Heading to a brand new location after postponing last year’s event, and featuring the first-ever NSW festival pill testing hub, the 2025 edition of the Yours & Owls was one for the history books.
Thousands of punters took to Wollongong’s Flagstaff Hill for the two-day festival, braving it through intense weather to enjoy some of the best local and global musical acts, including headliners Fontaines D.C., Denzel Curry, The Kooks, and The Goo Goo Dolls.
The energy was there from the get-go, despite the searing heat. Nick Ward attracted a crowd with his alt-pop tunes, while Aussie country star Brad Cox invited his guitarist, Jesse O’Neill, up to the microphone to sing a beautiful rendition of his hit “Remedy” together.
Offering a dramatic shift in genre, pop star Peach PRC played hits including “Josh”, “God Is a Freak”, and “Forever Drunk”; the crowd loved it, despite some minor microphone feedback issues.
It was a day full of karaoke moments, with a handful of artists singing covers of their favourite songs.
Peach PRC gave her rendition of Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!”, proving that the latter artist truly is “your favourite artist’s favourite artist,” while folk-pop duo The Dreggs sang a cover of Lola Young’s “Messy”.
Englishman Sam Tompkins covered John Farnham’s 1990 classic “Burn for You”, while Carly Rae Jepsen’s iconic “Call Me Maybe” was given a blast by JPEGMAFIA.
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Keli Holiday got the crowd pumped with his cover of the Body Rockers’ “I Like the Way You Move”, despite facing some sound issues.
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WA psych-rock band Pond were a highlight of the festival, with frontman Nick Allbrook being arguably the most energetic performer of the day. His unapologetic eccentric dance moves quickly progressed to him singing from the crowd barrier, and eventually jumping in and crowd surfing – to the dismay of his sound techs chasing after him and his corded microphone.
The Goo Goo Dolls added a touch of nostalgia to the festival, especially when their biggest song, “Iris”, came on, resulting in one of the loudest and proudest singalongs of the whole weekend.
Headliner Denzel Curry’s hour-long set was another clear highlight. From the moment the lights dimmed to the conclusion of his show, he had the crowd moshing, chanting, and screaming. Playing some of his biggest hits including, Curry was a much-needed energy boost to cap off day one.
While the location was picturesque and the small hills meant good stage views no matter where a person stood, some festival-goers were struggling with the stages being so close that they could hear another set over the one they were watching. While the artists themselves didn’t seem phased, it meant some were overshadowed by others.
On day two, punters were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, welcoming a much cooler temperature and breeze over Wollongong’s coast.
There was grentperez, who charmed the crowd with his alt-pop tunes. His set was arguably one of the most interactive, with heaps of crowd work and on-stage banter with drummer Charlie Kurthi and bassist Timi Temple. Homegrown favourite San Cisco, meanwhile, pulled a massive crowd for a 2:30pm show.
The cooler temperature quickly turned sour as the wind began picking up significantly mid-afternoon, which saw the merch tent inundated with punters looking to rug up.
The wind, however, couldn’t stop The Veronicas – who are celebrating 20 years of music-making this year – from absolutely smashing their 45-minute set. Another major highlight of the weekend, the twins closed out with iconic hits “4EVA” and the self-described “unofficial national anthem”, “Untouched”, which were, understandably, very popular with the crowd.
During their set, The Veronicas also thanked festival-goers for their support over the past two decades, and called for more support of homegrown musicians: “We’ve been making music for 20 years now and that’s because of you. Keep supporting local because Australian musicians need it now more than ever.”
Yours and Owls was also privy to loads of unreleased music, including Brad Cox’s new song (set to be released soon) and Keli Holiday’s “Ecstasy”, which he said “felt fitting to debut in a town that loves pingers.”
Irish rock favourites Fontaines D.C. – who celebrated a BRIT Award win this weekend – riled up the crowd, with more moshing, chanting, and screaming across the hill.
Elderbrook and Hockey Dad simultaneously closed out the weekend. Hockey Dad went over curfew, and despite having their speakers cut off, continued playing raw for the late crowd.
