Sounds good

I, like my fellow Soundayers, appealed to the sungods for the best of what Mother Nature had to offer for Sounday 2010. She did not fail us, as the morning belonging to Saturday January 30, brought with it the summer sun we thought had long abandoned us.

Ask me to define Sounday and I can’t. It was open for interpretation; every Soundayer redefined the nature of the show; the meaning of the music.

Children who inherited their parents’ taste for music, nested on coloured blankets which dressed Hagley Park's sprawling grounds like an eclectic tapestry.

Cruisers who appeared to blend into their surroundings sought solace from the sun behind large sunglasses and trilby hats and it was only the methodical movement of a tapping finger or foot that revealed they were absorbing the symphony of music and ambience like their surrounding Sounday neighbours.

Beyond the shady serenity sought under Hagley’s leafy residents, the crowd hot spot was located centre front stage. I felt its green terrain reverberate with the sound of the stage and watched it become an open air dance floor, undulating with movement. Reincarnations of 1960’s free spirits and young mods evocative of bygone eras, paired up with the sound and let the music guide their feet, lead their hands, as they interpreted the music their way.

And as I walked through the crowd, young faces juxtaposed old, vintage threads contrasted contemporary, but nevertheless, it all made sense to my eyes. Because that's the magic of Sounday; go as you are, be who you are and the entertainment on offer won't discriminate.

Against the backdrop of Christchurch’s civic playground, the musicians on offer each told whimsical stories to satisfy the musical palettes of a strong crowd. Cryptic lyrics spoke the words; musical imagery painted the pictures and we, the crowd, absorbed these stories with all our senses.

True, the twenty ten Sounday population wasn't quite the crowd of those that have preceded it, but the age old adage that it’s about quality not quantity, reigned supreme at this outdoor gig, as the artist line up struck a high note with us all.

Lyrics with a French accent were offered by Marianne Dissard, The Handsome Family (cute husband and wife combo, Brett and Rennie Sparks) represented the US of A with their folklore inspired country songs and DIZZ1 crossed the ditch to drop some beats for the movers and shakers with itchy feet. A vocal crowd also paid its respects to the Indie arpeggio of The Phoenix Foundation, the one man band of Jeramiah Ross, aka Module, who delivered his signature hybrid of downbeat dance-groove and electro-classical music. And, lest we forget, hip-hop pioneer, P Money - no explanation needed.

Kudos to Fabel, the brainpower behind the all-ages gig. And fellow summertime sound seekers ; I’ll see you on the Sounday side next year.

Words and photographs, Kate Pierson
January 2010.