SOMETIMES you just don't know what you're missing.
There were numerous moments in the lead-up to new rock music festival Off The Rails, that the event seemed destined to, (pun intended), veer off the rails.
Ticket pre-sales for live music right across Australia have been concerning this year due to a combination of a saturated market and rising cost-of-living pressures.
Off The Rails was no different. Poor sales meant promoters downgraded the bill from two stages to one and it was shifted from the forecourt of the Bar On The Hill to the indoor stage.
While the crowd was down on numbers, the bands were hardly phoning it in. Music fans that turned out were rewarded with an electrifying assault of Australian punk and hard rock.
The way Amyl & The Sniffers frontwoman Amy Taylor commanded the stage, she could have been holding court at Glastonbury again.
Then there was Private Function's charismatic rapscallion vocalist, Chris Penney, who was living out his rock'n'roll fantasies in his Thai kick-boxing shorts.
The afternoon kicked off with two of Newcastle's most popular acts, post-punk band Dust and electro duo Raave Tapes.
Dust's chaotic wall of sound was an ideal entrée, while Raave Tapes' mix of pre-programmed beats and scuzzy pop melodies, might have felt out of place at Off The Rails, but still provided curiosity for punters.
Business and the crowd really picked up for Brisbane's Full Flower Moon Band's Newcastle debut. Anyone who caught their set in April at Dashville's Gum Ball knew frontwoman Babyshakes Dillon is a special performer.
Dressed in a leopard-print coat and boots, Dillon felt like a proper rock star. She slinked and convulsed on stage as the Full Flower Moon Band grooved behind her with desert and psych-rock riffs reminiscent of PJ Harvey and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
Another Newcastle debutante was Melbourne jangle-rock band RVG. The four-piece's third album, Brain Worms, is one of the best Australian rock albums released this year, and the set was dominated by their new material.
The title track, Brain Worms, and psych-rock freak-out, Squid, were obvious standouts.
Frontwoman Romy Vager kept chat to a minimum, but her emotive vocals and lyrics communicated on a deeper level.
If RVG provided Off The Rails' most cerebral moment, then Private Function delivered the punk-fuelled party time.
Penney prowled the stage like a bogan ringmaster, whipping the crowd into a mini mosh pit. It was fast, furious and pure fun.
The crowd built considerably for Amyl & The Sniffers and it was obvious a decent portion of the audience were purely there to catch arguably Australia's hottest punk band.
Fresh from a long year of overseas touring, The Sniffers were a well-oiled machine.
It was impossible to take your eyes off Taylor. With a peroxided mop of hair and fierce eyes, she has that innate x-factor only the best entertainers possess.
The crowd broke into mass singalongs for "pub love song" Security, I Got You and Hertz.
In typical Amyl & The Sniffers fashion, there was no encore or farewell speech. Rather the night ended with a unpretentious blast of Aussie pub rock in Some Mutts (Can't Be Muzzled).
Off The Rails mightn't have drawn the crowd promoters had wanted, but the punters who turned out experienced a boutique, and oh so sweet, rock'n'roll party.
