usual suspects (including nephew Dan on guitar) was top notch, as always. The real revelation, however, was backing (and sometimes lead) singer, Jess Hitchcock, whose vocal contributions were a real highlight of the set, particularly on the duet, ‘Every Day My Mother’s Voice’, the song written for Adam Goodes. The all-in sing-along to ‘From Little Things, Big Things Grow’ was a beautiful moment to end the set.

Sunday night headliner Beck closed the 2023 festival with an Australian exclusive performance – and it was a brilliant set of first rate indie rock. Playing on a two-level stage, accompanied by dazzling colours on the screens that filled the stage and changed throughout, Beck gave us rockstar poses in audiovisual treat. The career-spanning set kicked off with 1996’s ‘Devil’s Haircut’ and proceeded with remarkable energy across the 90 minutes. For the encore things were stripped back, however: the performer solo with a harmonica for ‘One Foot in the Grave’ – it was an effective moment of contrast. ‘Where It’s At’ then brought the night (and the festival) to a close, with one last sing-along.

Harvest Rock II was another resounding success – a slickly run festival, boasting a world-class lineup that really makes for a destination event. The days where music festivals offered a few rudimentay food trucks and limited drink options seem long gone now – with Harvest setting a new high bar for gourmet food, while the Cellar Door area offered a plethora of drink options from boutique wineries. Let’s hope we are harvesting for many years to come!

Reviewed by Matthew Trainor

Photos by Kay Cann