None of these musical acts have ever performed here, so not even signs of an impending thunderstorm could deter happy campers from flocking to Camp Symmetry, the latest music festival to join Singapore’s calendar that includes more established ones like Baybeats, Laneway Festival and ZoukOut.

The indie festival kicked off promptly at noon with opening act Veronica Falls, who played some of their earlier tracks like “Found Love in a Graveyard” and “Beachy Head”.

Decked in band t-shirts and floral headbands, approximately 4,000 attendees braved the muddy grass and blistering heat at The Meadow at Gardens by The Bay on Nov 2 to make their way to the front of the stage to catch the indie pop quartet from London – no matter that their Converse sneakers and Doctor Martens boots looked the worse for wear.

 

Brisbane natives Last Dinosaurs took to the stage next, and the combination of their infectious energy, insanely catchy tunes like “Zoom” and easy-going banter roused the crowd from the get-go. A highlight of their performance came during their single “Honululu”, when the majority started grooving along, shouting “Hey!” at the appropriate moments.

Fangirls were squealing because of frontman Sean Caskey’s tongue-in-cheek comments about how his perspiration-drenched shirt threatened to expose his modesty.

Fellow Australians San Cisco kept audiences in a chipper mood with crowd-pleasers like “Fred Astaire” and “Awkward”. Drummer Scarlett Stevens, sporting her round sunglasses and blonde dip-dyed hair, charmed the crowd with her sweet vocals.

William Fitzsimmons’ breathy voice and soothing folk serenades made his the mellowest act of the event, and his cover of “Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want” by The Smiths lulled audiences into a state of enchantment.

Dressed in a quirky ensemble of a Metallica band t-shirt, tartan skirt and fisherman’s bucket hat, Bethany Cosentino of American rock duo Best Coast greeted everyone with a zealous, “What’s up Singapore?”

Cosentino also teasingly announced, “This is the last gig that I’m going to play… as a 26-year-old.” The crowd heaved a collective sigh of relief that she wasn’t leaving the business, and broke into a happy birthday song in unison.

Throughout the 12-hour festival, attendees also entertained themselves with the array of fringe activities that had nothing to do with music such as Ping-Pong games and inflatable gladiator jousting.

Fans of Mew cheered as the anticipated main act finally appeared on stage just before 9 pm. The Danish band delivered a stellar performance of various selections from their discography, such as “Special” and “The Zookeeper’s Boy”.

The 5 of them ended their set and exited the stage after “156”, but the audience, thoroughly enthralled by Jonas Bjerre’s haunting vocals, chanted for an encore, bringing the guys back to leave the swaying crowd with a beautiful rendition of their beloved anthem “Comforting Sounds”

“I’ve been waiting for so long for Mew to come to Singapore, and I can’t believe I’m finally able to catch them live!” said Justin Mok, a 20-year-old undergraduate.

The last act of the night was another long-awaited headliner, Explosions in the Sky. The instrumental rock band from Texas, whose songs such as “Your Hand In Mine” have been featured in movies like Friday Night Lights, brought the event to a fitting close at midnight with their dramatic soundscapes.

Despite lacking elaborate visual backdrops, the bands, such as Wild Nothing, The Cribs and Ra Ra Riot all put on an engaging show for music lovers present.

Organizer Symmetry Entertertainment deserves due praise for bringing in such an impressive line-up of quality international acts that haven’t toured in Singapore before. Also, kudos to the team for putting together an amazing intermission set list that had the crowd raving.

Photos courtesy of Jared Ryan Rezel