Words: Charlotte Najjar – Photography: Ian Laidlaw
Despite the blistering heat of the first day, Sunday’s run of the Yours & Owls festival (or “Gong Christmas”) brought howling winds and dropped temperatures to the stunning beach side venue. Yet patrons refused to let the sudden change spoil the day. Afterall, it only takes jumping in the pit to get warmed up.
San Cisco was the first stop of the day, their defining indie sound able to be heard from the gates, so of course, I made a beeline for the Harbour stage. Fan favourites like “About You” and “Too Much Time Together” had the crowds up and about throughout the entirety of their very windy 40 minute set.
Then it was time to head off to catch MAY-A’s anticipated return to the stage, which left even those who didn’t know her music rocking out by the time she played her final song of the afternoon. Also debuting a new unreleased track, her catchy tune had all of the crowd chanting lyrics previously unknown to them. With no release date revealed, this will be one to look out for when it drops.
Of course The Veronicas were not to be missed, their set bringing forth a mixed crowd all united by what could be described as the sound of the 2010s. Their newer songs were not to be discounted, “Detox” and “Here to Dance” from their 2024 album “Gothic Summer” cemented themselves as certified dance hits. Much to the screaming fans delight, they wrapped up with everyone’s favourites “4ever” and “Untouched”, leaving the crowd exhausted and out of breath from such an energetic performance by the iconic Aussie sisters.
After some refuelling thanks to the many wonderful food truck options on sight, it was a non-negotiable to catch some of CYRIL’s DJ set. Crowds were thrilled by his well known mix of “Stumblin’ In”, and were absolutely blown away by the mashup of two classic rock songs, “Thunderstruck” and “Black Betty”. With incredible mixes blaring out to the dancing audience, it was almost impossible to drag yourself away, but alas The Kooks are too much of a household name to miss.
Of course, there was nothing more iconic than seeing the English band perform their song “Seaside” on the breathtaking seaside festival site of Flagstaff Hill. It would seem I was not the only one who was enamoured by the views and accompanying soundtrack, multiple crowd members commenting on the perfect choice of song to watch the sun begin to set to. Before I knew it, it was suddenly time to dash across the grounds to catch Slowly Slowly’s performance, but that wasn’t before leaving with a new favourite Kooks song. “Bad Habit” had everyone jumping around to the catchy tune, and it’s safe to say it has found a comfortable place in my daily song rotation.
Never one to miss the chance to mosh, Slowly Slowly’s turn on the Mountain stage was exactly where I needed to be. The Melbourne band brought even more energy than usual, the centre of the crowd not staying still for a single minute, taking every chance to collide into each other. After everyone got in the day’s cardio dancing along to multiple hits from the bands newest album “Forgiving Spree”, we all made a run for the Harbour stage, determined to not miss our favourite Irish band taking the stage.
Fontaines D.C. have been making waves recently with the release of their album “Romance”, however I’ve been sour ever since I missed them at Laneway 2023, so this was not one I was going to miss. Sure enough, they did not disappoint. I know I myself was thrilled to hear my favourite (pun most certainly intended) song off the new album “Favourite”. However, they couldn’t have ended with a better song than “Starburster”, the whole crowd searching to get up onto the shoulders of friends in order to fully immerse themselves in the experience.
As the night came to a close, Honey Dijon and Hockey Dads were the final stop of the evening. It comes as no surprise that Dijon rocked the crowds, even people such as myself who listened from afar, enjoying the electronic hits whilst resting up for the closing act. Her high energy tracks would’ve been a great end to the day, the only thing which could’ve topped it being Hockey Dad closing up the Mountain stage right after, which lucky for all us festival goers, is exactly what happened.
The indie rock group, who funnily enough hail from just a few suburbs over from the festival site, ended the night with everyone’s favourites, “I Wanna Be Everybody”, “Homely Feeling” (a personal favourite) as well as “Join The Club” and of course “Seaweed”. A perfect song to end a perfect festival weekend along the beautiful beach front. The only regret we all have is that we’ll have to wait another year for it to come around again. 
