Review: West Best Bloc Fest shines the light on amazing Newcastle music talent

Perhaps they want to check out some up-and-coming Hunter Valley acts?

The spectacular weather draws punters and by mid-afternoon "Sold Out" signs have been posted around the venues of the inaugural West Best Bloc Fest.

This showcase of the region's live music scene, which takes place across venues on the Newcastle West block bordered by King, Hunter, Steel and Union streets, is buoyed with a sense of eagerness.

Not long after its official midday kick-off time the venues - The Star Hotel, The Happy Wombat, Rogue Scholar, The Family Hotel, Papa's Bagels, and the courtyard behind Jams Karaoke - are already abuzz.

Two-piece Midway are an early highlight, blasting their no-nonsense surf rock in the back room of the Family.

Unreleased song Better than Lego, a nod to the Johns brothers' summation of their 1997 grand final victory, proves a good omen on a day when the Newcastle Knights girls claim the NRLW's ultimate prize.

Soda Simulator infuse their garage rock recordings with plenty of punk ethos, but on the Family Hotel's centre stage their sound's even darker and heavier, the shadow of '80s post-punk across it, sometimes coiled into tight grooves, sometimes expanding into psych-rock detours.

Indie-pop architects Sitting Down have captured hearts and ears and an enthusiastic crowd jams into the Star Hotel to see them, huddling around the group on the small stage.

The band's halcyonic compositions, drenched in reverb, would appeal to fans of Real Estate or Grizzly Bear, but Sitting Down approach their spacious, floating atmospherics with more intricate arrangements. Their music is at once complex and stunning and, when played live, locates a loud hypnotic energy that utterly captivates.

If you stumbled across Sitting Down in a big tent at Splendour in the Grass, they would not seem out of place.

It's hard to see Doris. If you have not arrived extra early to catch their set in the back room of the Family, you are no chance of squeezing in.

The early birds treated to their irresistible, shoegazey jams like December (Went For Too Long), arguably the best song to come out of Newcastle this year. It's staggering that this instant classic is not on high Triple J radio rotation.

One of the painful clashes of the day is that of high-energy funk outfit Saylor and the Flavor and space ranchers Soyboy.

While the Flavor deliver an earth-moving set at the Star Hotel, Soyboy take their crowd on a demented carnival ride into the cosmos with songs like Space Disco and Deceptacon. Subverting expectations at every turn, their grandiose, unhinged pop is infused with keyboards and tumescent saxophone.

A custom-made party band, glittered in glam make-up and cowboy hats, Soyboy lift the roof with ETA, a dosed-up banger reminiscent of Bloc Party's best work.

Back in the Family Hotel Les Poètes Pop weave their own brand of dark atmospherics, all raw and rhythmic guitar over marching drums, a canvas upon which singer and lyricist Gary Seeger can scrawl his searing poetry.

Lachlan X. Morris proves a cathartic reprieve as the Family Hotel's program grows darker, the prolific songwriter leading his six-piece band through a set of sunny power-pop, such as the sublime Supermoon.

Spoonhead's brass-knuckled sludge metal turns the pub into a whirling moshpit, with epics like Fashion Show demonstrating why some have anointed them Newcastle's answer to bands like Melvins and Helmet.

The rear courtyard to Jams Karaoke, which for today's festivities has been opened through to King Street via the entrance to Besties Coffee, has been a day-long sun-drenched party, with two stages playing back-to-back.

The Jams Karaoke program comes to a close with Atlas Franklin Alexander, the bedroom electronic project of Pete Stals. While his recorded tracks are all blissed-out daybreak ambience and sharp hooks, the live versions become stadium-sized electro-rock when performed with his live band.

Stals, ever the festival-ready rock star, has the crowd in the palm of his hand.

While the original tunes are mighty, his reimagining of The Beatles song I Want You (She's so Heavy) is a dark, sex-fuelled delight.

The strictness of the outdoor stage's curfew proves disappointing, as there's a sense Atlas Franklin Alexander and band are just warming up when the sound is cut. We're all left wanting a lot more, which is not always a bad thing.

As the festival closer, Baam Bam draw a long queue along Union Street to see their coveted set in the rear room of Rogue Scholar.

The small crowd that fits into the space are treated to a raucous rock set from the duo.

Singer and guitarist Dan Flegg feeds off the compressed energy and, with the assistance of his wireless guitar system, is able to march into the heaving audience, hand-feeding them riffs while drummer Stu Moppett holds the fort behind the kit.

This is as up-close-and-personal as rock music gets, the perfect end to a bumper day and evening of local talent.

With over a thousand hungry live music lovers satiated over the courses of this feastful event, the lingering feeling is that West Best Bloc Fest has legs.

The festival is an exercise in comfort: it runs on time, the queues for food and beverages are short, the toilets clean and the music has been pulled from the top shelf.

For Newcastle and West Best Bloc Fest, this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.