Argh, giver of light and life to the earth, the sun could not be more of a bitch on Sunday morning; sending tents into makeshift saunas and drying out the earth to a dust-filled hell turning the festival into Mars with a ferris wheel. Still, waking up with much of the same feelings and mental states as the night before allows you to be quite accepting of the lack of creature comforts. Well, until an espresso martini and jerk chicken skewer add a new perspective.

The Orbweavers kick off the brand new day and it is a universal lie to say that everyone is paying attention and taking it all in. It is a blend of gentle and delicate folk that is fortunately easy to digest. Archer follows in a similar fashion though more country flavoured, his whole set does feel quite authentic and the man's voice is quite strong and coupled with his violin player make for some quite interesting early morning moments. Then we have our keynote speaker whom this year comes in the form of iconic Australian cartoonist, writer, poet and philosopher Michael Leunig. His topic of the day Spirit of the Country and Sleeping Under the Stars and for the whole 15mins is quite insightful and interesting, as he dictates his own under the stars experiences among others. He receives a thunderous and well deserved applause.

There has been quite the amount of hype surrounding Melbourne experimental soul crew Hiatus Kaiyote including a Grammy nomination along with both Prince and Animal Collective giving them props, so they seemed worthy of a bit of a gander. My main problem is the groups drawcard, vocalist Nai Palm sounds a tad too generic for my tastes and she sounds as the same as any Joe Blogs female soul inspired singers doing a cover down at the local. But what is impressive here is mixture of sounds within the music which at times for the lack of a better experession - wigs the fuck out in space. The synth player tied with the obligatory Nakamarra prove to be highlights, though better in a jazz bar than a hot early morning festival setting.

You hear the name Perch Creek Family Jug Band and not knowing them you could expect an old authentic hillbilly group busting out the jugs and we'd have that-Simpsons-episode-with-the-jug affair. But it turns out the band are young (now) Melbournites whom for the most part are largely entertaining and talented. Though lead singer Camilla Hodgkins requires a muzzle as she never seems to shut up the entire set. Christi Hodgkins voice and a final tap dancing solo somewhat save the set but ultimately it does feel a little contrived as hip kids take on a strange kind of music. Los Coronas follow and the Spanish cowboys take things to another level getting everyone moving again to a set playing the soundtrack to Pulp Fiction… well not really, but still how can you fault such enthusiasm and variety in the early arvo.

It was at my first Golden Plains some years ago that I first saw the arses of Australian music that took my (inner bogan) heart and they have moved on up in the leagues with Blokes You Can Trust. But it is always a pleasure to see the one and only Cosmic Psychos in the confines of the 'Sup. Kicking off with Pub and then Nice Day to go to the Pub if you didn't have a blooming' beer in your hand or at least covered in it, you sir, were back at the camp ground. John McKeering gets his infamous stomach out for a solo during closer David Lee Roth and then with a final arse it was all over and the crowd obviously wanting more also marking the true start to the Sunday.

Seekae even though stylistically on another planet have quite the shoes to fill following the Psychos and at times it works and others it doesn't. Basically, the new stuff - yeah the stuff with the vocals… doesn't. While the classics still do. Blood Bank and fellow tracks from +Dome really get things moving and the bands classic 8-bit influenced glitch closer Centaur is still strong but yeah guys take note (Chet, hope you're still listening buddy) stop messing with the formulas that made you GOOD!

The thing about Golden Plains is that at times you get some wonderful surprises, sometimes some fucking amazing surprises and Osaka Monaurail are most certainly one of those other worldly mega awesome surprises. Things start off wit a bunch of young Japanese guys in suits in a semi-circle noodling around on their respective instruments and things are quite refreshing and then out pops frontman and god of entertainment for the next hour Ryo Nakata. The man is simply electric beaming a reborn James Brown and has everyone eating out of his hands the entire time, with every 'yeah' or 'come on' he gets a enthusiastic response even his borderline offensive Ray Charles and Japanese band impressions are simply hilarious. I don't necessarily believe in handing out the boot twice in one weekend, but not to give the magic away, you need to check out this band (live preferably) now as they're worth it. Yeah baby they got the funk! Oh!

That pesky Melbourne daylight savings dribble has some weird effects on festivals and seeing Neko Case play during broad daylight is one of them. Overall she delivers a satisfying set that would no doubt please the die hard fans though the energy after Osaka sees a noticeable (and with no fault decline) and watching the set a part of me wishes we were getting New Pornographers with her as opposed to her on her own as she dangerously crosses New Porno territory. Every time You Am I take the stage they take me at a surprise and today is no exception as per usual they are electric and bad sass! Tim Rogers is in rock and roll mode and he makes sure you know it, throwing riffs and hits around like he is headlining Wembly. Some sly digs at The Drones are funny and smashing his guitar at the end seems to cap off another amazing set, proving the band are well and truly alive and kicking.

I approach Fat Freddys Drop with one thing in mind which is a quote through some dickheads that managed to slip through the cracks and manage to set up camp near me… "Mate, I know I ain't gonna remember shit, but I'll remember them Fat Freddys" and I don't think they left the campsite the whole weekend. If you are a fan of their long history you may dig something on offer here, but ultimately it is a complete letdown and does nothing to most of the people in the crowd. Considering their time slot it is even more of a letdown as so many deserving bands could have taken it. Oh well, hopefully my local camp dickheads were equally as disappointed and leave their ridiculous leaking pool and themselves at home next year.

Before I start this review of Public Enemy I just want to say to get more reviews go to our website now; that’s dub-ya dub-ya dub-ya dot 4ZZZfm dot org dot A U to get more of this and to follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/4ZZZ. Now to our festival headliners, Public Enemy. It seems as if they have been doing this for a long time and not much changes from show to show, that twitter again twitter.com/4ZZZ.

At times it really felt like a play with Chuck D the only thing holding it all together. Flavor Flav feels as if his love for the pipe back in the day is quite prominent in his mindset on stage tonight. He rants and raves like there is no tomorrow with topics ranging from rock and roll hall of fame and him donating his clock (momentarily later he reveals a smaller clock around his neck?) to racism and separatism (ironic considering he owns a fried chicken chain) to even his disappointment in all the 'world wars' going on (Public Enemy were pretty big in the 40's) and when he is given the opportunity to play some bass and then later drums it is like watching a little kid practicing. This in addition to his love of Twitter drops (we are in rural Victoria! You'd be hard pressed to find someone with battery at the end of the festival, let alone reception! come on D!) really overshadows a lot of what's going on. I will give that he can still do a pretty good 'yeh boi!' (which honestly is what more than half the crowd are here for).Oh and if Chuck referred to the crowd as GP again I was going to use Flav's clock to beat him to death.

The music on the other hand though is still A-game, Don't Believe the Hype makes an early appearance and it is as expected the highlight as well is Fight the Power. But then the set goes to Chuck and Flav's solo material and the interminable new track Don't Give Up The Fight really cause the set to lose momentum. DJ Lord's Smells Like Teen Spirit mash up was a bit sloppy as well and throwing Back in Black into the mix only worsened it. With Flavor Flav trying to get the audience to thank god and not get much of a response. Public Enemy put on a decent show but decent is about as much as you can give it, but before this segment is done get on your smart phone and follow us on Twitter twitter.com/4ZZZ boiii!

As the PM rolls over and the mixed chatter of Public Enemy begins, time to drink your supply kicks in and the booze flows like wild flowers. Cut Copy kick off the night program and it is a little underwhelming with the group sounding and looking a little dull. Its not often that a group plays Future Music and Golden Plains on the same day or the fact there is any crossover between the two lineups . Lights and Music was okay, but their (get ready to punch me in the mouth) lights and music was not…. Mark Pritchard continue to take over and its quite a bit ravey sending the sup into severe bush doof territory, the dinga crowd love it (means something different down in Vic…) but a lot of people begin to leave. Tornado Wallace closes things off and it is more of a mash up affair but then again he could have played anything at this point and it would have gotten some intoxicating love, personally I was trying to hold onto the earth and not fall off and wake up on planet Quiznard where people wear hats on their feet and hamburgers eat people. Silence Wedge me back home baby!

Then comes Monday…

Still riding on a high, I empty my bowels and attempt to pack up the tent. It was windy so I thought it'd be easier if I opened a beer. Half finishing the beer I kinda got the tent in the bag then made my way to the food court and got a breakfast consisting of chips, eggs, meatballs (it was a meatball specialty hut) and some kind of bun. They were out of bacon so I got extra balls in place. I then sat on abandoned couch in the amphitheatre for close to an hour attempting to eat it. Someone asked me the time and I could barely answer. I then walked to the bus and left my shit at the stop and wandered over to the Vanessa breath testing and saw they had a coffee machine. I asked how much. They said free. I thought they said three. That awkward conversation went on for close to three minutes oddly enough and then I wandered back over and got on the bus back to Melbourne. Then on the ride in a moment of euphoria it was clear that I had once again been to another fucking amazing Golden Plains.

I couldn't keep count today.

Bradley Armstrong.

To revisit Day One.. click here Golden Plains 2014 Day One