Splendour day two is always tough. Your legs are already tired, you’re hungover, malnourished, dehydrated, you have blisters, bruises, bumps, scrapes and the list goes on. But the atmosphere on the way into Belongil was unaffected by any of these minor hurdles, every one of us ignoring the symptoms the only way any festival-goer knows how… by masking the pain with copious amounts of alcohol and acting in accordance to the knowledge that you must never, at any moment, stop dancing, jumping or even just foot-tapping; because if you do, that’s when your feet will cave beneath you, or at least start to ache unbearably. Those things being agreed upon unanimously, it was time for the 2007 Splendour kids to do it all over again.
First up on Sunday was Byron 3-piece The Ride. Despite the dwindling early Sunday morning crowd, they put on an energetic show of thumping rock anthems with impressive vocal harmonies and screeching guitar riffs. Keeping to the rock theme, Airbourne followed up with their their AC/DC-inspired brand of Aussie pub rock, putting so much grunt into the set that it seemed likely they might flood the stage with their own sweat.
Expatriate were next up at the Supertop at 2 o clock, keeping the audience entertained with their characteristic twangy guitar riffs, long, suspended synth lines and speedy drums setting the musical backdrop to the Brit rock-ish vocals of lead singer Ben King. They played a number of their lesser known tracks as well as more popular ones like Crazy, capping off the set off with Triple J favourite Spaces Between which was a huge hit with the crowd.
Following Expatriate were Melbourne band Kisschasy, who put on an energetic and tight performance. Although marred by some sound problems at the start, such as the lead guitar being way too loud, they were quickly amended. Splattering bursts of clichéd rock-talk throughout the set, such as his encouraging mention that “it’s about quarter to three, that’s about the time that most people get nude!” frontman Darren Cordeux got the crowd quite riled up and really seemed to enjoy the gig. Of course, the crowd favourites were the band’s most well-known number Do Do’s and Woah-Oh’s as well as their latest release Opinions Won’t Keep You Warm at Night.
The UK’s OK Go, “that band with the film clip where the guys dance on treadmills,” were next up. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to reproduce that dance onstage, but they did play the song! Along with a number of other tracks, they allowed the crowd the pick between a cover of ELO or the Violet Femmes, with the latter winning hands down.
Midnight Juggernauts took to the Mix-Up Stage at 4. Although it was a shame the boys had to play in daylight, because their sound so suits the stillness of an eerily dark night, they still put on a great performance. They pulled off their challenging combination of band slash DJ set with finesse, hitting all those high notes and nailing those three part harmonies in songs like Into the Galaxy from their debut album Dystopia. The highlight of the set was Shadows, with its effortlessly catchy bass line, pulsing synth and upbeat rhythms, which had the audience dancing along wildly.
Undeniably one of Australia’s favourite festivals bands, Spiderbait took to the Supertop at quarter past five, just as the sun was beginning to dim. From the very first song it was clear their set was going to be fast and furious (as usual), smashing out their oldie-but-goodie “Shazam” as their opener. Kram chatted throughout their set with the audience, admitting that they have been absent from the live scene for a while but were more than pleased to be back and playing at Splendour. They played a huge list of older hits like Buy Me a Pony and Fuckin’ Awesome, which were clearly audience favourites, as the crowd moshed along at Kram’s request.
Over at the Mix-Up stage Hot Chip were playing a DJ set, which was on the to-do list after having missed them on Saturday to see Kaiser Chiefs, and having to suffer through hearing how amazing their set was. However, they didn’t live up to that reputation on the Sunday night, with their DJ set being a bit more tame and boring than expected, although still fun and enjoyable.
For many, the choice between seeing Bloc Party and The Shins was the toughest of the festival. This year, more than ever, it was noticeable that the event planners had done their best to group together as many clashes in the timetable as possible, so as to avoid crowd congestion at any of the stages. And boy had they done a good job on this one. It was the talk of all the Splendour punters over the weekend. But for this adoring fan, it was no tough cookie to crumble. So it was over to the G. W. McLennan Theatre to wait patiently for the crowd to disperse and open up a nice little slot in the front row.
Josh Pyke hit the stage at quarter to six, scoring a rather large crowd that packed out the theatre, despite competition from Hot Chip and Hoodoo Gurus who were playing at the other main stages in the same time slot. Pyke was, as always, a strong and dynamic performer with his own blend of off-kilter acoustic pop songs that encourage even the burliest of the crowd to sing along in their sweetest voices. And that they did, especially to his more well-known numbers like Private Education and Memories and Dust. The whole set had an amazing, upbeat vibe as Pyke swayed happily along to his own songs while strumming away on the guitar. Capping off the set with his trademark number Middle of the Hill, the audience erupted into applause, attempting to sing along to all the lyrics before giving Pyke a roaring ovation as he exited the stage.
It was half an hour’s wait before Dirty Three took to the stage at quarter past eight. But when they did, they sure did put on an interesting show. An instrumental band, the 3 middle-aged blokes were clearly the most talented and professional of musicians, showcasing exceptional musical ability. The antics of ‘frontman’ Warren Ellis (if you can have a frontman without having a singer…? let’s just say, he did ALL of the talking- and a lot of it!) were interesting to say the least. The classically trained violinist accented his music with sharp kicks of his skinny leg high into the air, and lectured the crowd on how music these days doesn’t match up to the old classics by artists like Peter Frampton. Oddly, he seemed to have quite an obsession with djembes, with many of the songs being about or featuring the drum in their names, such as the one about djembe players being rejected by other musicians only to be sent to hell… Despite his, er, interesting approach, his unusual banter actually kept the crowd in stitches for most of the gig. The band members often played facing each other, crafting an intricately woven-together soundscape filled with song after beautiful, melodious song.
After a long set-up and the chants of the audience beckoning The Shins onstage, the band finally emerged as the watery sounds of the opening bars from The Shin’s Red Rabbits played in the background. They kicked off the set with an amazing performance of that track, with blue lights shining on the backdrop of the album cover from the band’s latest offering Wincing the Night Away that hung from the top, back of the stage. The second song up was, of course, a crowd favourite- “Australia.” The theatre erupted into an excited mess of dancing bodies, singing along to every word. Surprisingly, the band strayed away from playing too many songs from the new album, instead focusing on older tracks from both Chutes Too Narrow and Oh, Inverted World. The feeling among the crowd was one of cheeriness and elation, swaying as one while strangers sang along together to The Shins classics like Caring is Creepy and New Slang. They capped off the set with a speedier version of the upbeat Know Your Onion! But, of course, the crowd screamed, whistled, cheered and clapped profusely until the band returned to the stage. They privileged fans with a two-song encore, including a cover of Pink Floyd’s atmospheric Breathe that the band absolutely nailed, finally finishing up with “So Says I.” The band left the stage to an uproarious applause from the audience, clearly chuffed with the response as they thanked the crowd and waved goodbye with the broadest of smiles pinned to their faces.
Although The Shins set finished late, there was still time to head over and catch the last half an hour of the final set for the festival, Arctic Monkeys. The band put on flawless performance, Alex Turner belting his thick British accent out over the Fields, while the band was impeccably in tune with each other, even in those intricate solos and time signature changes. However, there was mention in campsite discussion after the gig that perhaps Bloc Party would have been a better choice to cap off the festival, merely because they were more energetic and seemed to attract the most boisterous, excited crowd. Not to suggest that Arctic were anything short of brilliant, it was only that they stuck quite strictly to their own spots on the stage and just played their songs; though they did play them damn well. They capped off the night on a high with When The Sun Goes Down, and last but not least, the explosive guitar thrash then bop combo that is “A Certain Romance.”
Reflecting on another year’s Splendour bender, it’s seemed everyone was in agreeance that this year’s event was pretty bloody fantastic and well worth the hours that punters had to wait online to purchase their tickets. The only complaint to be made was that, in an ironic polar contrast to last year’s mud and sludge-fest that was the result of days of pouring rain, this year Belongil Fields were an absolute dust bowl due to the Summery weather that blessed the festival. By late Sunday, there was a thick layer of dust visible in the air, sticking to your face and clothes and hair, settling on your food and in your lungs… and most frighteningly of all, it turned everyone’s boogers black!! (in all seriousness- there are photos to prove it). But as any true festival trouper will agree, those are the challenges we are more than willing to struggle through, when the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is an amazing lineup and the type of outstanding performances that have become the festival’s trademark. Such are the lengths one must go to, the battle scars one must wear, to have earnt the right to enjoy the two best days in any music lover’s calendar year… Splendour in the Grass!
simonleong
said ages ago