Hope Estate has enjoyed bigger crowds. The 3000 punters left ample green space in the winery’s natural amphitheatre. To put that in perspective, Midnight Oil drew a sold-out crowd of 19,000 last October at the same venue.

Festivals are rarely built in one year and the Hunter Valley wineries are a more challenging destination to sell to FKA’s target market of 18 to 30, due to transport and accommodation costs. The intermittent showers were another obstacle.

On the flipside, it meant FKA was one of the more comfortable gigging experiences. The usual bane of music festivals - long queues for food, drinks and toilets – were non-existent and fans were free to watch their favourite acts while lounging on the grassed slope or dancing in the pit.   

However, the biggest positive of FKA was the Australian indie talent on offer.

Those that made the trek out early to Pokolbin were rewarded with sets from three highly-talented female singer-songwriters in Maddy Jane, Ali Barter and Newcastle’s own Grace Turner.

Brisbane psych-rockers The Belligerents last visited the Hunter in 2016 for The Gum Ball and returned a more complete live act.

While they previously dealt in drone-like psych rock, the five-piece’s debut album Science Fiction introduced a more electronic “madchester” sound and it’s subsequently seen their live energy sky rocket.

Frontman Lewis Stephenson also kept punters excited with his wild antics, which included falling over, even if he struggled to hit the falsetto chorus on Flash.

Perth grunge revivalists Tired Lion are another band with a growing reputation. There’s isn’t anything awfully ground-breaking about Tired Lion, but just like Violent Soho, they capture the spirit and passion of ’90s alternative rock with a fistful of distorted power chords and soft-loud dynamics.

They also possess a genuinely charismatic frontwoman in Sophie Hopes. After carrying the crowd through Where Were You? and Fresh, Hopes convinced punters to hum the Jurassic Park theme before Tired Lion launched into their most popular song Cinderella Dracula.

One of the best aspects of FKA was their promotion of emerging talent on the Local Goods stage. It was an opportunity Newcastle indie act Vacations took full advantage of, by dressing as big-game hunters on a colonial safari.

I last saw Vacations more than a year ago and their development as a live act has been exemplary. While their brand of dreamy Smiths-style indie is best suited for more intimate settings, international touring has seen Campbell Burns develop into a more confident frontman. 

The crowd, and mosh pit, swelled for Hobart punk band Luca Brasi, who were the heaviest outfit of the festival. 

Kingswood then kept the momentum building with their eclectic mix of rock and R’n’B. For all their posturing, the leather-clad Fergus Linacre and axeman Alex Laska cut charismatic figures.

But Kingswood were almost upstaged by three girls they invited from the crowd to sing their cover of Say My Name by Destiny’s Child. The girls were lapping up their Beyoncé moment so much that Linacre had to tell the trio, “we can do selfies another time” when they were too busy taking Instagram shots to realise they’d missed their exit cue.

FKA marked the first homecoming for Newcastle punk band Trophy Eyes since the release of their third album The American Dream. Sadly, it was no triumph.

Frontman John Floreani, who admitted he was losing his voice, struggled constantly. It may be why the band opted to use booming backing vocal tracks on the majority of the choruses. It didn’t help that Trophy Eyes’ two-pronged guitar assault also lacked venom. It left Floreani’s constant dancing and the pyrotechnics to provide the energy.

Rockers British India played a straighter bat and quickly had the crowd singing along to Black & White Radio, I Can Make You Love Me and Wrong Direction. Lead guitarist Nic Wilson showed why he’ll be a massive loss for the Melbourne band when he retires from music in January. Wilson’s solos were exquisite.

The Jungle Giants finally hit the stage at 10pm and showed why the Brisbane act were the headliners. Sam Hales was a ball of energy, playing the kooky frontman as he constantly roamed the stage.

The propulsive bass lines and pop hooks had the crowd pumping from the opener On Your Way Down and Hales seemingly fed off the energy. The set concentrated on Jungle Giants’ most-recent hit album Quiet Ferocity and sent the crowd home happy with Feel The Way I Do.

There was plenty to like about the debut of FKA Festival; fresh Australian indie sounds performed in a more chilled environment than Groovin’ The Moo and This That. The foundation is there.