Another year of crawling along King Street, which was packed to the gills with happy music fans; strolling in and out of venues, hanging in doorways and popping through windows.

It’s the first day of spring and a cracker of a bright, sunny, warm day – so what better way to celebrate than to crawl indoors into a music venue and soak up the enthusiastic sounds.

With over 40 venues participating this year from pop up stages, shops and bars; showcasing over 200 acts, it was a monster of a day; and a challenge for those with an iron clad constitution to roam from end to end.

Here is a little sample of what I caught on my way through.

Whispering Jackie – Moshpit

Whispering Jackie play in your face, short, sharp, loud, pop and grungy punk. Just the way you like it. The trio were full of beans this afternoon, with a quick, witty, quip always ready for the quiet bits between pumping out noisy song bits. Sample them here.

Ghostgums – Union Hotel

Freshly formed and jumping straight into the Sydney music scene, Ghostgums are a five piece with lots of guitars and keys. Their set was full of dreamy pop sounds with plenty of spacey reverb, but also a little bit of crunchy edge to it. First prize to having the smallest guitar/mandolin on the stages of King Street Crawl!

SCABZ – Moshpit

Playing their way up and down King Street today are busy little beavers, SCABZ! I caught them at the south end in a hectic show. As usual SCABZ weren’t shit, but they were full of punk and rock beans. A power trio that knows how to do AUS punk, pub rock. See them in action here.

Lisa Caruso – Union Hotel

As darkness starts to fall I managed to step into the sultry, seductive tones of Lisa Caruso‘s show. Playing as a full bodied four piece this evening, her set was brimming with infectious back beats. Guitars enticed, with an almost Mediterranean 60’s groove, like they were picked straight out of a Tarantino movie; giving everything that dangerous edge that just dares you to get closer. See what the fuss is about here.

Ruben Neeson  – Union Hotel

With a country twang and bunch of big songs, Ruben Neeson hit the stage and immediately filled it with a bunch of ramblin mid-western songs. Tonight he was joined on guitar and vocal harmonies by Caitlin Harnett, blending that folk and rock bending sound into something special.

Moody Beach – Union Hotel

Tonight, Moody Beach performs as a cast of thousands. With full band on tap, and 6 bodies crammed onto the stage there is not much space to swing those hips, let alone a sax; but of course there was plenty of that going on. The dreamy, moody, atmospheric pop was there, but there was a live, buzzy, frenzy to the set in true festival atmosphere. Check out her sound for yourself here.

The Escapes – MoshPit

Wedged into the back corner of the MoshPit – there were no escape from the no nonsense, short, sharp, 3 chord punk from this stripped back 3 piece of local guys. A bit of light bickering between songs rounded out the perfect image of a band formed in a share house and ready for sedition.

Beijing Bikini – MoshPit

Was it time for a bit of good old fashioned raw punk? With sawing guitar, smashing drums, throbbing bass and laconic 70’s punk vocals, Beijing Bikini put on the real, raw deal. Strutting out into the crowd, there was plenty of crowd interaction and involvement, even a little bit of unplanned acrobatics. Listen to them here.

Was the Brown Note crawling the street – I think the odds were good today…..